Patent ID: 7293789

Claim:
A pedal lever bicycle having a gear shift assembly for selecting a wide range of mechanical advantage ratios, comprising: a front wheel, a rear wheel, and a frame interconnecting said front and rear wheels; first and second pedal levers each having a forwardly extending portion and a rearwardly extending portion, said first and second pedal levers being pivotally mounted to said frame at a location substantially above the center of said rear wheel and rearward of the front of said rear wheel; first and second sprockets mounted coaxially with said rear wheel for driving said bicycle; first and second drive chains operatively connected to said first and second pedal levers, respectively, said first and second drive chains engaging said first and second sprockets, respectively, to supply power to said sprockets from said pedal levers; first and second fixed notched plates fixedly mounted on the rearwardly extending portion of said first and second pedal levers, respectively, each having a surface defining a plurality of notches; first and second movable notched plates movably mounted on the rearwardly extending portion of said first pedal lever adjacent to said first and second fixed notched plates, for movement relative to said first and second fixed notched plates, respectively, said first and second movable notched plates each having a surface defining a plurality of notches; first and second sliders mounted for movement on said rearwardly extending portions said first and second pedal levers, respectively, each of said first and second sliders being connected to an end of said first and second drive chains, respectively, for varying a power ratio of the pedal lever bicycle, the first and second sliders operatively mounted for engaging said notches in said first and second movable notched plates, and said first and second fixed notched plates, respectively, for determining said power ratio; and a gear shifting assembly pivotally connected to said first and second notched plates for moving said first and second notched plates in relation to each other and to said first and second pedal levers, respectively, to position said first and second sliders, respectively, for thereby changing said power ratio as a function of slider position, said gear shifting assembly being responsive to a gear change signal to move said first and second notched plates and change said power ratio, and wherein said gear shifting assembly is mounted to said first and second pedal levers.