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Hack! Homemade “Swinger Bike” with Transparent 3-Speed Gear Box

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transparent gearbox on homemade swinger bicycle

Tinkerer and bicycle lover Champx has created a transparent three-speed gearbox for his homemade “swinger” bike.

Constructed with cogs pulled from other internally geared hubs, the mechanical design is inspired by old tractors. The cranks drive a spindle with three different size cogs, and a brass slider engages keyed teeth inside the cogs one at a time to determine the gear. These turn a lower spindle, which is then connected back to a larger cog that turns an outer axle with the chainring attached on the outside. It’s all housed in a custom made plexiglass case and mounted to his own bike.

This is one of those projects that’s definitely better shown than told, so click on through to see how it all comes together. And see what a “swinger” bike is…

transparent gearbox on homemade swinger bicycle

Here’s the almost finished gearbox. A single piece of orange plexiglass was used to get the spacing right, but it gives the impression that the whole thing glows orange.

transparent gearbox on homemade swinger bicycle

A shifter slides the brass piece, which moves an internal axle to connect with an individual cog.

transparent gearbox on homemade swinger bicycle

This bit actuates the slider, which is pulled by the shifter cable by way of a couple of rods and pivot.

transparent gearbox on homemade swinger bicycle

A heavier duty return spring assembly was incorporated to pull the cable taut. You can see the first version in the photo above this one.

Here’s the bike in action, which is every bit as wild as the gearbox:

Want to create your own? See if you can follow along over on his Instructables page…where there’s also an Instructable on how to create a hubless bike, plus a few quick videos of the gearbox and tons more photos.

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Topmounter
Topmounter
11 years ago

Are “Swinger Bikes” designed to be highly maneuverable for bicycle polo?

Jeff
11 years ago

“Are ‘Swinger Bikes’ designed to be highly maneuverable for bicycle polo?”

No, they’re designed to be ridden by multiple users, in some cases simultaneously.

Quinn
Quinn
11 years ago

Topmounter- swinger bikes are more along the lines of Franken-bikes, Tall bikes and Conference bikes

carl
11 years ago

Nice bit of engineering. Sachs and Zundapp motorcycles had transmissions that worked in the same way.

ccolagio
ccolagio
11 years ago

theyre insanely fun to ride! and bike polo is an insanely fun sport!

John
John
11 years ago

But how much does it weigh?!

BubbRubb
BubbRubb
11 years ago

I hear they’re working on a recumbent 29’er version.

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