MnHPVA Show-N-Tell




Dave Krafft's Retro-Direct SWB Many methods have been used to accomplish Retro-Direct drive. In fact there was yet another version displayed at Interbike a couple of years ago with interrnal gearing. But the simplest and most efficient is the Hirondelle style shown here. Both the top and bottom runs of the chain run over the tops of 2 different sized freewheels, both mounted on the rear hub. Dave finds the muscle use very different pedaling backwards but he is gradually getting used to it and kind of likes the feeling of it. His main problem so far has been the cheap hardware store springs he has been using, which have failed twice at very inconvenient times and locations (of course!). Someone said that these springs have a narrow range of length and tension where they work well, and beyond that they tend to fail very quickly.