Chicago-based nonprofit World Bicycle Relief (WBR) doesn’t distribute just any type of bicycle ??? it distributes bicycles meant to navigate the unimproved roads and rough terrain of developing nations, empowering populations to access healthcare, education and economic opportunities that would???
I am so in love with the idea of this bike and it’s predecessor the Buffalo, and I really wish that they would turn their attention for “relief” towards North America. I am sure that there are many people in Africa who benefit greatly from these bikes, but the “we’re going to save your community because you haven’t discovered bikes yet” model is pretty heavily loaded with some at-least-orange flags for white saviorism.
I really wish that instead of (or at least in addition to) trying to save the poor people on the other side of the world, they’d send a few dozen of these things to homeless shelters around the country. I understand that many people don’t think homeless people deserve nice things and might think this is a waste, but the freedom and mobility of a bicycle is just as powerful for lifting people out of poverty here as it is in Africa.
I prefer walking
Instead of equipping the bike with a bunch of cogs, cables and added components, it’s split the powertrain out into two separate drives: a high chainring connected to a rear cog via a dedicated chain and a low chainring chained to a second rear cog on the same hub. All hardware is located on the right side of the bike, and the rider simply backpedals half a revolution to activate the switchable freewheel from high to low and vice versa.
Neat idea! The shifting cog might be a unique part that’s hard to source but maybe they found a way to macguyver it from common parts, or worst case scenario one could slap a standard cog and some spacers on there in a pinch.
For some background about World Bicycle Relief and the original “Buffalo Bike”, see this video by Berm Peak on Nebula (also YouTube).
As for the 2-chainz design, I think it’s fairly brilliant, as a way to avoid a delicate derailleur, which MTBers will know is vulnerable on terrain due to being low-slung. This sort of thinking also highlights how engineering and design make tradeoffs, since the weight penalty of an extra chain is not important when the ultimate objective is a rugged, durable bicycle.
Your “2-Chainz” link goes to the article on the actor, not the bicycle design.
What’s with all “???” in the description, my dude???
