Protanium Shaft Drive Electric Bike System
Aug 07, 2012
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Protanium electric bike shaft drive system.
Wow, a shaft drive system with an integrated electric motor could be a very clean and low maintenance solution for e-bikes! Protanium might be on to something.
Shaft drives for traditional bikes have not been too popular because the efficiency is not as good compared to a chain driven bike.
With electric assist the lower efficiency of a shaft will be less of an issue.
Here is the link to the article on Bike Europe.
What do you think? Would you like to have a clean, low maintenance shaft drive on your electric bike? Please leave you comments below.
Thanks!
-Pete
P.S. Don’t forget to join the Electric Bike Report community for updates from the electric bike world, plus ebike riding and maintenance tips.
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We (Busettii) have been looking at this option. It does take a bike with A LOT of torque like the Busettii, otherwise you will have many disappointed customers.
Kind of like my Moms old Dodge Dart. It would not take off DOWNHILL without a good push. Problem is that it ran FOREVER!
Oh to have a shaft driven bike on a poorly designed EBike. No torque, no power, but would run FOREVER!
But wait !!! ALL IS NOT LOST ! THEY ARE COMING OUT WITH A NEW DODGE DART !! PLEASE, PLEASE, LET IT HAVE THE OLD PUSH BUTTON DESIGN TO SWITCH GEARS.AND…AND….PLEASE HAVE A SHAFT DRIVE.
AN ENGINEERING MIRACLE !
This looks like the same drive that was marketed in the US as the 2007 Scwhinn Continental sometimes listed as 2008 or 2009 model year. I have seen these advertised for sale in several places including eBay. There is quite an assortment of electric bikes here in Central NC, but none of the owners have ever actually seen one of these.
Is there any significant improvement in the Protanium drive this year, or is this a re-release of a technology that didn’t excite in the market at the start of the Great Recession?
Shaft drive kits would be nice.
To Mark S,
Yes it looks the same. However when Protanium made the Schwinn Continental the motor was the hub in the front wheel. In this case the shaft and motor is one unit.
While this shaft drive eBike is a great idea, it is not the first. Schwinn has been making shaft drive eBikes for some years:
https://www.evsroll.com/Schwinn_Electric_Bicycle.html
EVsRock!