Friction or chain drive - what's best?
- Thread starter diamond
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BarelyAWake
New Member
Re: FRICTION DRIVE or CHAIN DRIVE-WHATS BEST
Friction drives are awesome for their simplicity and ease of mounting, but the darkside is a loss of efficiency and excessive tire wear.
The chain drives while a bit more work to mount properly are the most efficient, they also don't suffer from "slippage" should it be raining/snowing.
Personally - I prefer a mid-engine, in-frame, chain-drive as I think it the best of all (inc. weight and balance), while it's more of an effort to convert a bicycle - there's a reason motorcycles have their engine where they do
Having said that - I've had all of the above and each had advantages/disadvantages, every build is a compromise depending on what you want... and every last dang one of 'em was a blast to ride 
Friction drives are awesome for their simplicity and ease of mounting, but the darkside is a loss of efficiency and excessive tire wear.
The chain drives while a bit more work to mount properly are the most efficient, they also don't suffer from "slippage" should it be raining/snowing.
Personally - I prefer a mid-engine, in-frame, chain-drive as I think it the best of all (inc. weight and balance), while it's more of an effort to convert a bicycle - there's a reason motorcycles have their engine where they do
Having said that - I've had all of the above and each had advantages/disadvantages, every build is a compromise depending on what you want... and every last dang one of 'em was a blast to ride 
Elmo
New Member
I have a friction drive and in wet conditions it won't go just slips. My next build is chain drive. That said a friction drive works well, mine has no excessive tire wear. I think the tire will last more than 1000 miles. And if you use a weedeater engine it can be one of the least expensive builds out there. It is your choice and you will have fun with whatever you build.
Elmo
Elmo