If you have every closely looked at a bike chain and thought about it you will have realised the horizontal gap in each link is either wide or narrow. This is the gap the tooth on the cog fits into.
Red – narrow and Blue wide
However all the teeth on the cogs are the same width.
When changing gears on a derailleur the chain moves horizontally left or right which means often the teeth on the cog don’t exactly line up with the gap in the chain.
Some astute fellows in New Zealand realised this and designed a chain ring where the teeth alternate in thickness. Narrow teeth for the narrow gap in the chain and wider teeth for the larger gap. This meant changing gears would be both smoother and more accurate.
They also identified that when a Bafang centre hub electric motor was fitted to a bike the chain was moved further away from the hub making the line of the chain more curved. They cleverly designed a main chain ring with alternate wide/narrow teeth which were then offset on the ring bring the teeth back into line.
Then they made a bad mistake. They decided to have their clever chain ring made in China. Yes, it would be much cheaper to make the rings in China but the Chinese are not interested in honouring intellectual copyright. When my chain ring arrived today I immediately noticed it wasn’t marked with the words “Lekkie - Designed in New Zealand”
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My assumption is the Chinese manufacturer has allowed the New Zealanders to invent the ring and prove the concept works, before stealing the idea. One assumes the factory produces the Lekkie Ring by day and the replica by night.
To a different subject
I had not realised young Scottish males were so fashion conscious with their kilts these days. What can I say……. except……..
Nice car!!!!
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