BBC News- Phones power bike rental scheme

On Tue, 06 Jul 2004 13:37:42 +0100, Allan

amv.2f'@uc(delete)df.ugh.ki.uk said:

Hi

Interesting news item from the BBC on a Bike hire scheme in London.Seems
a bit expensive.

30p to cycle between Charing Cross and Paddington would seem to be a
bargain - if and when the bikes are rolled out across London.

Quoted message said:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3856535.stm

"Oybikes do not use chains."

How does that work?

Gonzalez said:

On Tue, 06 Jul 2004 13:37:42 +0100, Allan

amv.2f'@uc(delete)df.ugh.ki.uk said:

Hi

Interesting news item from the BBC on a Bike hire scheme in London.Seems
a bit expensive.

30p to cycle between Charing Cross and Paddington would seem to be a
bargain - if and when the bikes are rolled out across London.

Quoted message said:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3856535.stm

"Oybikes do not use chains."

How does that work?

If you look at the pic, it looks like some sort of shaft drive on them.
I think one manufacturer was trialling this on their bikes a while back?

Velvet

--

Velvet

Gonzalez said:

On Tue, 06 Jul 2004 13:37:42 +0100, Allan

amv.2f'@uc(delete)df.ugh.ki.uk said:

Hi

Interesting news item from the BBC on a Bike hire scheme in London.Seems
a bit expensive.

30p to cycle between Charing Cross and Paddington would seem to be a
bargain - if and when the bikes are rolled out across London.

If there are enough docking points. If you still have to park it down the
road and walk half the journey then it's not so good.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3856535.stm

"Oybikes do not use chains."

How does that work?

Probably shaft driven.

Colin

Gonzalez <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3856535.stm

"Oybikes do not use chains."

How does that work?

From the photo in the article it looks like the shaft driven bicycle that
was discussed here last year some time. There was a lot of discussion
around it be rather inefficient compared to a chain if I remember
correctly.

Graeme

Colin Blackburn said:

Gonzalez said:

On Tue, 06 Jul 2004 13:37:42 +0100, Allan

amv.2f'@uc(delete)df.ugh.ki.uk said:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3856535.stm

"Oybikes do not use chains."

How does that work?

Probably shaft driven.

Yes. Take a look at the photo on the BBC wepage, you can see the shaft
goung from the crankc to the rear hub. It rotates and is driven by angled
cogs at either end. If it has gears it will be through an interal hub
gear. It may be single speed.

Colin

Gonzalez wrote:

[no chain]

Quoted message said:

How does that work?

Shaft drive. Not as efficient for power transfer as a chain and you're
pretty much stuck with hub gears but much less maintenance and stained
trousers.

See http://kinetics.org.uk/html/zero_shaft-drive.html for an example.
This bike was reviewed in VeloVision #10.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

in message <[email hidden]>, Gonzalez

(') said:

"Oybikes do not use chains."

They're 'zero' shaft-drive bikes:
<URL:http://www.kinetics-online.co.uk/html/zero_shaft-drive.html>

Darth Ben says:
I've been using a Zero City bike for commuting for the past week or
so. Overall, I'm very impressed - there does not seem to be any more
drag than from any other hub-geared bike - I can't detect any
additional drag from the shaft drive.

There is one interesting effect - under very heavy pedalling, there is
a slight springiness in the pedals - I presume this is from a little
bit of wind-up in the drive shaft. It's only noticeable when pedalling
really hard out of the saddle, so normally I don't notice it.

The lack of a chain makes it very easy to look after - I don't need to
remember to tuck a trouserleg in, or to give the chain some oil if
it's been raining heavily. It also looks very tidy - and I get quite a
few double-takes ;-)

Velovision did a test on one recently. They found it OK, better than
they expected, IIRC. They have a Shimano Nexus gearbox, again IIRC.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; killing [afghan|iraqi] civilians is not 'justice'

On Tue, 06 Jul 2004 15:24:57 GMT someone who may be Graeme
<[email hidden]> wrote this:-

Quoted message said:

From the photo in the article it looks like the shaft driven bicycle that
was discussed here last year some time. There was a lot of discussion
around it be rather inefficient compared to a chain if I remember
correctly.

It will be a bit less efficient than a well maintained chain.
However, there are many advantages to counteract that disadvantage.

--
David Hansen, Edinburgh | PGP email preferred-key number F566DA0E
I will always explain revoked keys, unless the UK government
prevents me using the RIP Act 2000.

"Allan" <"amv.2f"@uc(delete)df.ugh.ki.uk> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi

Interesting news item from the BBC on a Bike hire scheme in London.Seems
a bit expensive.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3856535.stm

Allan

OY! (biker) ... I posted that yesterday at midday. Now I *know* no-one cares
what I think 😉

David Hansen <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

It will be a bit less efficient than a well maintained chain.
However, there are many advantages to counteract that disadvantage.

Not least of which is the fact that as they're left out and about in all
kinds of weather so the much lower maintenance requirement of shaft-driven
over chain-driven wins hands down.

Graeme

Allan <"amv.2f"@uc(delete)df.ugh.ki.uk> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Hi

Interesting news item from the BBC on a Bike hire scheme in London.Seems
a bit expensive.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3856535.stm

Allan

I used such a scheme on a number of occasions here in Frankfurt before
I bought my own bike. Very good indeed. Here at least you can pick up
or leave the bike at any street corner, and you just phone and tell
them where you have left it. 14EUR day as I recall. The bikes have 8
gears, rear sus, a rack, and are made from Alu. A bit heavy in fact,
but still good fun for the average or large adult. Not so much fun if
you are "petite".

Its a good intro for those considering buying a bike (and havent
ridden for a long time), or those who want maximum flexibility.
Dave

Gonzalez <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 06 Jul 2004 13:37:42 +0100, Allan

amv.2f'@uc(delete)df.ugh.ki.uk said:

Hi

Interesting news item from the BBC on a Bike hire scheme in London.Seems
a bit expensive.

30p to cycle between Charing Cross and Paddington would seem to be a
bargain - if and when the bikes are rolled out across London.

Indeed. If you can just pick up a bike, ride it across London, and
dump it down again it seems extremely good value. If it's going to
work it will need a lot of bikes and a large number of stations. It's
a bold initiative and I really hope it takes off.

--
Dave...

I can't listen to that much Wagner. I start getting the urge to
conquer Poland. — Woody Allen