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Roller bearings are old, but no one ever made a ball bearing until the bicycle era. They grew up together, and the first ball bearing equipped bicycles dominat
by VLM 12y ago
Roller bearings are old, but no one ever made a ball bearing until the bicycle era. They grew up together, and the first ball bearing equipped bicycles dominated competition about a century ago. Ball bearings were the carbon fiber of their era.
I don't think ball mfgr technology of a level of roundness and surface quality suitable for ball bearings was compatible with ancient technology. The metalurgy would be highly questionable but that aspect would be possible.
You are partially correct that roller chain could have been built by ancient craftsmen if they had the idea, but the invention credit is about a century ago. The metalurgy would have been questionable, the ancients would have ended up with chain links the size of your fist, which would have screwed up weight and power transmission making a v-belt a lot more likely. I'm surprised bicycles don't try v-belts.
- yeureka 12y agoHere you go: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belt-driven_bicycle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belt-driven_bicycle
- VLM 12y agoWell, those look like kilodollar+ custom jobs. I guess I was thinking more stereotypical department store bike from China, where the mechanics aren't generally much of a priority so introducing something isn't very dangerous. You can either shove innovation in at the top where R+D fits in the budget, or at the bottom where reliability is never assumed anyway.
- cbr 12y agoI'm surprised bicycles don't try v-belts. With a standard frame the chain goes through the rear triangle. To install and replace the chain you need to be able to open it at a master link to get it around that piece of the frame. Both the v-belt and frame do best if you don't open them.