the 2018 edition of eurobike has announced its winning entries, which includes a chainless bicycle. developed by CeramicSpeed and dubbed ‘driven’, the system is still a prototype and currently requires a special frame. this revolutionary drivetrain concept aims to set a new standard in efficiency by eliminating the need for derailleurs and chains, replacing them with a pinion-style driveshaft system.

ceramicspeed chainless bike designboom

 

 

the driven concept has been developed by CeramicSpeed in collaboration with the mechanical engineering department at the university of colorado. it intends to have less drag, less weight, and take up less space than conventional bicycles. it also creates 49% less friction by eliminating all eight points of sliding friction. to achieve this performance, ‘driven’ uses a total of 21 bearings that play a crucial role. thanks to extremely low rolling friction and longevity, the bearings transfer torque from the front ring through the drive shaft, then onto the 13-speed rear cog.

ceramicspeed chainless bike designboom

 

ceramicspeed chainless bike designboom

ceramicspeed chainless bike designboom

ceramicspeed chainless bike designboom

juliana neira I designboom
jul 10, 2018

  • Cars have been using this type of transmission ever since.
    Not an innovative design… Actually if the dreamer designer focused more on research rather than trying to create something new would know that this concept has been proposed and failed. due to its inefficiency of converting muscular movement to radial motion.
    Still, nice though.

    Truth says:
    Jul 12, 2018
    Reply

  • looks beautiful and interesting, but I doubt the small contact surface will be able to transfer real (more than a few hundred watts) power without distorting the cogs or jump over them …….

    rick says:
    Jul 12, 2018
    Reply

  • @Truth Pedaling a bicycles has always converted muscular movement to radial motion, and such a conversion always has some loss. I’m not sure how this reality impacts the proposed solution. They claim, that their solution improves efficiency over the standard chain solution, not that it has no inefficiencies.

    RBuss says:
    Jul 16, 2018
    Reply

  • Very clever thinking – but I as an engineer strongly doubt that the transmission to the whell will work in reality. There’s definetely an axial force implied and this would push the silver gears away to the inside. This stuff is going to jump over teeth and will be destroyed soon because once bended the axial forces will rise. Too, the carbon tube will bend outwards and the gear shifting friction will rise enormously under load.
    Additionally, not calculated but estimated, the small bearings will be overloaded soon because there’s always not more than three of them under load, if at all…mostly only one.
    Sorry, looks nice, but I think it won’t work.

    Dirk says:
    Jul 16, 2018
    Reply

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