Obviously, if you could place the bb in the hub that would enable short persons to ride the python.
As you might know Thomas Kretschmer tried to build a geared hub crank which he called "direct-drive". There is a picture on the flevofan homepage. I phoned him some years ago, while he was busy looking for a sponsor for his idea. Finally he gave up because of too much troubles. The basic idea is quite attractive: No chain! The Schlumpf Drive shows that a geared BB is possible, but it only has two gears. As a resumee I would say that the "direct drive" is too complicated to be of practical value!.
One can develop a lot of kinky and complicated stuff, which appears to be ingenious, but only time and the challenge of everyday usability can tell, if it is worth existence. Hope that the 4bl is not a candidate in this sense ;-)
I questioned the loss of momentum but what I ment was the loss of leverage - would you still be able to lean the front wheel (and get it up again) without the leverage that the distance hub to bb provides in the original python?
That should not be the problem. A disadvantage might be that you cannot use wheels smaller than 26" and that the wheelbase and turning cycle will increase.
Regards from Jürgen.
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