Bicycle Mechanics - Motobecane Fantom Cross Uno conversion to geared

Good morning,

Please excuse my first post being a "please hand feed me" type post. I have a 56 cm 2010 Motobecane Fantom Cross Uno, single speed bike. My brother is starting medical school in NY soon here and I want to give this bike to him, but need gears. I have gone to 2 local bike shop's and they are quoting anywhere from 200-800 for parts alone. I want a cheap, simple conversion and can do the work myself- but need guidance on parts. Can you please assist me with a low priced parts list to convert this bike to a geared bike? It would be so much appreciated. I am reading the forums now to try to figure it out myself, but the sooner the better. Thanks in advance:

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/uno.htm

Hi welcome to the forums. I have a '09 Uno and I love it btw. my original intent was to put a internal geared 8spd hub on it but liked it SS better.

the main problem with this bike for converting it to a geared bike is there is not cable guides to hold the cables. so the bike will be covered with zipties to keep them in place. also there is no rear deraileur hanger and with the track style dropouts changing a flat will be a hassle.

where in NY is your brother going to medical school? you and he are better off looking in the local CL for a used mountain or hybrid bike rather than spending $800 on this.

2010 Fantom Uno

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/images/uno_blk_dropbrk600.jpg (http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/images/uno_blk_dropbrk2100.jpg)

Well....

All things considered I'd say get another bike. If he want gears, then he's probably looking at more utility-oriented riding, and you can't beat having fenders on a utility bike.
On top of that a lot of people find drop bars an aquired taste. If he hasn't ridden enough to find room in his life for owning a bike he isn't going to have much use for drop bars.

But if you insist:

Assuming the rear dropouts can be spread, the cheapest way to is to get an new rear wheel. You can probably get a cheap one with a screw-on freewheel off a hybrid. Next a Shimano low-end derailer with integrated hanger. It'll bolt right on. Then you need a thumbshifter that can do friction, which you put on the flat portion of the bar up by the stem. A few feet of cable housing, a cable, some zip ties and you're done.
Keep in mind that many people would consider this crude beyond belief and an insult to a rather nice frame.

The "I-dare-to-ride-this-in-public-during-daylight" approach is to get an internally geared hub instead. You might want to look at which ones there are drop bar adapters for first. JTEK and HUBBUB are two source that might be worth a visit. Then go crazy googling for "cable stop". There are a couple of places where you can buy nice wraparound ones, saving you the indignity of having to run housing and zip ties all over the bike.
You'd be able to pick up a perfectly nice beater bike for considerably less money than what the IGH alone will cost you.

You guys are AWESOME! Thank you- I will look into my options here.

What's the rear spacing on it?