Tell me about Bartol

[kingoffootball]

Does anyone know much about the Bartol gear shifting system?

All I've read is that it is a mystical idea where the chainrings automatically shift! Who made/developed it? Does it actually work and has anyone used it?

 

[Moqi]

Re:

seems to have been made by an italian company called tiso. their website is very unhelpful. seems to be favoured by tribike riders who all appear to be mad anyway .

 

[kingoffootball]

Any idea what parts are required? A full set of chainrings?

I have a few chainrings that came amongst some other Tiso parts (I do like Tiso's other stuff).

 

[Moqi]

Re:

no idea i'm afraid. perhaps you should contact tiso direct

 

[coreygun]

Re: Re:

no idea i'm afraid. perhaps you should contact tiso direct

I think I found the answer; it basically just relies on the out of alignment chain you’ll have when you’re at either end of the rear cassette, so it gets pulled off the front chainring. But this means you only get the change at either end, so much less control over when you change. Only for the weight weenies!

https://www.xxcycle.com/bartol-system,,en.php

 

[kingoffootball]

Ah, thank you for the link, that's interesting. That price is ludicrous

 

[Cheetah]

I just noticed this thread, as we have four boxes of these left in a drawer now that we have stopped making the CAT Cheetah carbon triathlon bikes.
For those interested or who come across this 6-year old thread here is a copy of the patent and the English installation instructions. They were very successful on the Cheetahs my husband put them on, including a Hawaii worldchampionship and numerous triathlon races all over the world.

 

[kingoffootball]

I think I finally understand how they work! Thank you for sharing these.

If mine had been for five arm cranks like the patent I would have kept them, but I am not going to use 4 arm cranks. I should have added a photo at the start of the thread, so here are a few for reference.

 

[Cheetah]

There is still a page on our Cat Cheetah website which Rudi dictated to me, explaining how they work in plain English. Note that the link ends with .htm, not .html:
Bartoli explanation
http://www.catbikes.ch/bartoli.htm
As I say we still have some left in the drawer.

 

[Cheetah]

The ones we have are for five arm cranks, by the way and going cheap .