jyl

You find 32H enough for the rear?. I have 32H rear on a couple of bikes but I've never built a bike for touring (and have never gone bike touring, except for one epic miserable mountain bike camping trip a long time ago).

gugie 

I've found that deep drop/aero cross section rims stay round under pounding. The Pacenti SL23's "have no rider weight limit" If I were to load up a bike for "expedition touring", with rear panniers, tent, and bag supported by the rear wheel, I'd use 36H minimum. My plan for the International is handlebar bag and front panniers, which should roughly equalize the loading front to rear. Three days of riding with a buddy over this weekend, some of it on gravel and washboard roads, some on pothole strewn streets in East Portland under heavy rains showed them to be up to the task.

mountaindave 

Elliot Bay has closed, but Bob Freeman might still be willing to do drillings to convert your crank into a triple... if you don't mind drilling your crank. Too bad @jonwvara at red clover doesn't offer a triplizer for 151 BCD. My wife loves her triplizer on her Stronglight w/122 BCD and it preserves the original look of the crank.

jonwvara 

I heard from Bob Freeman a couple of months ago, and he told me that although his shop is closed he is still drilling cranks. I had meant to update the blog section of my web site to notify people that he was still in business, but somehow I can't find his message and contact information. I'll look again and see if I can turn it up, and update this post if I do find it.

jyl

I really like the look of the derailleur and don't want to modify it with a long cage. I mean, it is an important piece of cycling history.
https://www.bikequarterly.com/images/...erlyCampGS.pdf

This RD supposedly has 26T capacity, on paper not enough for a triple with any sort of wide range freewheel. But I don't ride in little-little, so I can fudge on capacity.

mountaindave 

You'd be surprised what you can get out of a short cage derailleur with a half-step setup. Not completely apples to apples, but I am running a short cage tri-color RD with an 11-34 7s cassette and a 44/40 double up front - that's six teeth more than spec. You don't have a B-screw like my RD does (do you?), but could slide the wheel forward or rearward in the horizontal dropout to adjust clearance a bit. That's a range of 30" to 104" on my 650b conversion. How low do you need to go?

gugie 

Just emailed Bob, and he's still doing them.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/837910...57622574585267

https://www.flickr.com/photos/837910...7629425454473/

jonwvara 

I heard from Bob as well, and yes, he still does conversions. He can be reached by email at rdf1249@aol.com.

jyl

I think it's not going to look as weird as I'd feared. Especially if I leave the black plastic cover off. There must be some visually less obtrusive way to protect the opening for the indicator.

mountaindave 

Keep us posted!

gugie 

Hmmm, go without the protecter? Does it keep gunk out, or is it merely to protect the mechanism? I'm sure we could come up with something toat does the job without muglying it all up.

jyl

I dunno, not having any experience with IGH. I see older three speeds w/o any plastic protector over the indicator hole (for lack of the correct term). I imagine that the hole could be packed with grease. Maybe a small o-ring could be placed around the indicator that would fit into the indicator hole without impeding the indicator's movement. Or I could fit some clear flexible plastic tubing (aquarium stuff) around the bolt and run it up the indicator, adjuster, and cable for a few inches. Or maybe some heatshrink tubing that would contract and seal around the adjuster.

Salamandrine 

Oddly enough, that's actually the first time I've seen any sort of cover for the pull chain of an IGH. When did they come up with that? I've not worked on one for 20+ years, and I'm not exactly in touch, but Sturmey Archer hubs worked fine for decades without any sort of cover. I'd avoid grease since it would attract dirt; a bit of oil on the chain is fine.

Looking forward to seeing how this unusual project progresses. IGH might be the next big thing in C&V.

nlerner

I think the main function of that piece of plastic is to prevent the indicator links from getting all bent up should the bike fall on its drive side. Sturmey Archer made the same thing, a little white plastic unit, but I rarely have seen them used (though I've seen lots of mangled indicator chains!).

3speedslow

The plastic peice also provides a smooth sacrificial item so the chain does not get worn down to fast while the chain moves in and out.

jyl

I won't drop the bike, or shift the IGH much, so if that's all the plastic cover does, I'd happily lose it. It is quite ugly.

noglider 

Yes, get rid of it. Don't worry about shifting too much. I trust your habits prevent you from dropping the bike on its side, and even if you mangle the little chain, which is unlikely, replacements are easy to obtain.

Really, no IGH experience?

jyl

None. Unless you count renting Citibikes. I've always been a derailleur guy. At 8 y/o my first bike was a French ten speed with downtube shifters. I've never owned a bike without a derailleur, or with less than ten speeds.

Dan Burkhart 

No. Anything you try to fit in the hole with the indicator spindle will just impede free movement. Gazillions of them have been in use for many decades with no such protection. Just keep it clean and lubed.

jyl

Got the Shutter Precision front hub. The PV-8 in silver 32H is out of stock everywhere. Had to find a new one on eBay. I'm not going to worry about how notchy it feels, since I've read here that is normal and isn't an issue when actually rolling down the road. I'm going to use wide leather hub polishing straps, to conceal the chunky hubs. Going to measure the hubs and rims, order the spokes, and get the wheels built up. Then it'll be just a matter of test assembly and test ride. I'm going to kind of slap it together, without even polishing the components. If it rides great, I'll tear the bike down again, gugie will do his magic on the frame, and it'll all go together again with freshly polished bits.

inkandsilver

This is such a cool project, jyl. I'm excited to see how it all comes together.

bwilli88 

Great ideas, love the frame. Not sure about the need for a IGH but to each his own.

Please do not go Celeste. That blue is perfect.

jyl

They also came in a sort of root beer brown.

gugie 

Yeah, don't lay it down on the drive side, just like you wouldn't on lay it down on a vintage Campy derailleur!

How much does a spare indicator cost, on odd chance you go down? I carry a spare in my tool kit for my 3X7 96 Bike Friday New World Tourist (still has the original indicator):

jyl

$5 or so. I guess I'll carry a spare too. In a special braze-on :-)