Mini gear and driver setups?

I was told it was all about friction
you were told wrong

The smaller the gear the more the chain has to bend and the more often each tooth is used.
The bending and doing it more often will cause friction more often and heat up.

Yes it reduces chain length and rotating mass.
With our jackshaft setup we used just 31 links of chain back to the axle and never a problem with it back to the axle.
Off the engine though was belt drive.

The extreme of small gear is with our 2cycle before having a jackshaft I think it was a 6 tooth on the engine we had to use and literally we would burn up chain and drive gear before the night was over.
 
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The actual time line of the mini Sprocket was Azusa engineering of California was the first to manufacture the mini Sprocket but they didn't have a good hub for racing karts then 20years ago Rocket Sprocket made the current mini Sprocket and hub design which is commonly used up to this point
 
Not so fast....I believe they have a place but not everywhere you race. I can see the benefits on really small tracks or anywhere you may have a high rpm drop in the corners,somewhere there are long straightaways but really tight corners.
It's still about using the available gearing tools to best match conditions.

As far as friction is concerned, changing from a dry chain to a well lubed one, or vice versa, would be all that was needed to change the characteristics on track.

Haven't seen any data to support this.

As far as the change in inertia, there is a thread with the formula for calculating this already started in the off topic forum.
 
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And all these years I've been told to go with the biggest driver you can up front... something doesn't jive....

I can only seen this working on very small, tight tracks with super high drops in the corners. Clones need momentum and bigger front drivers have proven time and time again to be faster than smaller ones even at the same numerical ratio...
 
And all these years I've been told to go with the biggest driver you can up front... something doesn't jive....

I can only seen this working on very small, tight tracks with super high drops in the corners. Clones need momentum and bigger front drivers have proven time and time again to be faster than smaller ones even at the same numerical ratio...
My how quick opinions change :p
 
Yes....this weekend is a prime example.
I have an idea, let's design a kart and engine combination with clutch, pipe, air filter, tires, wheels etc. etc.. Write a spec for every part bend and weld.

Designate who can build it and equip it and sell it.

Let each track SPEC the gear ratio, all with the same driver.
 
And all these years I've been told to go with the biggest driver you can up front... something doesn't jive....

I can only seen this working on very small, tight tracks with super high drops in the corners. Clones need momentum and bigger front drivers have proven time and time again to be faster than smaller ones even at the same numerical ratio...
This has worked at PK, one of the biggest tracks we race on. The KEY here, not the same numerical ratio :).
Also, worked at The Big O. Theres not really any advantage during the actual racing, but does help during qualifying IMO.
 
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