The change in gear ratios really does help! We know that the amount of torque supplied to each half-shaft is equal and determined solely by the input torque on the middle differential gear due to the handle chain.
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, and we decreased the radius for the wheel sprocket on the differential, which corresponds to a larger force, and this increased force is palpable when I rowed on our newly modified erg.
In our set-up, we used a gross amount of tape to keep loose ends connected, so it does look a bit rough: