duca

I posted this in another forum with no luck so I'll try general. I'm curious about Sheldon Brown's "five and five" bicycle:Do I understand correctly that it had five cogs on each side? I see only a left side cluster.

How did it transfer the drive side. I assume one side had higher ratios.

BlazingPedals

Uh... Shelbroco was Sheldon's line of humorous products where you'd find stuff like a saddle for 'real men' -- made out of rock. Or wheels that used geomagnetism for propulsion. Look here:
Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Humor

deex

If the OP believes that then he needs this!

The ShelBroCo Bicycle Chain Cleaning System

BlazingPedals

Probably using Shelbroco's logic:

Driving the right side chain turns the wheel through the right side freewheel. But... that also turns the left side gears, which in turn transfer power to the crank via the left chainring. But... doing that simultaneously drives the chainring on the right.

IT'S LIKE FREE POWER!!!

duca

Actually, it did/does make sense to me. It seems five cogs on each side with a chain wheel aligned with the center cog would eliminate cross chaining. I thought that was the point so didn't realize it was intended as humorous.

There have been dual-chain bicycles. The trick is to switch the drive side. The idea still doesn't seem outlandish to me, but weight and cost would be factors.

indyfabz

Absent BF for more than 9 yeas and you come back with this?

Dan Burkhart 

It was Sheldon at his wicked best, but dual chain bikes have been tried. Canadian Cycling champ, Jocelyn Lovell built a dual chain track bike. The right side had a large freewheel for starting, the left had a left threaded track cog that was left just started onto the threads. He would launch on the large cog, after a few wheel rotations, the track cog would tighten up on the threads and take over. the wheel would just out run the freewheel on the right side.

Bicycle Specialties: Two cranksets, two chains.

ltxi

Sheldon wud be pleased.

smarkinson

I never knew about these wonderful inventions.

Best thing I've read in ages.

duca

Thank you, I was aware of that bike. But has one been made that shifts the drive side left and right for geared riding? That bike seems to switch but once.

I'm looking to make something funky and a dual-chain bicycle would qualify. It's a visual thing, but it would also address cross-chaining.

rydabent

This has to be a joke. The main reason is it is needless weight and complication.

texaspandj

I read only one joke but the "How to camp anywhere" was pretty funny. I'll definitely be back for more.

jorglueke

But if you had magnetic hubs rotating around copper spindles think of how much electricity you could generate that way!

AlexCyclistRoch

I loved his perpetual motion wheel-since it had 2 leading spokes to each trailing spoke, the excess tension was said to offer limitless forward propulsion. He even worked out some mumbo-jumbo math to support it....

carhillclimb

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Replying to an old thread, but I know of 3 bikes with chains on both sides that are not retro-direct. Bruce Ingle's bichain fixed-free:
sheldonbrown.com bichain-fixed-free.html
Sorry I am not allowed to actually include the url

My bike with a trials freewheel (120 engagement positions per 360 degrees) on the left "backdriving" the rider, and a multispeed freewheel or cassette on the right, emulating a multispeed fixed, albeit with serious issues. Either use a double sided fixed with actual freewheels, which allows you to use that stash of Atom/Regina sprockets, or get a 35x1 die and emulate Bruce Ingle on an ancient Shimano cassette hub. Or find an RS-RB3 band-brake Sturmey Archer hub (yes they existed, no I have never seen one, yes I want one).

My other bike has 2x10 on the right and shiftable fixed on the left. Left side fixed is S3X clutch and driver, with the S3X right ball cup shrink-fit into a custom aluminum hub. The right side is an ancient Shimano 7 speed cassette hub with the freehub mount "spline" section machined and pinned onto the custom hub, with a 10 speed road freehub body. You are on your own building another; I had a falling out with the machinist over a race car project and we do not talk any more.

There used to be left side freewheels for BMX bikes, although I believe they are out of production and I have never seen one, which is one problem with derailleurs both sides. The left side derailleurs will also be interesting to build.

jdogg111

i find this all very interesting. never knew it existed. looking at the zizzo folding bike website, i could swear in the first part of the promo that the large ring and chain were on the 'WRONG" side but just thought it was an optical illusion, now i'm not so sure.......

rm -rf

The Sheldon Brown link you showed:
Bichain Fixed/Free Bicycle Drive

79pmooney

Cool! I've set up two fix gears for real mountain riding but they are both "stick shift", the stick being a wrench that I have to stop to use. Like 100+ years ago.

First is my logo photo bike. (Dean of Cycle Oregon got a great shot of it!) Double sided track hub, cogs 12 to 24 teeth and a lightweight cog wrench (on the top tube; you can see the Pedros Trixie hub wrench + spanner under the seat bag and the 12 tooth cog - barely - hanging from the other side of the toolbag.

Next and more ambitious project, my Peter Mooney with its triple chainline. Triple 1/8" crankset, usually set up 46-42-36 and in back, the same hub, only now with a "dingle", 1/8" 17 and 21 tooth cogs. On the other side, I put on whatever cog will be best for the descents that day. All three cogs sit different distances outboard and each lines up exactly with its appropriate chainring. Lets say I run a 13. THat gives me: 46-13 (96"), 42-17 (67" and 36-21 (46) and if I really want to go lower I can swap the dingle for a 24 (41).


Next and more ambitious project, my Peter Mooney with its triple chainlines. Triple 1/8" crankset, usually set up 46-42-36 and in back, the same hub, only now with a "dingle", 1/8" 17 and 21 tooth cogs. On the other side, I put on whatever cog will be best for the descents that day. All three cogs sit different distances outboard and each lines up exactly with its appropriate chainring. Lets say I run a 13. That gives me: 46-13 (96"), 42-17 (67" and 36-21 (46) and if I really want to go lower I can swap the dingle for a 24 (41). The "dingle" is a 21 tooth cog flipped around. The 17 tooth has the inside drilled out so it slides over the inboard portion ot the 21 (now facing out). There is a spacer between and the three are brazed together.

I don't have a photo yet for the Mooney. I'm staying digital camera free but the bike's being repainted so I'll have the painter photograph the bare frame and ride by later on the finished bike and see if He'll do that also.

Edit: That little crankset - I rode the Mt. Washington hill climb long ago on a TA crankset with the outer ring cut down to to the small BCD circle with a 28 tooth bolted to it. Almost exactly what you've got. 13-21 5-speed in back. Just about perfect for my conditioning at the time and that hill. (Better would have been a 6-speed with a 12 or 11. That first half mile of flat on the 28-13 was a lot of revolutions!)