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@eeehhhh
"First of all, there are some definite advantages to a pure Retro-direct bike (i.e. without front derailleur): there is no slack in the chain, meaning you can have a simple bike that will never derail, without a complex gear hub, without shifter, and yet with 2 usable gears. This can be the perfect bike to ride in the snow or in extreme cold (there's me thinking a fixie was, doh.). Also, if you've been thinking of converting your bike to single-speed, but you're not quite willing to give up all your extra gears, and you want a bail-out gear for big hills, a Retro-direct bike can be an elegant answer."
gear hubs? complex?? there's no maintenance to do, how is that complex?!
clever engineering, but i can't see it catching on.