At 10:23 2/17/2001 -0500, David Goerndt wrote:
>I had a question about Cinelli's Bivalent hubs. Does using these hubs
>require a special freewheel or will generic freewheels work?
The Bivalent uses a special freewheel that is marked "Regina," and presumably made by them. Instead of a threaded attachment to the hub, there is a spline set. Roughly as many splines as a Phil BB cup, but triangle section instead of rounded. That slides on the hub.
The "magic" of the system is that the freewheel is mounted to the dropout, via a special bearing, so the freewheel stays with the frame when you change wheels. This means you do not have to shift to the outermost cog, and that the gear is the same when you start up as when you got off. Sort of spooky to take the wheel off and spin the cranks -- the freewheel turns just like it ought to, and you can shift gears normally.
Harvey Sachs