Time to get creative with gears

[silverclaws]

Biopace was a change of direction, but conformity got the better of that and it more or less died, but come on bike designers, start being a bit more creative with transmission systems;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYcqJ5HdxA4

 

[highlandsflyer]

Just about every variation has been tried.

The problem is making it simple and cheap. And light!

There are some excellent alternatives to chains/derailleurs out there, I am sure something will be viable for general use soon, if the current offerings are not to your taste.

Personally, despite the weight penalty, if the 10+ hub systems were not so expensive that is how I would roll.

 

[tim b]

Biopace was interesting. I think that CVT (constantly variable transmissions) would be interesting on a bike - you could smoothly adjust gearing without jumping through ratios.

There are some interesting gear driven CVTs about, but they're not quite developed enough for bikes yet. Belt/cone versions probably wouldn't be efficient enough, but an internal hub CVT would be amazing, if it was small and light enough.