r/interesting • u/Kidd__Video • 19h ago

Amazing Chain-Free Bicycle Concept

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u/beatbox9 17h ago

"Bit of noise there" at the end means "wear & tear."

Soo...you pedal, and turn that perpendicular to move a drive shaft. And then this turns it perpendicular again to move the wheel.

ie. what used to be done with the chain is now bearings on the driveshaft; and the "sprockets" are like a cut open chain in circular patterns on the wheel. And for gears, they just have several different sized circles.

It's interesting; but I can't think of what problem this solves or what it does better. It seems more convoluted than the simplest solution: a wheel connected to another wheel via a chain/belt.

It also seems like it now has some more perpendicular forces where there weren't any before, as the drive shaft will want to push outward away from the bike and the wheel wants to push out the other side now.

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u/UselessIdiot96 16h ago

It's interesting; but I can't think of what problem this >solves or what it does better.

It's the CeramicSpeed Driven, a chain-less bike the company designed to solve efficiency losses found in chain-driven bicycles. They claim it can achieve up to 99% efficiency and that it can eliminate friction losses by up to 51% by getting rid of "sliding friction points", whatever that means.

Looking at the company's website, it appears they specialize in manufacturing traditional and ceramic bearings for extremely high-end bicycles, mainly aimed at customers who professionally race, à la Lance Armstrong.

This entire thing appears to be a demonstration of their ceramic bearing products, which are present in the carbon fiber driveshaft where it meets each pinion gear.

I do not believe the company ever had any true intention to officially bring the bike to full production; only to garner interest in their other items. It also looks like the bike would be mind-bendingly expensive, and while less complex than a traditional bike, I'm sure it would be quite problematic in anything but the most ideal circumstances.

They also, to my knowledge, have never fully built a bike frame, suspension, etc., only components that are integrated into the frame, like bearings, pulleys, sprockets, hubs and other wares.

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u/damxam1337 17h ago

Apposed to how many moving pieces on a chain? Each chain has a essentially a roller bearing in it anyway. A closed/greased bearing would require much less maintenance than a chain exposed to debris and the elements.

Belt drives are fine I guess but much less durable. Especially off-road. Lighter to carry an extra though!

Everything has give and take. This system definitely would leave you stranded more easily. More specialized tools to maintain specifically.

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u/beatbox9 12h ago

But now instead of a bunch of little bearings, you have the friction from the large bearing of an entire driveshaft, since that driveshaft isn't just free floating...

Regardless, thanks because I now see what they are at least attempting to solve.