Manual chainwheel shifting [was Re: [Yak] Tikit or NWT?]

[John S. Allen]

At 05:53 PM 4/11/2009, Brian Ogilvie wrote:

>It doesn't look like there's a front derailler, but if you had two
>chainrings you could manually change to the small one when facing a
>long, daunting climb.

Not barehanded, though -- use a stick you find at the side of the 
road, or a wrench or screwdriver. Brace the saddle against your 
shoulder, hold the tool in your left hand, push it down against the 
lower run of chain behind the chainwheel and rotate the cranks 
backward with your right hand while guiding the chain onto the other 
chainwheel. Works when the chain has fallen off, too and avoids 
dirtying a hand.

At 07:24 PM 4/11/2009, Andy Heath wrote:
>You don't need two chainrings - with the rear derailleur and the
>hub gears you can get a really good range - as low as you need.

The new DualDrive comes with a stock 11-32 9-speed cassette, and if 
you select sprocket and chainring for a top gear of 100 inches (8 
meters development), you get a very low bottom gear of 18 (1.5 
meters). Good enough for most purposes.

John S. Allen

  jsallen *at* bikexprt.com

http://bikexprt.com