Commuting - Frame for Internal Gear Hub

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Dandamonium
06-26-09, 08:29 PM
I've been doing a bit of research on this topic but I need some help. I'm trying to build a bike with an internal gear hub to use for commuting but also for weekend riding, so I need something that I can throw drop bars on, 30+ mm tires, possibly fenders... I've been looking at the phoenix iro, the salsa casseroll, and the surly crosscheck for a frame, which I know are the usual contenders in this category of bikes. But I was wondering if anyone knows of any other good steel frames with 130mm rear dropouts, shifter cable mounts, and good overall versatility.
Ive also been thinking of just converting something like the Raleigh One-Way to an IGH with an Alfine and the Jtek bar-end shifers, but I can't tell whether the rear dropouts are wide enough.
Ideas/thoughts?
I'm running a Bianchi San Jose with a Nexus 8 Redline and the conversion is very straightforward.
tatfiend
06-27-09, 12:30 AM
Another candidate is the Steelwool Tweed frame from Canada. I just built a Alfine hub drop bar bike based on using that frame. The shifter cable routing was not standard but it is working fine with the Jtek shifter. It has vertical dropouts and uses an eccentric bottom bracket for chain adjustment. The eccentric BB shell takes a standard bottom bracket. BTW the Alfine hub and other high gear count hubs are 135mm in most cases, not 130mm. The Steelwool frame is 132.5mm dropout width, like the Surly Crosscheck. The Alfine hub installs w/o frame modification.
The One Way looks interesting but the frame rear may need to be spread to accomodate the width of the IGH. Most single speeds are 120mm width but a decent LBS should be able to spread a steel frame to the required width without any problem. I would email Raleigh and ask about frame width or check with a dealer. Based on the Raleigh web site listing the rear hub as a "track hub" I would bet on 120mm width.
Starting with a complete bike such as the One Way or Bianchi San Jose and just adding the IGH rear wheel and correct shifter is frequently cheaper than building up a whole bike from scratch. Harris Cyclery near Boston does a fully built Nexus red band hub version of the Bianchi San Jose which they call the San Jose8. Unfortunately no internet sales on it.
All you really need is 130mm horizontal dropouts...so whatever frame with those characteristics floats your boat.
tatfiend
06-27-09, 02:08 PM
Civia Hyland?
I have a factory built complete Civia Hyland Rohloff and really like it. The frame is expensive and does not include the fork so be sure to add that on to frame price. Also the bolt on dropouts are sold separately too, again adding to the frame price.
Frame: $650
Fork: $290 (carbon) or $160 (steel)
Dropouts: $50
With the carbon fork the total is about $1000 for the frame ready to build up. It is IMO a nice bike but definitely on the expensive side. The factory built complete bikes are built with quite high quality components.
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