Originally Posted by ncscott
I am very clearly bored...
I've noticed a few people have mounted double chainrings on their bikes (downtube folders specifically) and just kick shift it (no derailer). The biggest problem of putting a working front derailer appears to be routing a cable to the derailer when there are no cable stops put on the bike for this purpose.
What if... You mount a clamp on downtube shifter (
http://www.bikeparts.com/search_resu...p?ID=BPC308003) to the seat tube just below the top tube and ran the cable strait from the shifter to the front derailer. A top pull derailer would be required and removing the shifter on the other side would be neccessary as well. You can still buy thumb sifters as well but would need to do more fudging with the clamp to make it fit.
Does anybody else think this is possible? When I finally get around to buying my own folding bike I'm going to start off without the front derailer but this idea might make sence as well.
Scott
Something like this one might be what you are thinking about.
The clamp was made by a guy in England called Steve Parry. It isn't cheap. I think he charges £40. It is purpose made for a Brompton. I use it on my Brompton clone. It works fine. The mech is a compaq Mirage.
