The Buffalo Bicycle Utility S2 has won an award from Eurobike and earned a German Design Award. With components designed by cycling industry giant SRAM and made from heavy steel, the bike has rim brakes, two gears, two chainrings, and two separate chains. And that makes total sense.
The S2 is the second bike developed by World Bicycle Relief, which aims to bring bicycle-based mobility to the nearly 1 billion people who otherwise must walk long distances for basic needs. YouTube channel Berm Peak recently featured (and rode) an S2 (as first seen at Hackaday) and explains why a bike with two chains makes sense. Short answer: redundancy, reliable shifting, and far more simple repair.
Berm Peak's tour and explainer on the Buffalo Bicycle S2 Utility.
Buffalo bicycles are meant to take people a long way over tough terrain, hauling whatever they need to haul. Given that the rear rack is rated for 200 pounds, that "whatever" can range from cargo to humans. The original Buffalo bike had a single gear and coaster brakes, which as both kids and minimalist bike fans can attest, make it simple to stop and go. Buffalo bikes can generally be fixed with the single included wrench, but World Bicycle Relief has also been training mechanics (over 3,300 now) and setting up some 200 Buffalo-focused bike shops.
Original Article Published at Arstechnica
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
