Chain Placement

[Stretched@Birth]

Following on from the Brake Placement thread, what about the chain...? Came across this pic of a very pretty SS, but the chain is on the wrong side. Thought maybe the "negative" was reversed, but the rest of the stuff on the pic is the right way round. This leads to the question though, why are bicycle chains normally on the right, whereas motorcycles are on the left. Maybe a question for Mr JB...

[SwissVan]

I wrecked my brein and all i can think of is:

 

White Right is right

[AndreZA]

Anybody got documentation why the drivetrain of bikes are on the right?

[Willehond]

Just convention (I think Sheldon Brown has something to say about it)

[Wyatt Earp]

Tradition.

Tullio was a righty.

[The Saint]

Deslexic mechanic?

[LeTurbo]

Trust a SSer to be different. I'm guessing the right-hand chain comes from the days of mounting horses (keep it clean, please) from the left.

[AndreZA]

But with a fixie and those cranks it is easy to do.

[Woofie]

But with a fixie and those cranks it is easy to do.

 

Thats true.

He wouldnt have to change around the hub internals.

 

Very easy indeed then.

 

Could have one problem though.....

The pedals may unscrew themselves now.

[FlatCruiser]

also on the right hand side, must be that majority of people are right handed/right footed ??

[PhilipV]

Back in the day the cluster/freehub was one unit, and screwed onto the hub. By placing it on the right it would tighten itself. If it was on the left and the freebody stopped "freeing" it would unscrew itself.

I remember a while back some bmx bikes were making left drive bikes for riders that liked to grind on the right hand side

[Wyatt Earp]

Back in the day the cluster/freehub was one unit, and screwed onto the hub. By placing it on the right it would tighten itself. If it was on the left and the freebody stopped "freeing" it would unscrew itself.

I remember a while back some bmx bikes were making left drive bikes for riders that liked to grind on the right hand side

But not as far back in the day as when it was decided to be on the right hand side.

[Minion]

This leads to the question though, why are bicycle chains normally on the right, whereas motorcycles are on the left. Maybe a question for Mr JB.

If you look at vintage motor bikes (pre-20s) most of them have the chain on the right. I don't know what prompted the change to the left.

[bikemonster]

Trust a SSer to be different. I'm guessing the right-hand chain comes from the days of mounting horses (keep it clean, please) from the left.

 

In a similar vein, I was thinking that for most people their "chocolate foot" is their right foot, so when they stop, the left foot goes down. With the left foot down, it made sense to put the grubby chain on the RHS, to avoid muck getting on one's clothes in the days when the bicycle was a means of transport for working persons.

 

I don't think we can blame this on Tullio!

[Frosty]

I always wondered why there was thread on the left side of the hub (when standing behind the bike), and eventually found the answer... flip-flop hubs

A single speed in fixed/freewheel options.

Does this technically mean it is no longer a single-speed (assuming you use 2 different sizes cogs)?