A Futile Effort

Some people just don't like being past no matter how futile their efforts are to stay in front of you. Just the other day a Cannondale peddle only road bike was in front of me at a red light. On the other side of the light was a very steep hill. When the light changed I was going to pass him but he speeded up. We were side by side. Then my motorized 5 speed autoshift bike changed gears and I pulled slightly ahead. He had a surprised look on his face when he heard my bike change from first to second. He stood up and caught up with me then the hill became a little less steep and my bike shifted into third gear. I pulled ahead again. He started peddling harder and was slightly behind me. The road leveled out. Then my bike shifted into forth gear and I pulled way ahead of him. I looked in my mirror at the defeated look on his face. My bike then shifted into fifth and he disappeared as I left him way behind.

Now that he knows he'll probably never try it again. I've probably have spent as much on my bike as he did on his.

I use a LandRider derailleur. I modified the drive pulley to fit onto a Staton Inc hub. I made a custom 5 speed freewheel (34, 28, 24, 20, 16). I use a Sram 890 chain. This is done through a Staton Inc shiftkit. I've found if I keep my chain lube real good it keeps the shifting smooth. There's the Kilduff shifter which shifts a Shimano Nexus 3 speed hub automatically. I've seen a bike which came out last year its called the Autobike. This bike shift a Nuvinci 360 hub automatically. It cost about $1000 and has an aluminium frame. They might sell the shifting system itself I haven't contacted them yet.

Yes he did better than most of them. Still seeing the " Agony of Defeat " on his face was a good feeling.

biknut said:

Where I live in Dallas it's mostly flat. One day I was riding downtown on my Beach cruiser, and was stopped at a light. 2 spandex riders were also waiting for the light to change. One of them looked over at me and asked if I wanted to race. I just had to laugh, because Stunner easily goes faster than 35 mph.

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I been to Dallas before its a great city at least it was in the late 70's. LOL My bike rev's really high in first gear. What was so funny was the look on the spandx warrior's face when he heard it change gears.