Video: YouTube Engineer Creates Homemade Chainless Drive Bicycle

Nov 15, 2021 at 8:39
by James Smurthwaite  

Do you remember the Ceramic Speed 'Driven' drivetrain that first debuted at Eurobike in 2018? Well, a YouTube engineer has now created his own version that seems to be in full working order.

The Q is a channel run by an anonymous engineer who has previously created a bike that use circular saw blades as wheels to ride on ice and a fat bike with Formula 1 tyres. Of course, this is a bit more primitive than Ceramic Speed's drivetrain, which is aiming to be fully shifting with even a full suspension mountain bike version in the pipeline, but it's also taken a lot less time (and presumably money) to get to the prototype stage. Skip to 4:17 to see the bike in action.

bigquotesImagine bicycle without chain. Can it work as well as regular one? Well.. let's watch this cool experiment and find out. Yes, this prototype works but definitely needs some modifications.The Q


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Member since Nov 14, 2018
1,770 articles

107 Comments
  • 175 8
 This isn't new; many bikes in the early 1900's were built with driveshafts like these. The bicycle chain was invented as an improvement over these 'clunky' driveshafts :-)
  • 76 1
 Even so, I love seeing people take on projects like these just for the hell of it.
  • 18 3
 Lots of city bikes in EU works this way as it is more robust than a chain. Also comparison with ceramic speed is completely off since this one has no gears.
  • 7 0
 My grandmother has a picture of one that I think her grandfather made, it would have been around the turn of the last century so yes they're nothing new at all!
  • 3 0
 Here in the US, both the Portland, OR and Los Angeles, CA (and probably other places as well) bike share programs initially used shaft drives, intelligently paired with internally geared hubs.
  • 34 0
 "In Soviet Russia, bicycle rides you"
  • 3 13
flag RadBartTaylor (Nov 15, 2021 at 12:30) (Below Threshold)
 yeah exactly....perfect example of 'promotion' to a fan base unaware of this kind of tech.....good use of social media to *rediscover* this but you see it often.....

Certainly misleading with a catch phrase of "Engineer Creates..."
  • 17 2
 @RadBartTaylor: "creates" is significantly different than "invents".
  • 4 30
flag RadBartTaylor (Nov 15, 2021 at 13:59) (Below Threshold)
 @giantcop:

synonym

noun

a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word or phrase in the same language
  • 1 0
 My grand father had a french Peugeot bike from the 1930's which had a transmission like that.
  • 1 0
 @lkubica: except the ceramic speed system doesn't have a working model HAHA
  • 2 1
 @beeeefkirky: Fake projects...
  • 1 0
 @RadBartTaylor: like ignorant vs. stupid? life is about nuance...unless you're basic.
  • 2 2
 @giantcop: lol - If it makes me basic for knowing they are effectively the same goddamn word, I guess I'll have to take it?
  • 2 0
 @RadBartTaylor: according to you, if a couple gets together and CREATES a baby, they have also INVENTED babies? Genius!
  • 3 0
 @giantcop: Well in that case, since I have two kids.. PATENT PENDING!!!! YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST!
  • 1 2
 @giantcop: this is the stupidest discussion I've ever had on PB....but:

Engineer Creates way to power car with Potato

Engineer Invents way to power car with Potato

Regardless, I don't disagree that the word Invent and Creates are used differently in common vernacular, but context matters....but to suggest they are significantly different is incorrect (aka wrong, errant, you can pick the word you want)
  • 3 0
 @RadBartTaylor: I'm just taking my frustrations with the voluntary willful dumbing down of society out on you.
  • 2 0
 @RadBartTaylor: It's an article about a guy who made a cool thing, unlike you and I who are wasting our free time in the comment section.
  • 1 0
 @giantcop: no problem brother....my frustration is with social media....but maybe I was projecting too much, I think it's a cool project....but when I see headlines that I think many people would take as "Invents" (as you point out) I get aggravated....
  • 3 0
 @RadBartTaylor: @giantcop
Did you two just become best friends?!

Prestige Worldwide!!
  • 1 0
 should be just about as perfect in mud, gravel, and sand as having a big, loose tree branch jump between your wheel spokes
  • 35 1
 Because of the duopoly on drivetrain production in the bike industry, technology like this always gets the shaft
  • 1 3
 let us hope it'll really get the shaft this time. gearbox and a shaft drive fully, ride and forget then ride again. if it were in anyone's interest, you could build a dh bike that need work on in less often than you need to change brake pads.

edit in case no one believes me - what are cars, magic? and they have freaking engines.
  • 6 0
 Well, looks like you are going to start a chain of puns with this comment.
  • 12 3
 I don’t know what people on pinkbike do with their bikes, but I mainly lube my chain infrequently, and ride the hell out of mine, with basically no issues.

The SRAM/Shimano “duopoly” and Big Derailleur seems like the ramblings of folks who might be into far too many other nonsensical conspiracies.
  • 3 1
 hell clam bro, embrace the vowels!
  • 7 1
 @hllclmbr: “Big Derailleur” saw my coffee just exit via my nostrils… love it.
  • 4 0
 @hllclmbr: comments like that really grind my gears
  • 1 0
 @hllclmbr: … and there will be great wearing and gnashing of teeth.
  • 16 0
 That was a long ad to sit through just to see someone turn an old cruiser into a fixed gear
  • 7 0
 Yes, but at least you got to listen to some great music.
  • 14 2
 It's just welding, and a very weak design at that. He only copied existing designs
  • 8 0
 What's old is new again...when patents expire or when someone finds historic photos of bicycles. Besides the aforementioned shaft drive bicycles from a over a century ago, there was a company in the USA in the 90s offering 2WD bicycles via a planetary gear cog power take-off from the rear hub similar to this one and a flexible steel cable running inside a span of housing that transmitted the torque to a similar planetery gear on the front hub. Later versions with specific frame constructions ran a series of splined shafts and gears inside the frame tubes. Nowadays though 2WD is more easily solved by independant electric hub motors and battery packs.
  • 1 1
 If only that were true ?
We could ride bikes like this!
www.pinkbike.com/video/218538
Welcome to the real world?
  • 2 0
 *Christini bikes
  • 3 0
 I recently sold a 1905 two speed kick back dual suspension shaft drive columbia bicycle. Columbia got rid of the shaft drive for a reason
  • 2 0
 @wburnes: now we know what all those mormon missionaries are riding around on
  • 9 0
 Pretty cool, but he used WD-40 for gear lubricant? LOL.
  • 1 0
 That is what I thought lol...a little grease would go a long way.
  • 8 0
 Somebody once told me that the 'WD' stood for water displacement and that the '40' was your IQ if you used it as a lubricant.
  • 1 0
 At snowshoe this year, WD-40 was there with a booth. I was chatting with the guy, really cool. WD-40 has an actual chainlube product now, and I was joking that who would buy such a thing. He then reminded me that normal, everyday wd-40 is the most commonly used chainlube on the planet. Had a good chuckle over that
  • 1 0
 @hamncheez: WD-40 does have a lot of good bike specific lubricants now.
  • 1 0
 @h82crash: While I'm sure WD-40 recommends their WD-40 bike specific lubricants for using on that gear, WD-40 says that the standard WD-40 is a blend of "lubricants and anti-corrosive agents". Perhaps we are all wrong. Lol.

Here is directly from the WD-40 Myths webpage.
A Question of Lubrication

Myth: WD-40 Multi-Use Product is not really a lubricant.

Fact: While the “W-D” in WD-40 stands for Water Displacement, WD-40 Multi-Use Product is a unique, special blend of lubricants. The product’s formulation also contains anti-corrosion agents and ingredients for penetration, water displacement and soil removal.
  • 1 0
 @tacklingdummy: Yes, thats what I said
  • 1 0
 @tacklingdummy: Original WD40 (that blue can) was invented to protect outer shell of intercontinental balistic missiles (Atlas). Not to lubricate it, to protect it. OFC webpage says its lubricant, water is lubricant too, but both sux as lubricant

btw. recipe is kept in secret for over 60 years
  • 3 0
 @tacklingdummy: *GT85 has entered the chat
  • 2 0
 @tacklingdummy: Actually the same person also told me that the main ingredient was kerosene. Not sure if there is any truth to that but it might explain why it burns so well.
  • 1 0
 @wuadeq: Yeah, but since the company WD-40 says it is a multi-use lubricant than I will take their word for it. I think their description is pretty accurate. I do use original WD-40 for specific things on my bike, but never ever as chain lube. Lol.

Here is WD-40 company's description of the Original WD-40.

"WD-40 Multi-Use Product protects metal from rust and corrosion, penetrates stuck parts, displaces moisture and lubricates almost anything."
  • 2 0
 @hamncheez: Forgot to put "Yeah" at the beginning of my sentence. Lol.
  • 7 1
 The kickstarter for ceramic speed is really starting to show some promising results
  • 7 0
 Is his channel called ‘the Q’ because of what he did to the Q factor?
  • 2 0
 He's calling himself Q, and he's Anon(ymous)...I think we've blown this thing wide open lol
  • 2 0
 As pointed out - not a new idea by any means. I worked for a few summers assembling bikes for Dynamic Bicycles who was pushing chainless bikes using a Sussex system for several years: www.gadgetreview.com/dynamic-bicycles-tempo-cross-8-review

The shaft drive has quite a bit of energy loss compared to a chain (further exaggerated by an internally geared hub) - it feels mushy when putting any real power down. It also requires good lubrication to avoid awful grinding/squeaking noises (ours were loaded with grease), so this guys choice to leave it exposed seems prone to issues.

It's a nice solution for casual beach cruisers in sandy/salty environments. Or, maybe for fat bikes in super muddy environments for hunting/military use. Beyond that, it's hard to justify the energy loss.
  • 5 4
 Pretty impressive quick build. Its pretty ghetto, but he rode the thing. Shaft drive will never be a realistic drive train system for bikes, but a fun little project none the less. I wonder how much torque he can put on the pedals before the gears start to skip? Looking at those dropouts it can't be much!
  • 1 2
 Shaft drive is a realistic and regularly used drivetrain system for bikes (pushbikes and moto alike) and has been for 100+ years. Just not necessarily more performance oriented pushbikes.
  • 1 0
 @bananowy: "Regularly used" Okay. Count the number of shaft drive bikes you see around town this month and compare that to the number of chain driven bikes you see. Shaft drive is incredibly rare because it is expensive to produce and less efficient than chain drive.
  • 8 3
 Oof, imagine getting your finger (or dick) caught in that gear.
  • 20 0
 imagine thinking that comment (or not thinking at all) and posting it on Pinkbike.
  • 14 0
 I'm not sure you're using your drivetrain in the conventional manner.
  • 3 0
 From our friend the genius Jon Heim, a shaft driven DH bike in 2002. Designed to deal with Northstar:

www.leelikesbikes.com/from-the-archives-the-shaft.html
  • 1 1
 This is cool...too bad the Shimano and Sram have a strangle hold on the market.
  • 1 0
 Less efficient but possibly more durable if the metallurgy is right. My design of 30 years ago would incorporate a roller clutch so it isn't a fixie. Well the rear differential in millions of cars is a hypoid for a reason, not straight cut but then I put 10-speed forks on a banana bike in the early '70s and I thought I was a genius. I am, but you get the picture.
  • 4 0
 Oh look it's the 1800's again!!!!!!!!
  • 1 0
 Drive shaft power transmission falls short of belt drive falls short of chain drive in terms of efficiency. I'll stick with the chain but this was certainly a clever downgrade!
  • 5 1
 I’d love too see how well it deals with a gram of mud thrown on it…
  • 2 3
 Easy to put some covers on
  • 6 0
 I see your gram of mud and raise it by 5 grains of sand!
  • 4 0
 just so happy youtube can adjust playback speed
  • 3 0
 I only watch youtube at 2x speed
  • 1 0
 LLLLLL .... LLLL ....
  • 4 0
 it would be difficult to find a worse bike.
  • 2 0
 So many things to appreciate. I particularly love the spindly unsupported driveside dropout.
  • 4 0
 wtf am i watching, Outside? This is bottom level content
  • 2 0
 Would be better with a usable gear, not even a single speed God would be happy running 1-1 gear ratio?
  • 2 0
 I have a 28/16 ratio on a 27.5 and it is way too low except for climbing. Any downhill grade it is pointless to pedal.
  • 3 0
 Cotter pins, thanks for the reminder.
  • 3 0
 Stand up and see what happens.
  • 2 0
 even if it not new its pretty cool, looks trippy like its an incomplete bike
  • 1 0
 I can't recall a cleaner looking bike. If the drive-ring was against the BB, it'd be slightly more aesthetically pleasing.
  • 2 0
 I built one exactly like that for my senior project in college in 1998. Old news.
  • 1 0
 As far as I know, to be a youtube engineer you need to work for youtube. I don't think the author of these videos ever claimed he was working for Alphabet Inc.
  • 2 0
 The earlier sharing bikes called Mobike are chainless, too, andrides jusrt like a shit
  • 1 0
 Oh I used those when living in Chengdu. The foamtires and smog didnt help either Big Grin
  • 1 0
 This is his idea and it is nice. Definitely, it is not something new like an invention.
  • 1 0
 At least this bike ended up better than it was before he started to work on it.
  • 1 0
 At least this bike ended up better than it was before he started working on it.
  • 2 0
 Perfect for a single-speed ebike!
  • 2 0
 Ain't no freewheeling, watch those downhills.
  • 1 0
 maybe add pegs and take ones feet off the pedals.
  • 1 0
 if i am not wrong, there's a transmission model on the market called shaft drive that works with a alfine hub.
  • 1 0
 Here’s an idea , let’s make a drivetrain out of these piece of shit drills that never worked properly
  • 1 0
 WD40 for lube?

What’s old is new again, indeed.
  • 1 0
 Pretty cool backyard build. Put this on the grim donut and hit some drops.
  • 1 0
 Love me some bevel gears!
  • 2 0
 Insane?
  • 1 0
 What's "insane" about this?
  • 1 0
 I love the amount of grease used in this demo.
  • 1 0
 Old archive stuff. Next... High pivots with an idler...
  • 1 0
 Looks painfully slow.. go the gear ratio off
  • 1 0
 I think Homeboy is gonna need a bigger gear, top speed is like 5mph!
  • 1 0
 The fuck is this monstrosity.
  • 1 0
 Nice DIY job
  • 1 2
 Just because you can, doesn't mean you should...
  • 1 2
 Get this outta here!
  • 1 2
 Looks shite is shite.







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