# Bicycles **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 13, 2000, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bicycles/25439 "2000-07-13T15:01:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ATTGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@ATTGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ATTGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2000, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bicycles/25439/21 "2000-07-14T17:14:29Z")
Mount the front gear in a fork between the pedals. ---
**Author:** ![zebbmx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/958977/32.png) [@zebbmx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zebbmx)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2000, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bicycles/25439/22 "2000-07-14T19:00:29Z")
What exactly in hell are you talking about ATT guy? ---
**Author:** ![Lawmill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lawmill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lawmill)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2000, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bicycles/25439/23 "2000-07-14T19:19:39Z")
I think he’s suggesting a bicycle where the chainrings are mounted on the axle of the front wheel. That still poses quite few problems. Where would the cogs(normally mounted on the rear axle) go? The bottom bracket is the obvious place, but the rider would still have to contend with gears near his/her feet and legs. Wouldn’t the chain running from the front wheel to the bottom restrict steering? ---
**Author:** ![zebbmx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/958977/32.png) [@zebbmx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zebbmx)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2000, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bicycles/25439/24 "2000-07-14T20:43:45Z")
yes but i would also have to get a longer chain for that…because the front wheel seems to be farther away from the crank itself anyway… ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2000, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bicycles/25439/25 "2000-07-14T22:06:06Z")
**MK** hasn’t Shimano, et al done exactly that (thinning chain and cogs) with the nine-speed stuff? Yes they did but it was Suntour who started that process off with the 6 speed block. Suntour also started the idea of index shifting, unless you count that strange Simplex system that never took off. By started I mean made commercially viable. The point I was making there was that Shimano once tried to change the length on the chain-links, chain pitch, which meant more links in a given space which in turn could reduce the size of sprockets and chainrings. This turned out to be commercially unviable because it was not widely enough available and incompatible with everything else around at the time. Suntour were first up with the ratchet type of gear lever. Shimano did a Bill Gates.They let other manufacturers start things off and they put up similar parts which usually were cheaper and almost as good but not quite.Still why complain Shimano stuff is very good nowadays. **Lawmill** **ATTguy** 😕 I don’t quite understand what you are getting at. Is there a suggestion of drive being applied to the front wheel? The only time I have seen this is on some recumbant machines where you have rear wheel steering. **Vandal** No it wouldn’t work because the moment you applied pressure you would unscrew the block from the hub.On some hubs you might unscrew the sprockets from the body of the freewheel too. Also the ratchet mechanism of the freewheel would be the wrong way round, you would not get any drive from it anyway **RobotArm** is correct in what h/s says. ---
**Author:** ![Lawmill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lawmill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lawmill)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2000, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bicycles/25439/26 "2000-07-15T03:31:01Z")
> [@](#): > > Lawmill > ATTguy > I don’t quite understand what you are getting at. > Is there a suggestion of drive being applied to the front wheel? > The only time I have seen this is on some recumbant machines where you have rear wheel steering. That’d be the only advantage of mounting part of the drivetrain on the fork. That’s what I think ATT was suggesting. I think FWD is a silly idea though, you’d get horrible grip and many difficult moves(wheelies) would be impossible. However, I remember an ad in a biking magazine(Mountain Bike or MBA?) a few years ago for an all-wheel-drive system. IIRC, a cable ran from part of the drivetrain to the front wheel. The ad didn’t state how the power was transfered exactly, and I didn’t hear anything else about the technology. The main appeal seemed to be better mobility in mud, roots, and snow. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2000, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bicycles/25439/27 "2000-07-15T03:52:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by casdave \* > \*\* > Is there a suggestion of drive being applied to the front wheel? > The only time I have seen this is on some recumbant machines where you have rear wheel steering. > \*\* And the old penny-farthings, which are about as non-recumbant as you can get. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2000, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bicycles/25439/28 "2000-07-15T07:30:54Z")
Doh! How could I have missed that. 🙂 To add to that though how about a strange quadricycle I saw as a kid. It was a hire out job to holidaymakers and had a bench seat which could accomodate three people, or maybe four small ones. It was very slow indeed and was only used for going round a flat caravan site. It had front wheel drive and rear-wheel steering. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bicycles/25439.md?page=1)