I had seen videos that showed using a grease gun, but that was for earlier generations of the bikes. Maintenance is also greatly reduced since you can go hundreds of miles (they claim up to 5000) without having to do anything beyond adding some more grease or oil. Since all gearing is internal, you can wear long pants without having to tie them up, and there's no grease when you load or unload the bike from a rack. Speaking of grease, it is also a much cleaner bike. I already feel I could confidently change the rear tire of the Runabout 8 without getting grease all over me. In 17 years with my Trek, I have only changed the rear tire once so I have never gotten "good" at it. Compare that to the mess an inexperienced biker (like myself) might have doing the same with a derailleur. Changing the back tire becomes a very simple thing involving removing a dust cover, losening two bolts, and undoing a cable before sliding the tire out. Going chainless has many advantages, but the main one is simplty not having a chain to maintain or deal with. A few accessories can be ordered from the factory, but all are standard off-the-shelf items you can find at local bike shops usually at a lower cost due to not having to pay for shipping. The bike uses a Shimano twist grip shifter but can be custom ordered with a speed shifter instead. The Runabout 8 weighs 31 pounds, which makes it about the same as a 2004 Trek 7300 hybrid (30.8 pounds) and a bit heavier than my 21" 1998 Trek 6800 mountain bike (27.4 pounds). It seems the normal discount is 25%-35% from list price. Recently, itwas on sale at 40% off for $589 (or 30% off the "Premium" version). Although it has a list price of $999, I have never seen it sell for that. The Runabout 8 is a hybrid bike (available in 16", 18" and 21" inch models). Beyond the custom frame and shaft drive, everything else about the bikes is pretty standard. Instead of a chain and standard dereailleur, the bikes feature a shaft drive (by Sussex) and internalgear hub (by Shimano, the same type used in some trikes). They have a few models of street bikes, a hybrid, and even a folding bike. Companyĭynamic Bicycles out of Rhode Island has been producing a small line of chainless bikes for the past ten years. When an opportunity came up to review one, I jumped at the chance. In fact, beyond one news posting here on Bike Iowa from 2008, I could find virtually no references to chainless bikes anywhere in Iowa. After discovering the existence of "chainless bikes" three years ago, I have been casually researching them and asking every bike shop I visited if they carried any.
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