shifting like that kinda blows my mind
And it has a rack with a 200 pound capacity, too.
Very cool bit of engineering.
Interesting low-cost measure to not use a front-derailleur
The S2 model aimed to give riders an uphill climbing gear but without introducing the complexities of a gear-shifting derailleur, tensioned cables, and handlebar shifters. Engineers at SRAM came up with a solution that’s hard to imagine for other bikes but not too hard to grasp. A freewheel in the back has two cogs, with a high gear for cruising and a low gear for climbing. If you pedal backward a half-rotation, the outer, higher gear engages or disengages, taking over the work from the lower gear. The cogs, chains, and chainrings on this bike are always moving, but only one gear is ever doing the work.
Probably not of much use but I thought it was cool
Sounds like it’s essentially a Sturmey-Archer kick-shift 2-speed hub, but each gear outputs to a separate cog.
I mentioned it in the previous* thread in this community, but a similar thing to this that someone could DIY is retro-direct, which uses 2 freewheels and a longer chain (jockey wheel OR double chainring). This has no switching though, instead pedalling backwards is the other gear.
measure to not use a front-derailleur
Not really specific to front, especially when that’s more of a thing for additional gear range.
* Title:
I saw Berm Peak made a fundraiser again with WBR, so I can’t help but repost this article
One for driving forwards. One for driving backwards.
Couldn’t understand if the rims are made of steel or aluminium. I put Araya rims on my father’s bike when I started to use it and though they are sturdy and shiny they weren’t that great at braking and being trued. I wonder why they didn’t put the same disc brake system from the front wheel of the S1 in the front wheel of the S2. I liked the simplicity of rim brakes but mud and rain really wears quickly an aluminium rim - in my case disc brakes turned out to be more cost effective in the long haul - purging, disc pads and maybe even rotors vs rim pads, rims and truing wheels
