| Re: Needed new bike design
On 23 Jan 2007 09:44:58 -0800, "cmcanulty" <cmcanulty@gmail.com> may
have said:
>I think the thing needed for practical winter riding where snow and
>salt are the norm is a fully enclosed drivetrain and brake system. Why
>has no one come up with this? It would also greatly ease cleaning and
>maintenance chores for everyone.
Huh? I have a bike like that here. It's about 30 years old, and ones
like it were (and probably still are) as common in parts of Europe as
pickup trucks are in Texas. Fully enclosed chain, gearhub, drum
brakes; all of these things have been around since before WWII. The
reason that you don't see them in the US very often is that most
Americans are wimps when it comes to going places, particularly in bad
weather; they drive *everywhere*, even to a store two blocks from
where they live. Even a lot of otherwise avid cyclists won't ride in
rain...and even fewer in snow. Thus, there's just not enough demand
to make it possible to market a bike like that in the US mass-market
arenas profitably. At least, not yet.
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