Dana Transmission

[loho]

Okay, who remembers this behemoth clunker? It was for the front crank, replaced it with a very, very heavy black circular box filled with 3 cast iron gears that effectively turned your bike into 3x whatever gear(s) you had on your back wheel.

It was made by Dana Corp, made in Toledo, OH.

The thing weighed a ton, didn't realize it until I had it installed and rode it up a hill, ugh. Cost like $60-75, year 1974, saved up for like a month of paper route and landscaping work to pay for it. I was 13 yrs old at the time, man did that LBS guy see me coming, b#*tard.

At the time, I had a 5 speed Mossberg "English racer" style frame, regular handlebars, but had a back derauiler. The bike was made in West Germany. Cost $109, wasn't the finest example of German engineering. Not sure what happened with the bike, that is how much I cared for it.

If anyone finds it on the internet, please pass the link on here. Then again, that thing was so bad that the website may be deemed immoral in many communities.

[loho]

Well, it has been a week since my original posting, and God knows I looked for a pic of the "Dana Transmission" I referenced, no luck. Not that I want to put myself through that again, just nostolgic for my young naive ways.

Was just on the Raliegh website, they have an bike called Alley something with a belt drive instead of chain, about $1800+, 8 speed. It also has front/rear disc brakes.

Guess Shimano has electric shifting, works on a battery, no solar yet, but upwards to $5000, maybe it was less, counting all those zeros made me dizzy.

I may be out of biking before all this trickles down to the common man.

[Just Krusin]

Have to say the only good thing about this time of year and the RAGRAI forum is that some strange post come up, thought for sure you were asking about a tranny for a team bus.
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RAGBRAIs I,II,VII,X,XXVII,XXVIII,XXIX,XXX,XXXII,XXXIV,XXXV,XXXVII and going for more.

[loho]

Dear "Just Kruisin"....

Having read your reply, and my propensity for strange posts, your reference to my "strange post" above yours on this thread leaves me baffled. Not enough not to reply, but just the same. I have re-read my posts; just what led you to believe that I was inquiring about a transmission, a Dana transmission for a team bus, let alone the Partridge Family Bus or any other bus.

Now I have a certain level of reverence and respect to your RAGBRAI heritage and experience: anyone riding the first two RAGBRAIs and this past years and promising more is commendable. Ready for it..............HOWEVER, it was/is a Dana Transmission for a bicycle, a bicycle, man, not a bus.

Thank you.

L

[BigRedRider]

[Just Krusin]

Me thinks I must explain my apparent lack of tranny knowledge. I only was referring to the 'subject' of your post, I hadn't read the entire post and finally in a fit of boredom I mistakenly read it and that is where the 'fun' begins.
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RAGBRAIs I,II,VII,X,XXVII,XXVIII,XXIX,XXX,XXXII,XXXIV,XXXV,XXXVII and going for more.

[Lowrydr]

Never heard of the "Dana" for a bike. I thought of a car transmission right away and had to read your post to see that they actually had one for a bicycle.

It must have been a really strange contraption for sure. And I think the "Dana" is actually a rear-end gearing for a car.
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Note: the above post is an opinion & not a fact. In fact in might be a lie, but that's just my opinion & that's a fact in my opinion.

[Sandaltan]

Me too. When I saw the post subject Dana Transmission the first thing that popped up in my memory was Dynaflow, which were transmissions mfg by General Motors.

They are long gone and you would not make the association unless you were "of an age" or happened to be a car collector.

RIDE RIGHT
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The ride only lasts one week, the stories last forever.

[loho]

Okay, I give up, I quit. It was boredom that made me start the post, and again, now that I realize no one knows about it, am throwing in the proverbial towel.

I can understand not knowing or hearing about Dana Transmissions, especiallly for a bike, but indeed, that is what they were called. And while there may indeed be one of that branding for the rear-end/differential on vehicles, that kind of is part of the drivetrain, perhaps not the transmission per se, but GOOD GOD MAN, it WAS NOT, NOT, NOT a transmission for a bloody TEAM BUS, never was, never will be.

Just for that, I am NOT going to post the pending healthcare plan, sure it won't be posted online until after a vote anyways.

Good day, I said good day.

[Lowrydr]

Sorry you got so twisted up there loho. I would have liked to have someone find and post a link for the bike part. I haven't found one on line yet.
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Note: the above post is an opinion & not a fact. In fact in might be a lie, but that's just my opinion & that's a fact in my opinion.

[jwsknk]

So it did exist, from an 08 Popular mechanics article.
"Neville attached a 1960s Dana three-speed bicycle transmission to the crank and pedals"
http://popularmechanics.smartmoney.com/technology/transportation/4271404.html?page=4
Vintage Bicycle Genealogy and ArchiveIf you are trying to determine the genealogy of your bicycle by it's ... I have an old Dana transmission. It has a big bulky black metal housing that goes ...
www.oldroads.com/arch/FSW2007_7_58_39_09_PM.html

["Bicycle Bill"]

Based on what I've heard about it, it doesn't seem that it was all that good of an idea. Back in the '60s we already had three-speed internal hubs from Sturmey-Archer, Sachs-Torpedo, Shimano, and a couple of others. We didn't need to move that much metal hanging off the crank in order to shift gears.

The Dana transmission sounds like a solution in search of a problem; either that or it was originally designed for something with more horsepower than the average cyclist and was backward-engineered for use on bicycles.

-"BB"-
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[loho]

Hey there Lowdry and others....not bent out of shape, it is all good. I was hoping to find a picture of it, found the other websites that "JWSKNK" provided to this thread, which is good, at least I know I didn't just imagine it. Damn that thing was heavy.

Bike Bill........yeah, it was a solution looking for a problem. I think my 13yr old reasoning at the time was it turned my 5 speed bike into a 15 speed, but the added weight was horrible on hills. At the time, I had rear wire baskets, delivering the afternoon paper which back then was a much bigger paper and about 50 regular daily customers. Back in the day when there was more than one major paper per big town and kids could have paper routes.

I have gotten so many good biking links here I figured that if a Dana transmission link would be found, it would be here.

Peaced out.

[Sandaltan]

This Dana transmission has found new life. Do you suppose we will see this on RAGBRAI? Or any of the others?

http://www.ask.com/bar?q=Dana+bicycle+transmission&page=1&qsrc=0&ab=0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.popularmechanics.com%2Ftechnology%2Ftransportation%2F4271404.html%3Fpage%3D4

RIDE RIGHT
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The ride only lasts one week, the stories last forever.