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because I wear a sword on my left hip and my horse doesn't have wheels. ;)

Drivetrains are on the right today because that's what bicycle builders decided to do in the late 1800s. As to why they originally decided to put drivetrains on the right, it's probably because rear cogs used to be screwed on (some still are). Standard threads dictate rear cogs be on the right, so that pedaling force tightens the cogs. (If they were on the left, pedaling force would likely loosen cogs.)

Interesting fact: the Wright Brothers invented the left-hand thread for the left-hand pedal. From a discussion here.

Nice work Detective Quizbot... much better than what I've been able to find.

ok Quizbot thank you,That makes sense about the threads i was thinking right handed for some reason.I had a chance to buy a Wright Brothers bike on ebay , i put a bid at 10 grand on it and I was the high bidder but did not win it ,I dident even have that kind of money to spend but if I would have won I would of got it someway lol,,,that was a bike I wish I could of got,,they said the tools used on the glider are the same they used on the bikes,thanks

I have wondered this as well. I also don't like the rear shifting with the right hand.

stefb wrote:I have wondered this as well. I also don’t like the rear shifting with the right hand.

Not sure if it was just the bike I was rented or a general thing, but when I was in Wales the sides were reversed. Both for braking and shifting. Riding on the left hand side of the road was a much easier adjustment for me to make. Even after 300 miles of riding, I was still wasn't used to it.

@stef, if you switch to bar end shifters (or any non brifter really) you can put the rear-shifter-lever on what ever side you want. In a similar manner, I wouldn't mind putting my front brake to be controlled by my right hand. I think Sheldon Brown has something on this but I'm too lazy to look it up.

From http://bicycles.stackexchange.com/questions/5164/why-do-bikes-have-their-drivetrains-on-the-right The safety bicycle was invented in england. It was designed for riding on the left with roads that did have pavements (sidewalks) and kerbs. Mounting and dismounting the bike from the kerb, pushing the bike and parking the bike with a pedal on the kerb works out a lot better with the chainset on the right (if you are in a country that 'drives' on the left-side of the road). Clothing gets to stay cleaner and that would have been a huge benefit in Victorian Britain when front-loading automatic washing machines weren't exactly commonplace. These are lucky benefits and probably were not uppermost considerations in the design of 'Safety Bicycle 1'. Seems like a good theory.

@Marko, it's easy to switch the brakes. I did it and it's a slightly cleaner cable run. BTW another reason (I found on the web) for the chain on the right hand side is that cogs screwed on with standard thread would tighten as you pedal.

On my fixie I like having the brake on my left hand, but on a bike with gears, I feel like I am living in a right handed person's world (because most of the shifting is with the right hand), as I usually do. But yeah I guess if I really wanted to, the shifters could be switched.

The bike I had in Holland had the brakes switched although I think the shifters were the same (they were twist shifters so they'd have to be a different version to switch them or they'd end up upside down). It makes a lot of sense to swap the brakes for consistency with motorcycles and scooters.

I'm going to bet that Drewbacca has it closest. The tradition from as far back as classical times was to mount the horse from the left to keep the sword out of the way. when bicycles replaced horses, the motion remained and the gears were put on the far side to keep from being an issue.

What Benzo said. I carry my bike down and back up about 15 stairs every day. I'm right-handed, so I've always felt it's convenient for me and other righties to have the chain set up. Just another sign of the oppression of left-handed folks.

Mick wrote:

Just another sign of the oppression of left-handed folks.

"Right privilege."

never even thought of how nice it is to have the chain out of the way when carrying my bike right-handed.

BMX riders have the luxury of having parts available to run Left or Right hand drive. This is due to having a favored side for grinds and such so that you don't wreck your crank if you prefer to grind/slide on the right hand side. Also they get some rad microdrive systems with tiny chainring / cog combinations.

I have a few drive shaft bikes all on the right side the same,I think the reason why is right handed thread,if on the other side everything would come lose as quizbot says,,who did invent the thread / screw on anyways ,man that's used on everything,,quizbot ?