On Saturday, April 2, 2022 at 5:46:54 PM UTC-7, AMuzi wrote:
> On 4/2/2022 7:20 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
> > On 4/2/2022 9:57 AM, Roger Merriman wrote:
> >> Axel Reichert <ma...@axel-reichert.de> wrote:
> >>> Frank Krygowski <frkr...@sbcglobal.net> writes:
> >>>
> >>>> I'm curious what the Moulton uses for its drive train.
> >>>> How did it
> >>>> solve the problem of sufficiently high gears with small
> >>>> wheels?
> >>>
> >>> By using sufficiently large chain rings. (-:
> >>>
> >>> If remember correctly, my test bike had a pretty standard
> >>> cassette,
> >>> maybe 11-34, but considerably larger chain rings. See
> >>> here for
> >>> specifications:
> >>>
> >>> https://www.moultonbicycles.co.uk/models.html
> >>>
> >>> By the way, the position on my Brompton is almost to the
> >>> millimeter
> >>> identical with the randonneur. On the tops, that is,
> >>> there is no
> >>> equivalent for the hoods position: Any longer barends
> >>> conflict
> >>> with the fold, so I have only short Ergons.
> >>>
> >>> Best regards
> >>>
> >>> Axel
> >>>
> >>
> >> Seems to be road standard chain rings ie 39/53 which
> >> admittedly is bigger
> >> than the more common? Compacts and the like!
> >>
> >> Quoted as. 22.5-98 which is slightly lower than normal, my
> >> gravel bike is
> >> 26-118in as comparison.
> >
> > IMO, almost no non-competitive riders get significant
> > benefit from a gear higher than 100 gear inches. Some have
> > disagreed in long discussions we've had here, but their
> > arguments seemed no better than "Well, I used the high gear
> > for a bit yesterday." Using it doesn't prove benefit.
> >
> > But having said that: Moultons have 17" wheels, right? A
> > chainring large enough to duplicate the gearing of a "big
> > wheel" bike would need to be huge - roughly 27/17 or 1.6
> > times as large. So instead of (say) a 50 tooth, you'd need
> > an 80 tooth. Those are far from common and possibly
> > inconvenient for packing the folded bike.
> >
> >
> Many Moulton models used ultra small rear sprockets which
> help. For the Mark III, 56x13 with an AW gearbox is 98
> inches. Oh, and Moultons do not fold, although later models
> (the AM-7 & after) are take-apart.

Well, I never saw them on BART but assumed that they folded up somehow.