Utility Pipe Dream

[Piemaster]

Like the OP I too would like a bike with Alfine 11 speed hub, disc brakes, fairly upright riding position, dynamo lighting, panniers, mudguards etc. for use in a town with nasty steep hills. I want to be able to wear a white pair of trousers and not get grease on them like I did these morning. Please could some one like On One make one please.

+1. But you forgot the belt drive to ditch the oily chain
Its almost there with a trek soho, but not quite.
Just to make it even more difficult, I want drop bars as well.

I reckon finding the right frame is the real challenge. Some way of catering for the alfine - either an EBB or sliding droputs (NOT track ends - my pompino has them and I find them a pain for brake alignment ie getting wheel back in same place after a punc****) and preferably a split somewhere for a belt drive.

doesn't sound cheap does it.

 

[beatlejuice]

Yes to belt drive. It would need horizontal drop outs since you couldn't have a tensioner. Could it use snail cam adjusters to avoid getting the back wheel misaligned, which knacker belts up? If it had drops then those of us who want a more sit up and beg position could put a riser and a pair of trekking bars on instead. Since the distance from the saddle to the head stock is less for drops than for flat bars it suit both quite different styles of riding.

 

[MacB]

read some dodgy stuff on Alfine 11 with belt drive, don't know the veracity of it, but to do with clearance as the Alfine chainline is low and the belt drive chainring is big.

Belt drives on bikes have a way to go yet for me, to be honest I think I'd only be interested if it was via elevated chainstay and EBB for tension. Sliders and frame splits are a turn off...no experience obviously just an irrational prejudice.

 

[david1701]

I've been looking into it quite a lot and I'm worried about the gear range vs a mtb tripple with a mega on the back for crawling up silly big hills loaded - with a 30-32 I work real hard sometimes, but maybe a 11-34 on the back then say a 26-36-42 on the front? (I pulled those numbers out of the air will find real components) I could climb anything loaded.....