Who likes Crank-drives?

  • Thread starter Deleted member 4366
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John F

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 3, 2013
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Did they have nice big fat chains on or just the usual "wears out in 5 minutes' skinny derailleur type?!
 
D

Deleted member 4366

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Did they have nice big fat chains on or just the usual "wears out in 5 minutes' skinny derailleur type?!
I didn't look too close. There were so many of them, that some of them are bound to be good
 

trex

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 15, 2011
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crank drive bikes will always be more expensive than hub bikes.
If you can sell a crank drive for 50p then someone will sell the hub equivalent for 45p.
 

paul b

Pedelecer
Apr 20, 2014
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I am a newbie but wouldnt the speed and power of these drives wear a chainset out very fast ?
 

Gubbins

Esteemed Pedelecer
I am a newbie but wouldnt the speed and power of these drives wear a chainset out very fast ?
Interesting comment.. I have done 1500 miles on the original chain with only a small amount of stretch /wear (using the park chain wear tool). I expected it to wear out quickly given the extra strain it's exposed to.
 

trex

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May 15, 2011
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paul b

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Apr 20, 2014
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I suppose its how hard you push it trex i wouldnt like the idea of the chain breaking and causing damage
 

trex

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May 15, 2011
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not so much as breaking but more a case of stretching and wearing. The rear sprockets, especially the smallest sprocket (12 teeth) gets used a lot on flat roads. Average expected lifespan is 1,500 miles for 1% chain stretch. The cost of replacing chain and freewheel is about £15-£20 for Woosh CDs, about £30-£40 for German bikes.
 

John F

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 3, 2013
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My CD chain lasted about 700 miles. Rear sprocket also pretty worn. There are a couple of chain manufacturers who produce CD specific chains and seem to promise good life. I plan on checking one of them out this summer.

However as explained above, replacing them fairly often won't break the bank. It just came as a shock to me!

I've also taken to riding in slightly lower gears a lot of the time. I reckon this might put less strain on the transmission? Any views on this strategy anyone?
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
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I've also taken to riding in slightly lower gears a lot of the time. I reckon this might put less strain on the transmission? Any views on this strategy anyone?
Doing that is more a matter of less strain on you. There's no difference for the chain since, assuming a single chainwheel, for a given performance it's transmitting the same force at the same linear chain speed

On a hub gear bike it actually increases the strain on the hub gear due to increasing the torque in lower gears.

Fortunately you have a derailleur gear bike, so any torque increase at the rear sprocket is compensated by the increased size of a lower gear rear sprocket, the load spread over more teeth.