There are three main types of bobbin and flyer spinning wheels. They are: Saxony, Upright, and Castle.

Saxony style wheels have the drive wheel and bobbin and flyer assembly mounted horizontally on the table. Upright style wheels have the drive wheel and bobbin & flyer assembly mounted vertically with the bobbin & flyer located above the drive wheel. Castle type wheels also have the bobbin & flyer assembly and the drive wheel mounted vertically but the bobbin & flyer unit is located below the drive wheel.

While bobbin & flyer wheels can be very different from each other in appearance, all of them, regardless of type, will have one of three different drive systems. The three drive systems are:
1. Bobbin Lead
2. Flyer Lead
3. Double Drive

The bobbin lead wheel is a single drive wheel. What this means is simply that it has a single drive band that goes around a whorl on the bobbin and continues around the drive wheel. A separate brake band controls the speed of the flyer rotation. So, on these wheels, the bobbin rotates faster than the flyer.

Flyer lead wheels are also single drive wheels but the drive band goes around the drive wheel and then continues on around a whorl that is fitted onto the spindle of the flyer. The bobbin rotation is controlled by Scotch Tension, which is simply a brake band that goes from one side of the mother-of-all through one of the grooves in the bobbin whorl, and attaches to the other side of the mother-of-all. Scotch tension brakes are usually fitted with a small spring or rubber band enabling the spinner to make very fine tension adjustments. On flyer lead wheels, the flyer rotates faster than the bobbin.

Double drive wheels have a figure 8 shaped drive band that goes from the flyer whorl, around the drive wheel and then passes over the bobbin whorl and back around the drive wheel a second time, ending back at the flyer whorl. On these wheels, the flyer rotates faster than the bobbin because the size of the flyer whorl is greater than the size of the bobbin whorl.

The drive band on double drive wheels should be adjusted so that the band coming from the flyer whorl crosses over the band coming from the flyer whorl. This puts less friction on the drive band and less friction equals less wear. However, the crossing point moves when the drive wheel changes directions so it is not possible to maintain this arrangement when plying.

Many double drive wheels come with a Scotch Tension brake band which gives the spinner the option of changing the wheel from a double drive system to flyer lead system.