Custom Bike Thoughts

[mac1]

I'm converting my 9 speed hub gear commuter to a 3 speed, I've analysed the gears I used commuting and the 9 speeds went mainly unused. With the 3 speed I can get it maintained locally

MacB

So, you're saying you can't get the I-Motion repaired locally? Winklebury Cycles (in Basingstoke, just down the road from you) seem to be confident with Nexus and I-Motion. My local Action Bikes messed up the 7 speed Nexus twice on my Dawes Geneva which was then repaired correctly first time at Winklebury.

 

[al78]

If it wasn't for cost, £1k hub alone, then the Rohloff would be on a heck of a lot of commuting bikes. The nearest rivals are the SRAM I-9 and the Shimano Alfine which have 9 and 8 gears respectively, to the Rohloff 14.

Shimano are bringing out an 11 speed hub this September which looks like it could be a serious rival to the Rohloff:

http://www.bikemagic.com/gear-news/shimano-alfine-goes-to-11/7558.html/v/1/SP/590180220298680249204

 

[mac1]

Shimano are bringing out an 11 speed hub this September which looks like it could be a serious rival to the Rohloff:

http://www.bikemagic.com/gear-news/shimano-alfine-goes-to-11/7558.html/v/1/SP/590180220298680249204

3 posts incl 1 by MacB and myself said earlier...

Still, thanks for the new site - hadn't seen that one before.

 

[MacB]

MacB

So, you're saying you can't get the I-Motion repaired locally? Winklebury Cycles (in Basingstoke, just down the road from you) seem to be confident with Nexus and I-Motion. My local Action Bikes messed up the 7 speed Nexus twice on my Dawes Geneva which was then repaired correctly first time at Winklebury.

Yep, Austin at Roman Road, where I purchased hub and wheelbuild, bemoans the fact that SRAM won't authorise, issue tech info or supply internal parts for the I-9. He points out that he's a long established dealer going back through the Sachs days and has years of experience of maintaining their hubs. The UK distributor Fishers told me that SRAM insist I-9's(I don't know about I-3's) are returned to Germany. If it never goes wrong then that's fine but otherwise it's two fingers up to the customers. I highlighted this in an e-mail to SRAM explaining that, with a return to Germany policy, they should be allowing for immediate hub internals swap by dealer/distributor, then doing the return to home bit. No response whatsoever from them.

I'm sure this is all around the internalisation of the shifting and indexing. I watched a video of a Rohloff factory tour and they use some complex 'press' style machinery to seal the internals together.

I'm going to go with the 3 speed SA, I'd prefer it if you could get them with QR axles and clickbox gear attachment. But the little chain isn't that hard and does get easier with practice. Though I will be adding spares of the external bits to my saddle pack, including the indicator chain, just in case

I've even been entertaining thoughts around a 3 speed for big rides. Run it on a lightweight frame with vertical dropouts. Use a chain tensioner with enough scope, and chain, to be able to run a small spread of sprockets. Carry three spare sprockets with you and 10 minutes allows you to regear the bike at any point in the ride. You could even go so far as to carry an entire spare internal unit in case of mechanicals, though that could be a bit anal even by my standards

Whatever, I foresee someone getting a very nice deal on a freshly fixed I-9, in the near future. Though there is a guy on YACF that's owed first refusal on this.

 

[mac1]

hmmmnnn...I have an I-Motion 9 on my Kettler...hope it doesn't go wrong...better ask around and see what I can do if it does - don't want to send it to Germany

Austin at Roman Road - is that the one at Winklebury - is there another bike shop in the area?

 

[MacB]

Roman Road Cycles are in Wales, until this point I had the utmost faith in the I-9. The only reports I could find of any issues were around people that had deliberately chosen to ignore the recommended useage parameters. A couple of MTBers had slated it when it didn't hold up to abuse. Apart from that I seem to have been very unlucky. I'm sure the repaired/replaced internals will be fine on their return, but it's too late for me. Once I've had my faith in something dented I need reassurance. a return to Germany doesn't provide that so it goes out the door. It's Sturmey 3 speeds or deraillers for me from now on. I'll invest in the necessary tools and spares to do it all myself. I'll also make sure I receive proper mechanical instruction.

Christ I'm a shoot salesman, £250, I-9 in 36H Mavic A719 rim, with shifter and fittings anyone? It's going to be shiny and smooth back from SRAM

 

[mac1]

ah, right, there's a Roman Road near Winklebury Cycles in Basingstoke! lol!

So, the I-motion's made in Germany? I suppose that's why it's quite expensive. Shame you're disillusioned - I'm completely indifferent to dereurellias (sp?) and I like more than 3 speeds. What about Sturmey Archer 8 speeds - can't they be serviced locally?

 

[MacB]

ah, right, there's a Roman Road near Winklebury Cycles in Basingstoke! lol!

So, the I-motion's made in Germany? I suppose that's why it's quite expensive. Shame you're disillusioned - I'm completely indifferent to dereurellias (sp?) and I like more than 3 speeds. What about Sturmey Archer 8 speeds - can't they be serviced locally?

Possibly but I genuinely don't need more than 3 speeds for shopping and pootling, so that covers the existing 3 speed hack bike. This has been draughted in for general duties while the I-9 has been away and I've been fine with the 3 speeds. So going down that route for the commuter bike as well makes sense. I had a good long look at the I-9 gearing and what I used. I had it set up for most of my riding in gear 5 the direct drive, so ran a 48/20 combo. This gave me a range of 35.3 to 120.2 gear inches with the 35mm tyres. Apart from checking it worked I've never used gear 1, gear 2 at 40.5 inches got occasional use, gear 3 at 47.4 a little more. Gears 4 at 55.6, 5 at 65.2 and 6 at 76.4 got nearly all the use. Gears 8/9/10 at 89.7/105.1/120.2 got absolutely no use whatsoever.

So, on the I-9 I used 5 gears covering 40.5 to 76.4 inches, the SA 3 speed currently gives me 3 gears covering 40.8, 54.3 and 72.4. I can easily regear the SA by changing the rear sprocket. Say I run a 32t chainring I could keep a selection of sprockets from 13 to 18t. This would allow me to alter the bottom gear between 36 and 50 inches and the top gear between 64 and 90 inches. The sprockets only cost £3.50 and I could keep a selection of chains or even use a chain tensioner.

 

[Jezston]

Hmm, been looking more in to hub-gear equipped bikes.

I only seem to be able to find one bike out there that has hub gears, and drop handlebars which is this thing, only available in the US:
http://www.dynamicbicycles.com/buy/Bikes.php?prodid=75#

Seems they've had their shifters custom manufactured.

Is there anyone else making road bikes with drops AND hub gears? Or in fact anyone else making drop bar shifters for hub gears?

 

[Arch]

The shifters are, I think, available now:

http://hubstripping.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/road-sti-shifter-for-alfine-and-nexus-hubs/

Or there's a bar end shifter from jtek...

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/product.asp?pf_id=19963&src=froogle

Or, there's an extension to plug in your bar end, to take a twist shifter...

http://www.jensonusa.com/store/prod...hifter+Drop+Bar+Adapter.aspx?sc=FRGLUK&cc=GBP

So, if you have the dosh (or in the latter case, a lathe), it seems anything is possible.

 

[Jezston]

Those shifters are the same ones as on the bike I linked to - it appears this 'Dynamic' company has exclusivity on them as they don't appear to be available anywhere, and from what I've read Dynamic used to sell them (for $230!) but don't appear to any more.

The best compromise system I've seen involves a trigger shifter mounted on a device sticking out from near the centre of the handlebars so that the shifters are positioned near to where you hands would be when on the drops, but I can't seem to find this now.

But I find it odd that shifters designed for hub gears on drop handlebars appear to be virtually non-existent (unless you buy a Dynamic Synergy, and have it shipped from the US) and I don't wish to compromise.

 

[Arch]

But I find it odd that shifters designed for hub gears on drop handlebars appear to be virtually non-existent (unless you buy a Dynamic Synergy, and have it shipped from the US) and I don't wish to compromise.

Not that odd I guess. Hub gears are gaining in popularity, but bike makers (and owners!) can be very very conservative*. Many drop bar riders will assume that a hub gear is a thing that grannies use, it'll be heavy, and you'll only get 3 speeds**, and anyway, it's not cool... Look at the way racing bikes have been pretty much the same for decades, and it's from racing that technology filters down to the mass market. And there's that assumtion that the more gears you have the better, even if you only actually use 4 or 5 of them most of the time.

With Rohloff, and the new Alfine 11, more and more people will start to see the point of hubs, and more shifters will appear. It just takes time.

*You only have to see the shock/horror on some cyclists' faces when they see a recumbent...

**I had an elderly chap come up to me outside the supermarket a while back, said he saw I had a hub gear. Then he told me, he'd worked out how to get 5 spds in a hub gear. I had to tell him about the Rohloff, which had been out for a few years at that point. Mine own Sram was an 8spd (I think, or maybe 7, I don't pay much attention!).