3 ms·

Everything acts as a spring, and performance bicycle engineering goes to great lengths to make them as as hard as possible. Frame flex under pedaling load is me

• jacquesm 8y ago
  > Everything acts as a spring, and performance bicycle engineering goes to great lengths to make them as as hard as possible. Indeed. So if you use a shaft to drive the rear wheel that would definitely be part of the equation, I note they are using a hollow carbon fibre tube, which in that particular dimension is likely not ideal for the application unless it is given some more cross section. Even so, it is an interesting development. > Replacing the chain with something more springy? Chains stretch quite a bit, you'd be surprised.
  • mrob 8y ago
    "Chain stretch" is usually slang for chain wear. The chain gets longer as the rolling elements wear down so people call it "stretch" even though the metal isn't stretching. The actual stretch under load is very small.
    • jacquesm 8y ago
      I'm aware of the difference, but thank you anyway. You can see the effect for yourself if you lock your rear hub and proceed to push down on the pedal (you can see it because the pedal is a nice long indicator effectively multiplying the distance the chain stretches). A bit nicer setup is a micrometer at the end of a fixed section of chain with a weight attached. Chain does stretch. About 1.5 mm under full load. That's why you want chains with solid pins and solid plates. What you are talking about is chain elongation as a result of wear, essentially the accumulation of slop in the bushings the pins go through.
  • deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]