Originally Posted by
darukhan
I'm toying with the idea of reducing the number of speeds my Birdy has as a winter project. My Birdy currently has a Sram Dual Drive 3 x 8 hub (with a Sram 11-32) cassette. When paired with the 58 tooth chainring I have on it, the bike is capable of a ridiculously massive gear inch range which is fun, but ultimately, it's a setup that is completely unnecessary. (...I mean, I can't even use the top gear unless I'm going downhill.... but when I can, I easily can hit 34mph! Going uphill is ridiculously easy spinning out in lowgear!)
So... with my current gearing, I can tackle virtually any hill up or down and have a multitude of speed options in the flats.... HOWEVER.... since my Birdy is used 99% of the time for commuting to work, I find myself ever only using THREE gears!
This has me thinking... "simplify".
I'm considering actually going in the complete opposite direction and dropping my number of gears to match the purpose of this bike, and if I'm going to change the hub, why not consider losing the excess cabling and consider a coaster brake.
QUESTIONS FOR YOU ALL!
1) I'm curious if anyone has ever tried using a coaster brake hub (any speed... single, two, three, seven, etc.) on their Birdy?
2) If so, what was your experiences with a coaster hub on a Birdy?
Sometimes "Simplify" is really Complicate....
I have a deep mistrust of internal geared hubs.
I love the "simplicity" of a derailleur system.
There is nothing "simple" about a birdy or your project. You will only have one cable running to the back of the bike for your shifter but that is all.
The 3 gears on a 3 speed are not changeable to the ratios you want.
The extra weight and mechanical resistance you get from an IGH is not worth it to me compared to a simple 9 speed derailleur system.
For about the same price as your conversion you should be able to find a good used 7 speed IGH folding Dahon.
I have a 7 speed igh Dahon that I got for $200 used that is in nearly new condition. It does not have the range of ratios I want. I want at least a 90 high gear and at least a 30 low gear.
The 8 speed 11/30---52 on my Swift is perfect.
Heck for the price of your project you could buy a Swift new---almost.
You could easily buy a Dahon speed uno and play with it.
I have only played with a few geared coaster brakes but I always felt they had a lot of drag. I know the single speed coasters have way more drag than I want.