smontanaro 

I have an eBay search established for Sachs 7-speed freewheels (the LY 9x stuff). Yesterday I noticed an interesting one:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/303387461959

I was looking on my phone (small screen) and saw this image:

I thought, "That's interesting. It even comes with a pie plate." I flipped through the images and saw this at the end:

Integrated pie plate in the big cog. How cool/weird/odd is that?

noglider 

That's new to me!

I never keep a pie plate (aka dork disc aka spoke protector) on my bike, but I have to confess that they work. Even better are those bash guards you see on department store bikes. Honestly, they work great, and every bike is vulnerable to getting its derailleur hanger bent.

dweenk

It appears to be integrated with the last spacer.

dddd

That's efficient design for a really durable disc that won't rub against the spokes and will never yellow (or yield to the chain like plastic and aluminum ones can).

There's also the benefit of not interfering with the critical seating of the freewheel's inner body on the hubshell. I've seen many rocking freewheels that weren't actually seating squarely against an off-center dork disk.

I really like the chainring discs for keeping pant legs clean and intact. I am careful not to break the plastic chainring discs when riding off road or when stuffing bikes into a car.

smontanaro 

I'm not so sure. It looks like part of the cog stamping. Here's a close-up. Note how the cog tooth is incomplete:

lostarchitect 

Yeah you're right--it's part of the cog. I've never seen this before. It seems like a smart design.

non-fixie 

Well, if you must have a spoke protector ...

Anyway, it looks like it's easily replaced by a normal cog. And these cogs are nice. Made for indexed shifting. I am running six of these in combination with "old" Campagnolo 9-speed brifters and quite happy with the combo. Upshifting is not particularly quick, but the downshifts (where it matters) are immediate.

tiger1964 

Extra points for filing teeth into it and making it an 8th cog...

Seriously, I hate spoke protectors, but that one is better than most.

dddd

And let me guess, you're using a Shimano derailer(?).
I used the "old"-style 9s levers in a Shimano six-speed SIS bike and it did work perfectly!

For anyone who's interested, "old"-style 9s Ergolevers don't have "9-speed" printed on the front. Great upgrade for my old Ironman, though I recommend using only Hyperglide-style cogs with this arrangement.

madpogue 

I just came into one like this. That auction that came up a few weeks ago, where they had all those NOS 531 tube sets in the boxes, and such, I picked up on several oddball lots. One of them was a motley assortment of freewheels / cassettes / freehub bodies, including a 6-speed Helicomatic, a NIB 8-speed HG cassette, and one of those ^^^^^ .

I vaguely recall seeing at least one bike-boom bike with a bash guard for the large chainring done using the same method. I reckon it's done more to save on material and assembly cost, rather than weight.

Cyclist753

Thanks for the picture of that freewheel. I've never seen one of those!

Remember everyone... Tullio Campagnolo put 'dork discs' on his Cambio Corsa and Paris-Roubaix derailleurs! The great Gino Bartoli, who was considered the master of these derailleurs, had a 'dork disc' on his bike, too!l

repechage

I think that is Gino Bartali
career disrupted by WWII.
paper runner who saved many lives transporting documents by bicycle

as for the freewheel- an interesting bit of value engineering- might even shift easier into and out of.

Lascauxcaveman 

That is awesomeness, in it's originality and obvious utility, at least. 13-32 cogset, clearly not intended for a road racing bike, so weight doesn't matter as much. You'd think all the component suppliers would have come up with a version this at some point.

73StellaSX76

I’d not seen one of these before either. Thanks for posting.

Some XT mtb cassettes have extended heads on the rivets which hold the large cogs onto the aluminum carrier. The extended heads keep a dropped chain from wedging far down. The chain can still touch the spokes but it only rides over the heads. I always thought that was a good feature but never dropped a chain on a bike which had it, so no idea how effective they are.

randyjawa 

I agree with Noglider on this with one exception. Sekine, in my opinion, got the pie plate thing right, assuming that added weight is not an issue...


And, there is a true and funny story, regarding the Sekine pie plate...

One day, while waiting for the light to change, a lady walked up to me and asked if I was "seeking sex?" Needless to say, I responded with an appropriate answer - "you bet!".

Turns out, the pie plate was partially hiding some of the letters of the word Sekine. At first, I thought her to be screwed up, but then I did realize, that, upon quick glance, the plate could easily be mistaken for Seeking Sex...


And, for those of you who are wondering, even at seventy plus years of age, the answer is YES!-) Sadly, I am married:-(

madpogue 

^^^^^^^ Report from the Department of Too Much Information.....

non-fixie 

Correct. The RD-552, to be exact. It's all about cable pull ratios, and for 5- and 6-speed you need 5.5 mm. Old Campagnolo 9-speed levers + Shimano SIS give you exactly that.

The bike in question probably has the most different brands combined in one ensemble of all my bikes. And it all works together in perfect harmony.

My anti-gruppo bike, if you like:

acidlung

That is a cool integrated pie plate. I've never seen anything like that. Leave i up to Sachs to create something so "sensible". Thanks for sharing.

Bianchigirll 

I was putting them on my wheels after I had them built. Yeah they look a bit dorky but better looking dorky than a broken derailleur or frame.

I would love to find some if the black ones that cane on Mavic wheels years ago.

clubman 

Here you go, 8 speed, integrated dork disc and Helicomatic. Maillard liked this approach.

SJX426 

I don't much care for them (dork disks) either. One of the pet peeves is scratched up RD's of any type. I don't get it on Campagnolo and upper end Japanese RD's. That is the only reason that I can see for bent hangers, other than poorly adjusted RD's.
I did keep one on the Rock Hopper.
P1000031, on Flickr

SJX426 

Just realized I have a Ritchey DO!

Bianchigirll 

I think if you’re using them it is important to use the smallest one possible, unless you have one of those big fancy dinner plates, and to keep it clean. Once it gets seriously scratched or discolored it has to go

BFisher

Sometimes I wonder why practical designs like this don't catch on.

As for pie plates...


...ride with pride.

clubman 

That Pug's a practical design that caught on...musta been a million of those sold. (I think your reflector is upside down on that pretty bike)