No Maintenance Bicycle

[mstone]

seems more useful than most of the bikes in this recent “make a surprisingly useless city bike” category, but–no front brake? Their coaster brake may be special and advanced, but physics prefers the front wheel for braking.

[Henry]

@Tim Kelley 91843 wrote:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dweiner/maintenance-free-bicycles-that-make-cycling-easy?ref=nav_search

Belt driven, coaster brakes….

Throw in solid rubber tires and wheels that don’t need truing and I think you’re there.

Of course with no rim-friction brakes, there’s a bigger allowance for untrue wheels. Flats? Not so much. Still got to fix those.

[mstone]

@Henry 91848 wrote:

Throw in solid rubber tires and wheels that don’t need truing and I think you’re there.

I’ve got just the thing!
[ATTACH=CONFIG]6366[/ATTACH]

[mstone]

Seriously, though, what I’d really like to see is a simple tech refresh of a bombproof design that people have been using to haul 50lb loads for 60+ years. Instead, all the “innovation” seems focused on looks rather than simple utility. Start with a proven design and work on incremental improvements rather than trying to be the one to reinvent a mature technology. I know, I know–people don’t want to even bother if there’s no way to make an obscene profit margin somewhere in the chain. Just making something that works for not a lot of money isn’t how we do things anymore.

[dplasters]

Its an ugly version of my bike.

My father emailed me about the bike in question. I don’t know how you can create a bike that has only one way to stop. That seems like a really bad idea.

[vvill]

@dplasters 91858 wrote:

Its an ugly version of my bike.

My father emailed me about the bike in question. I don’t know how you can create a bike that has only one way to stop. That seems like a really bad idea.

Nice, I’ve always wanted to try a dualie hub! And a Spot in general, actually (mostly their Mod SSCX which is now the Rallye).

[baiskeli]

FYI here’s another bike you can ride without doing maintenance:

[IMG]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_-OPNDCJtErg/TEmLulvSthI/AAAAAAAAC0w/NeQVnxqrN1U/s400/Capital+Bikeshare2+small.bmp[/IMG]

[n18]

This mountain bike requires less maintenance, but you still have to deal with flat tires:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1401606907/nuseti-the-mountain-bike-of-the-future

http://www.nuseti.com/

[vvill]

@n18 91872 wrote:

still have to deal with flat tires:

There’s always this:
http://inhabitat.com/britek-reinvents-the-wheel-creates-airless-bicycle-tires/

although as mentioned in the article, there’s still some challenges that may make/break it.

I would be perfectly happy though if a front disc brake was the only maintenance I had to do on a bike, brakes wise. Not like this though, argh/lol

[peterw_diy]

@dplasters 91858 wrote:

Its an ugly version of my bike

Your bike has handlebars so far back that you put no weight on the front wheel, and a double thickness mattress shaped vaguely like a saddle to compensate for the bad weight distribution? Sorry to hear that!

[dplasters]

@peterw_diy 91899 wrote:

Your bike has handlebars so far back that you put no weight on the front wheel, and a double thickness mattress shaped vaguely like a saddle to compensate for the bad weight distribution? Sorry to hear that!

touché

i’ll pretend like the word “ugly” contains those slight differences.

[mstone]

@vvill 91887 wrote:

There’s always this:
http://inhabitat.com/britek-reinvents-the-wheel-creates-airless-bicycle-tires/

although as mentioned in the article, there’s still some challenges that may make/break it.

That design has been in the talking stage for years[1]; airless tires are the zombies of the bike world–they just won’t admit they’re dead and just go away. In this case, you’ve got something that will no longer be round if you ride through gravel. I guess it’s useful on a track bike.

[1] according to wikipedia, the patents date from 2002–I know I’d read about it for a long time.

[PotomacCyclist]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6369[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6370[/ATTACH]

[Author]

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