Consider the following changes to a standard mountain bike:
0. Use a gear box or internal gear hub instead of derailleurs. Besides the well known advantages (impact tolerance, debris resistance, straight chain line) and disadvantages (weight, efficiency, cost), there's another advantage: bidirectional torque.
1. Eliminate the freewheel/freehub ratchet, and replace it not by a fixed drive, but by a clutch. Use a twist grip on the left handlebar to control the clutch, like motorcycles use right grip twist for throttle.
By making those two changes, you get the main advantage of a fixie: bidirectional torque. Yet you avoid the disadvantages of a fixie, since with the GB/IGH, you still have multiple gears, and by disengaging the clutch, you still have the ability to freewheel.
There's another minor advantage: while freewheeling, there's no ratchet noise.
There's one new disadvantage: to freewheel, you can't just stop pedaling. You have to disengage the clutch.
Available GB/IGH products don't provide neutral, since it's unnecessary when used with a freewheel/freehub ratchet. But neutral could be provided with little or no weight or cost increase. With it, freewheeling for long periods wouldn't require holding the clutch disengaged.
Thoughts?
0. Use a gear box or internal gear hub instead of derailleurs. Besides the well known advantages (impact tolerance, debris resistance, straight chain line) and disadvantages (weight, efficiency, cost), there's another advantage: bidirectional torque.
1. Eliminate the freewheel/freehub ratchet, and replace it not by a fixed drive, but by a clutch. Use a twist grip on the left handlebar to control the clutch, like motorcycles use right grip twist for throttle.
By making those two changes, you get the main advantage of a fixie: bidirectional torque. Yet you avoid the disadvantages of a fixie, since with the GB/IGH, you still have multiple gears, and by disengaging the clutch, you still have the ability to freewheel.
There's another minor advantage: while freewheeling, there's no ratchet noise.
There's one new disadvantage: to freewheel, you can't just stop pedaling. You have to disengage the clutch.
Available GB/IGH products don't provide neutral, since it's unnecessary when used with a freewheel/freehub ratchet. But neutral could be provided with little or no weight or cost increase. With it, freewheeling for long periods wouldn't require holding the clutch disengaged.
Thoughts?