The standard derailleur bicycle is regarded as a compromise that NASA could never have come up with. It is simple enough that anyone can try out improvements, and they do. At one time, the world sprint record was set using S shaped cranks. Most modifications have less technical effect than placebo effect, so myths persist. The US Olympic bikes were a rare product of actual lab testing.
I actually made two friends from strangers asking me how to promote the same idea that they had come up with, which also hits the market about every second decade. One was a dreamer, also into perpetual motion, and the other an accomplished professional in another field. Their idea was proposed for upright bikes, but only works well on recumbents, which they had not considered.
Trivia Corner: The album "Disraeli Gears" by Cream copies the name that the bass player, Jack Bruce, used for derailleur gears.
01 Aug 2020, 12:10 pm
