Originally Posted by
Old ABLA Member
Thank you for all the responses. At a minimum I seek to have a drive train with close to zero maintenance with added weight not being a concern if it's just a pound or two. At present the alternatives are an internal rear hub like one of those nexus 11 speeds or 8 or 7 speed,.. even a three speed. This combined with a chain drive cover over the perfectly aligned front and rear cogs with a hole up top to open and drip in the odd bit of oil as needed as you turn the crank for even distribution. That would be it for maintenance of the drive train in any kind of conditions. This could easily be achieved if someone would please create a line of top quality adjustable chain drive covers easily fitted to any single rear and front cog drive. It could just be made of lightweight rust free rigid black recycled plastic with a 'universal' mounting system. This does not exist at present. He who creates and patents such a cover will sell many of them. I found a place in Holland that sells steel traditional ones. The time is right for the chain cover I described. So how about it engineers out there?
The other available alternative is the significantly more expensive Pinion Gear box combined with the Gates Carbon Drive. This requires a frame that comes apart to allow the installation of the drive belt. This is an uncommon frame, and thus this low maintenance drive train is not suitable for retrofit onto what must be 99% of the frames out there.
Perhaps the racing component people would attempt to design a lightweight 15 speed rear internal hub. The chain drive would be shrouded in an aerodynamic low maintenance cover.
You are describing a chaincase. They most certainly work. Problem is removing the rear wheel. On traditional bikes such as a Raleigh DL-1 or what is commonly called a Dutchbike the seatstay unbolts before the chaincase comes off. The only way around that is partial chaincases (which are just elaborate chainguards) and fabric chaincases which have a whole different range of problems. Most who own bikes with chaincases will always take to bike shop to fix a rear flat. If you live in Amsterdam that may be reasonable. Other places be prepared to pay and to discover shop doesn't want to do it a second time.
There is an engineering solution. It's been done. It would be nice if it were done again but do not hold your breath. If you are old enough to call yourself an ABLA member you may recall Cinelli Bivalent hubs. The wheel came off while the entire drivetrain remained attached to the bike. Hub connected to sprockets with large but shallow splines. Combining the Cinelli system with an IGH and a chaincase would make a lot of sense. Do you want to pay for prototypes? It would all be perfectly straightforward. Machining costs and detail design problems would be expensive but it could certainly be done.
The historical best chaincase was the one fitted to Sunbeams in the 20s and early 30s. That one was a full oil bath and did not leak. Chains lasted indefinitely. The proprietary Sunbeam epicyclic 3speed hub also lasted indefinitely, which it should have, as every part was hand machined and hand fitted.
Modern 7,8,11,14 speed IGH hubs have their place but they are hardly trouble free and are very heavy.