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Flat Pack Chainless Bicycle from IKEA

ikea.com

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Re: Flat Pack Chainless Bicycle from IKEA

#211

Post by jolux »

agumonkey wrote: post #162
johnny99 wrote: post #119

I used to be a bike mechanic, and have gotten to work 90% by bicycle for the past two decades, so I'll take a stab at some of the questions: - Belt drives are great. They're sturdier than chains, cleaner, and something I love, quieter. The angle of the belt doesn't change, the way a chain does, which means you can add a chain guard, as this bike does. Which keeps it yet cleaner. You can ride to work without worrying…

Good point on the belt. I wonder if people paired that to a NuVinci CVT system: https://youtu.be/GHYGOIttuVM - no noise - no grease - no shift shock - no fixed gear I'd love to try a bike like this. ...

They exist. I saw one in an issue of Popular Mechanics a few years ago. Forget the name though unfortunately. It was an e-bike with a NuVinci CVT and had these crazy wheels that had nothing but three massive spokes.

Re: Flat Pack Chainless Bicycle from IKEA

#212

Post by [deleted] »

agumonkey wrote: post #162
johnny99 wrote: post #119

I used to be a bike mechanic, and have gotten to work 90% by bicycle for the past two decades, so I'll take a stab at some of the questions: - Belt drives are great. They're sturdier than chains, cleaner, and something I love, quieter. The angle of the belt doesn't change, the way a chain does, which means you can add a chain guard, as this bike does. Which keeps it yet cleaner. You can ride to work without worrying…

Good point on the belt. I wonder if people paired that to a NuVinci CVT system: https://youtu.be/GHYGOIttuVM - no noise - no grease - no shift shock - no fixed gear I'd love to try a bike like this. ...

[deleted]

Re: Flat Pack Chainless Bicycle from IKEA

#213

Post by [deleted] »

agumonkey wrote: post #162
johnny99 wrote: post #119

I used to be a bike mechanic, and have gotten to work 90% by bicycle for the past two decades, so I'll take a stab at some of the questions: - Belt drives are great. They're sturdier than chains, cleaner, and something I love, quieter. The angle of the belt doesn't change, the way a chain does, which means you can add a chain guard, as this bike does. Which keeps it yet cleaner. You can ride to work without worrying…

Good point on the belt. I wonder if people paired that to a NuVinci CVT system: https://youtu.be/GHYGOIttuVM - no noise - no grease - no shift shock - no fixed gear I'd love to try a bike like this. ...

[deleted]

Re: Flat Pack Chainless Bicycle from IKEA

#214

Post by [deleted] »

agumonkey wrote: post #162
johnny99 wrote: post #119

I used to be a bike mechanic, and have gotten to work 90% by bicycle for the past two decades, so I'll take a stab at some of the questions: - Belt drives are great. They're sturdier than chains, cleaner, and something I love, quieter. The angle of the belt doesn't change, the way a chain does, which means you can add a chain guard, as this bike does. Which keeps it yet cleaner. You can ride to work without worrying…

Good point on the belt. I wonder if people paired that to a NuVinci CVT system: https://youtu.be/GHYGOIttuVM - no noise - no grease - no shift shock - no fixed gear I'd love to try a bike like this. ...

[deleted]

Re: Flat Pack Chainless Bicycle from IKEA

#215

Post by Symbiote »

aluhut wrote: post #203
exDM69 wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chains might not be what they used to be but the multi-geared sprockets with tight tolerances definitely aren't. It's cheaper to change the chains sooner than to wait until they wear out your sprockets badly enough that you can't fit a new chain on it and need to change both. 2 years of life out of chains sounds reasonable to me if you drive a lot . Exposure to dirt, salt (from de-icing), moisture, etc can shorten th…

I'm up to 900km (559miles) per year again. It this "a lot"?

When I was cycling 3000km/year, I replaced the chain every couple of years.

But it seemed to depend massively on how careful I was with cleaning, and where I was cycling. 99% on roads, with regular lubrication, and the chain lasted ages. Then I moved house, and cycled the same distance, but on gritted paths, and more often in the rain. Chains could be ruined very quickly if I was lazy, and didn't clean off the mud and grit.

Re: Flat Pack Chainless Bicycle from IKEA

#216

Post by Symbiote »

natermer wrote: post #141
yupyupp wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is true. There tends to be a lot of power loss due to friction from rotation of the links around the pins in a chain.

Chain drives are about as efficient as you can get, actually. Can be more efficient then meshed gears.. But only if the chain is properly maintained. Belts may not have pins, but it still needs to simultaneously stretch and compress to go around pullies. The deformation and friction losses add up. With the solar-powered EV the fact that belts lend themselves to a simple and reliable CVT (constant velocity transmissio…

Bear in mind that Ikea is a Swedish company, where the 'race bike image' is much less common, and is pretty irrelevant to their target market for this bicycle. The bicycle looks like 90% of the ones you'd find in Scandinavia, and is intended for daily use commuting, shopping, socialising and so on.

They give the weight as 16kg, which I think is fairly light for a bicycle of this type. Most people would add the basket and rear rack though.

Re: Flat Pack Chainless Bicycle from IKEA

#217

Post by Symbiote »

emn13 wrote: post #149
SixSigma wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My bicycle has a stainless steel self lubricating chain but I know where you're coming from. lots of people are put off by the idea of maintenance of their not very often ridden bicycle. They will still be disappointed when they get this one out of the garage next summer to find the tyres are flat and splitting.

Why would a bike in storage deteriorate that much more quickly than one in use? You do need to store the tires inflated, but I use one set of tires for years, and I keep the bike outdoors in all weather and use it daily. I do get the impression bike tires have gotten better over the years, because I don't remember tires being that robust in my childhood (but, well, memory and all...).

Tyres may be left in a garage or shed, where they're susceptible to direct sunlight and/or ozone.

Re: Flat Pack Chainless Bicycle from IKEA

#218

Post by kojeovo »

agumonkey wrote: post #162
johnny99 wrote: post #119

I used to be a bike mechanic, and have gotten to work 90% by bicycle for the past two decades, so I'll take a stab at some of the questions: - Belt drives are great. They're sturdier than chains, cleaner, and something I love, quieter. The angle of the belt doesn't change, the way a chain does, which means you can add a chain guard, as this bike does. Which keeps it yet cleaner. You can ride to work without worrying…

Good point on the belt. I wonder if people paired that to a NuVinci CVT system: https://youtu.be/GHYGOIttuVM - no noise - no grease - no shift shock - no fixed gear I'd love to try a bike like this. ...

Check out Vanhawks

Re: Flat Pack Chainless Bicycle from IKEA

#219

Post by toomanybeersies »

nrjdhsbsid wrote: post #187
protomyth wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just have a tough time believing a belt is better than a chain, when I've had two cars with timing belts break before the suggested replacement mileage, but never had the problem with a timing chain. It seems like the same would be true of a bicycle.

Chains are great if you drive a car to 125k miles and junk it, but I've recently started preferring belts since I try to make mine last 200. Eventually the chain tensioners wear out and changing a chain is enough work that I usually scrap the car at that point. Belts are much easier to change, and perhaps more importantly, inspect.

I've owned 3 vehicles with cam chains. All of them have over 320,000 km (200k miles).

None of them have had issues with the chain or the tensioner.

That could be a testament to old Japanese engines (specifically Nissan) though, two from 1996 and one from 1982.

Re: Flat Pack Chainless Bicycle from IKEA

#220

Post by Symbiote »

owenversteeg wrote: post #88
woodruffw wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Walmart and other big-box store bicycles are infamous in the cycling community for their poor quality and assembly, often to the point of being completely unsafe to ride at any speed (Nader reference intended). They often use the cheapest high-tensile steel they can find, off-brand rims, mix-and-match groupsets, low-quality brakes, and so forth. The bike you linked exemplifies that - mixed Shimano/SRAM components and…

Boy would you love the Netherlands. Here, almost everyone rides a used bike that's had many owners, each of which changed it in some "improper" way. Wheels the wrong size for the bike, duct tape holding the bike together, half of the spokes broken, etc., etc. But you know what? That's what the whole country uses for transportation, every day, and it works fine. It turns out that, in your day-to-day usage of a bike (a…

Weren't those Dutch bikes changing hands for €50 once decent, €350+ bikes? I think they are, that's why they're still working.

I was given an £80 bike once, to cycle to work and back every day. It was ruined within 6 months -- the bearings in the hub and bottom bracket were worn out, the brakes wouldn't line up properly, the wheel rims were almost worn through, the gears didn't change properly. People in the Netherlands simply don't buy these bicycles, they'd rather spend €90 on a second hand one.

However, the £80 bike is OK for a British adult to cycle 10km round a nature reserve, once or twice per year.

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