My first new bike in 14 years

[fyrstormer]

I bought a new bike. Well, a bike kit. Okay, a bike frame and associated parts; the rest I'll have to buy when my bank account recovers from its shock-induced coma.

It has All-Wheel Drive; as far as I know, it's the only AWD bike ever made that didn't completely suck. It is drop-dead sexy even in its unassembled state. Here, let me show you:



The gear shown below bolts onto whatever rear wheel I want to use. It has a built-in disengagement clutch so I can turn off the AWD if I don't want to use it.


The gear from the previous picture meshes with this one, which spins a driveshaft that passes through the frame and fork to connect to the front wheel.


This is a complex flexible and length-adjustable linkage the driveshaft uses to stay connected while the rear suspension moves up and down over bumps.


The driveshaft terminates in this transfer case, where right-angle gears connect to a second driveshaft that runs down the side of the fork to reach the front wheel. There is a second transfer case inside the crown of the fork, to move the driveshaft from the center of the fork to the side so it can run down the right leg, but since that's a sealed unit I can't take any pictures.


Here is the front hub and the bottom of the second driveshaft. The front hub has a one-way clutch built into it, so it can spin freely unless it gets stuck, at which point the clutch will close and the whole shebang will leap into action to keep the front wheel spinning so it can claw its way over whatever obstacle is in its path.


I kinda wish I had more to say about it besides "hey look, I bought half a bike." Unfortunately, the other half will have to be bought piece by piece and assembled by hand. On the up-side, at least I know I won't have a burdensome amount of money saved any time soon.

[w2zero]

That's cool.  Like an encounter with any alien visitor, I'd have to dissect it to fully understand how it functions.  I wouldn't kill it though.  A schematic of the front drive in the head tube would be appreciated. 

I can understand your desire to avoid any unnecessary cash weighing you down.

[petes97857]

Hi
I like the new bike 
one little question are those gears on the wheels enclosed to stop grit stones sticks etc getting in and causing the wheels to stop rotating !

[Thunderchild]

Wow, so they are still making them.  I have always wanted one.  Especially for snow riding. 

Thunderchild

[Colin]

So what does the whole frame (and fork) weigh in at?

I guess there must be a weight penalty, but it's a great concept.

Col.

[shovelon]

That looks like fun. What a cool project.

Terry

[fyrstormer]

A schematic of the front drive in the head tube would be appreciated.

The transfer case in the head tube is just a right-angle gear; power comes through the inside of the top-tube, passes through the right-angle gears, and heads down into the interior of the fork crown. From there, a small chain-drive moves the power over to the right leg of the fork, where it runs down through a length-adjustable shaft to the gear that drives the wheel.

one little question are those gears on the wheels enclosed to stop grit stones sticks etc getting in and causing the wheels to stop rotating !

The gears are not enclosed, so that dirt and sand can escape, but the teeth are very close together so it's unlikely any stones would get caught. There isn't even enough room for pea gravel to fit between the teeth; the largest that would fit is a large grain of sand.

Also, the AWD system has a one-way clutch in the front hub, so if the gears did get jammed, the rear wheel would skid but the front wheel would continue to roll. The bike would have to be stopped in order to clean out the gears, but the bike wouldn't flip over because the front wheel would not be jammed at all.

Wow, so they are still making them.  I have always wanted one.  Especially for snow riding.

They're still assembling them, but they've stopped fabrication of new parts. The mountain bike was always just a test platform for the AWD system, and the final goal was to install it on off-road motorcycles. The system is successful enough in motorcycles that Christini won a DoD contract to manufacture AWD motorcycles for Army special forces, and it's supposedly the first motorcycle ever approved by the DoD for use by US soldiers.

I'm looking forward to riding mine in the snow too, since I've never really been able to ride in the snow before (my 756 is RWD, obviously, and has Michelin Wildgripper Jet tires with zero grip in the white stuff), but I opted to not buy studded tires just yet; they're $120 for a pair, and this bike isn't going to be done in time to ride in the snow anyway, so I might as well spend that $120 on parts necessary to get it up and running first.

So what does the whole frame (and fork) weigh in at?

Based on me standing on the bathroom scale with and without the frame in my hands, the frame weighs 12.5lbs/5.7kg. It sounds like a lot, but remember it also has a White Brothers fork and a Fox Float RL shock integrated into the frame.

The latest info I can find on White Brothers suspension forks benches them at 4.1lbs/1.9kg, a Fox Float RL weighs about .5lb/.2kg, and a Santa Cruz Superlight (single pivot) frame weighs 5.7lbs/2.6kg, for a total of 10.3lbs/4.7kg. That puts the weight of the AWD system itself at 2.2lbs/1kg, which I can compensate for by going to the bathroom before riding.

That looks like fun. What a cool project.

Thanks! That's what I thought.

[02gf74]

wow - that is somewhat special.   be interstingto see how you get on riding it.

[w2zero]

a 2.2# dump is pretty impressive too!

[fyrstormer]

They call it a Deuce for a reason.

No, I do not eat buckshot for breakfast.

[shovelon]

No, I do not eat buckshot for breakfast.

Chuck Norris does, as well as "The most interesting man in the world".

[fyrstormer]

No, I do not eat buckshot for breakfast.

Chuck Norris does, as well as "The most interesting man in the world".

Unlike those two, my intelligence is high enough to be noticeably affected by lead poisoning.

[shovelon]

No, I do not eat buckshot for breakfast.

Chuck Norris does, as well as "The most interesting man in the world".

Unlike those two, my intelligence is high enough to be noticeably affected by lead poisoning.

[fyrstormer]

I has wheels! Now I just need the tires, tubes, rim tape, and other crap I ordered, and then I can take an update picture. But the important thing is, the AWD really works!

[Thunderchild]

Fyrstormer,

I thought I was done with bike quests for awhile, but now I hear the whispers on the wind of the beginning of a new quest.  Any plans on renting it

Also found this limited video on You Tube 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aS4ik9xEijM

Thunderchild