Excellent reply to my questions. Thank you!!
I bought a new car about 6 months ago and didn't give it near as much thought as I have on the bike engine.
My main concern is performance and reliability. I was actually ready to order the Stanton friction drive kit yesterday. I called them for their recommendation on what diameter roller they would recommend to handle the steep hills in East Tennesse. For simplicity what could be more trouble free than direct drive via roller to the wheel. No belts to break or stretch, no chain to strech and require adjustment, and a quality Honda or Robin 4 stroke engine that you can actually by parts for. He said I sould look at the chain drive so I did. I know the roller drive will slip when wet and will probably wear out the rear tire faster but I am a casual rider and don't ride in the rain. Plus I didn't see any real negatives about it on this forum.
As far as the engine is concerned I have not even considered a 2 stroke. I don't like the noise, the mixing of oil, and the mess that comes out the exhaust. In my younger days I had a 2 stroke Honda dirt bike and you could hear me comming a mile away. I have owned may weed eaters and leaf blowers in my life and found that the two cycle engines were only good for a couple of years of occasional use before the rings stuck due to carbon buildup or the exhaust port clogged with carbon.
A think I have looked at every kit available. I have the skills to install any of them and even have a machine shop available where I work so that is not an issue. One of my biggest concerns, and correct me if I am wrong, is that I don't like the idea of anything that pulls on the spokes. I just don't see that lasting a long time without bending, breaking, or otherwise damaging the spokes and wheels. I was looking at the Stanton chain drive because it drove the hub.
The $100.00 Chinese kits are not in consideration because of all issues above and reliabiliy. I want to ride it, not work on it all the time.
Ruled out GEBE because of the belt and spoke issue and it was more than I wanted to spend. I want to keep this in the $400.00 to $500.00 range.
Ruled out the Titan because Chinese 2 stroke (parts issue), most reasons above, and looking at the red bike on Daxs website the way he mounted the kit looks like something out of my junk pile. How many brackets does he have on that thing?
So I guess I am back to friction drive or chain drive from Stanton and buying one of their wheels. Concerning their wheels. Website says must have threaded freewheel. I have not received my Schwinn yet but I believe that it probably has a slip on freewheel and cassette. Does that mean that in addition to the wheel I will have to purchase a new threaded freewheel cluster combo?
Well, long post and thanks for reading. Any comments from the experts out there will be appreciated. This is a great fourm. Glad I found it before I just started buying stuff.
