Folding Bikes - dahon vitesse. upgrades

dear all,
a few months ago I bought a used dahon vitesse. a six speed version.
with a 14-28t freewheel, not the more modern cassette type.
I have been eyeing for some time now, to put a wider gear range, since it is a bit hilly where I live.
I am a cheapskate, so just a few days ago got myself some parts from a friend (he converted his seven speed boardwalk to a 3 speed internal gear hub) : the freehub, 11-30t sprocket, and the gripshifter for a mere 200.000 rupiahs (twenty dollars)
the rear derailer does not need to be replaced.
so now, my wife can have a lower gear when going uphill.
and when descending, a higher gear.....


I have been thinking of going with a capreo hub.
do you guys think it is still necessary to go capreo??
anyone done that?

A 11-30T cassette is a great improvement over a 14-28:

* You have several higher gears
* you have lower gears
* by changing out the crankset/chainring, you can fine tune the gearing.

A Capreo has a smaller gearing range than 11-30T but will allow higher gears with common chainsets.

@ jur,
thanks for your comment.
"wants" are never ending, while "needs" might be closely following behind..

at the moment, I think I am content with this gearing, though I still prefer lower gears (by sacrificing the higher gears)
I might replace the now 48T crank with a 44T. (I will still have 44/11x20=88 gear inches, correct?)
(will get a low 44/30x20= 29 gear "??)

A 406 wheel is closer to 19", so use 19" for your calcs.

A 406 wheel is closer to 19", so use 19" for your calcs.

Sheldon's calculator uses 18.68".

...
* by changing out the crankset/chainring, you can fine tune the gearing.


What does it take to change the crankset/chainring in the Vitesse D7HG 2008? How do I tell what off the shelf components will fit in?

My son uses Vitese D7HG and we would like to:

1. Have a slightly larger chanring

2. Have a chainring/crankset with a chainring guard instead of the stock full chain guard (which is very brittle).

Thanks,

Kam

The D7HG uses a one-piece crank/chain ring so you can't install a different ring. I've done exactly the mod you're talking about on my 2007 version:



I replaced the cranks with Shimano 105s from ebay, which meant buying a new octalink bottom bracket. I had a lot of trouble finding a chain guard and had to have one custom made from here: www.bbgbashguard.com

The D7HG uses a one-piece crank/chain ring so you can't install a different ring. I've done exactly the mod you're talking about on my 2007 version:

I replaced the cranks with Shimano 105s from ebay, which meant buying a new octalink bottom bracket. I had a lot of trouble finding a chain guard and had to have one custom made from here: www.bbgbashguard.com

chagzuki, can you provide more details of what parts I need to replace the chain ring (crank set? bottom bracket?, etc). I am still new to the technical details of bikes so any detail will help.

Thanks,

Kam

Yeah, there's a fair bit to consider and familiarize yourself with actually. I'm wondering if it'd be easiest for you to get your hands on the Dahon Sugino cranks; I think they come with chain guard and you'd not have to think about getting the chain line right. I know there was one online retailer that did them for about £40 here in the UK but I can't find the link atm. I don't think it's available in black though so it might look a bit incongruent on a Vitesse.

... I'm wondering if it'd be easiest for you to get your hands on the Dahon Sugino cranks; I...

Do you mean these ones?

http://www.dahon.com/us/accessories/performance/d7crank.htm

Does this fit the Vitesse D7HG? (except for having a larger chain ring and possibly requiring a larger chanin).

Thanks,

Kam

Those aren't the ones I had in mind but could be great for your needs. I don't know what BB you'd need. . . sugino cranks use square taper BBs and I'd imagine that these use the 108mm axle that other sugino cranks do but you'd have to research that.

You'll have to consider gearing too of course. I don't know what chain ring size is used with those. I switched from the vitesse 36 T (AFAIR) chain ring to a 48 as I wanted much higher gearing. Basically the result was that I lost the lowest gear and gained a higher one.