3 ms·
At the risk of this turning into an episode of Connections with James Burke playing out in text, why was there no freewheel at that point in time yet?
by xattt 5y ago
At the risk of this turning into an episode of Connections with James Burke playing out in text, why was there no freewheel at that point in time yet?
- jacquesm 5y agoThere was, the article mentions the cyclist having to pedal backwards in order to allow the chain slack to be taken up when gearing 'up' (smaller sprocket). That would be impossible without a freewheel, unless they mean to say 'exert some pressure backwards' rather than backwards pedaling, I don't see how a fixed linkage would be compatible with this system, it would behave terribly bad during a gear change because the system would always be under tension. Freewheels were in use in the tour since 1936 at least, and possibly even earlier: https://hizokucycles.bigcartel.com/single-speed-history https://hizokucycles.bigcartel.com/single-speed-history