We currently have a racing trike with a basic drive train set up, however it involves running sections of the chain through plastic piping. This seems to be the way practically every team is doing it, however I'm thinking that there must be a more efficient/smoother way that would decrease friction etc since the chain rubs along the pipe and bounces around when on a lumpy surface. I'm wondering what other people are doing with the drive lines and if that way is more efficient than the one we are currently running. I'm not sure how to attach photos so hopefully I have explain it well enough.
We don't use chain tubes in our designs. A chain tube may be a better option than allowing chain flop but our opinion is that keeping chain runs as short as possible and using proper chain tension along with glides will have a lower coefficient of friction than the tubes.
Don
"it's important to understand what makes them fast. It's more important to understand what keeps them from going faster." DS
Alex, We use rollers with teeth on all positions where the chain line has an angle. For long straight runs, which seem complimentary to the rear wheel drive solutions, we insert arced Teflon pads mid span between rollers. Our untested theory is that this results in less friction than the bearings on an additional roller coupled with the friction resulting from even a slightly angled change in chain alignment. Keep the chain straight and don't let it flop beats bending it around a roller?
"it's important to understand what makes them fast. It's more important to understand what keeps them from going faster." DS
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Posted - 06/25/2014 : 05:06:18
