Cycling Forums - View Single Post - Old Bike On Ebay With Seatstay Shiftlevers?

11-05-2003, 02:59 PM

Zoot Katz <zootkatz@operamail.com> wrote in message news:<3fb0568c.7039421@news.individual.net>...
> 5 Nov 2003 11:34:19 -0800,
> <27bc6c79.0311051134.4ea65a0e@posting.google.com >,
> bicycle@charter.net (R.White) wrote:
>
> >I noticed this bike on Ebay and it looks like it has the shift levers
> >are mounted on the seatstay. Has anyone seen this set-up before? Would
> >this be operated with the feet or by hand?
>
> Hand operated.
> http://www.rydjor.com/bikecollection/1948bottech.htm
>
> "Two levers run up the right side seat stay. One is to loosen the
> wheel in the dropout and the other to do the shifting. The dropout is
> notched to mesh with the axle which also has nothches on each end. The
> wheel will move forward or back to accomodate the shift from one rear
> cog to the next. Very tricky move to perform, especially in race
> conditions. "

Thanks. I hadn't even thought of the chain slack that would result
with each shift and how it would be taken up/down. Now I have to
ask "why"? I searched and found this:

"The first, easy-to-use derailleur was invented in France in 1910
by Paul de Vivie and shifted among four gears at the pedals.
The first modern rear derailleur was patented two years later by a
Frenchman named Joanny Panel, according to David Herlihy, a bicycle
historian."

I'm assuming these early derailleurs compensated for chain length
the way derailleurs of today do. Moving the axle in the dropout
seems like an answer to a problem that was already taken care of, no?

11-05-2003, 02:59 PM	#3 (permalink)
R.White Guest Posts: n/a	Re: Old Bike On Ebay With Seatstay Shiftlevers? Zoot Katz <zootkatz@operamail.com> wrote in message news:<3fb0568c.7039421@news.individual.net>... > 5 Nov 2003 11:34:19 -0800, > <27bc6c79.0311051134.4ea65a0e@posting.google.com >, > bicycle@charter.net (R.White) wrote: > > >I noticed this bike on Ebay and it looks like it has the shift levers > >are mounted on the seatstay. Has anyone seen this set-up before? Would > >this be operated with the feet or by hand? > > Hand operated. > http://www.rydjor.com/bikecollection/1948bottech.htm > > "Two levers run up the right side seat stay. One is to loosen the > wheel in the dropout and the other to do the shifting. The dropout is > notched to mesh with the axle which also has nothches on each end. The > wheel will move forward or back to accomodate the shift from one rear > cog to the next. Very tricky move to perform, especially in race > conditions. " Thanks. I hadn't even thought of the chain slack that would result with each shift and how it would be taken up/down. Now I have to ask "why"? I searched and found this: "The first, easy-to-use derailleur was invented in France in 1910 by Paul de Vivie and shifted among four gears at the pedals. The first modern rear derailleur was patented two years later by a Frenchman named Joanny Panel, according to David Herlihy, a bicycle historian." I'm assuming these early derailleurs compensated for chain length the way derailleurs of today do. Moving the axle in the dropout seems like an answer to a problem that was already taken care of, no?