Finally... this one has been a long time in the making! When it finally arrived on Wednesday I was too busy to start work on it until Friday night. But then it flew together in a couple of hours.
The interesting bits:
- Sturmey-Archer "Phoenix" 8 speed hub
- Ti saddle
- 46 cm drop bars
- DiaCompe 287-V levers for v-brakes
- Home made twist shift adapter (like Sheldon Brown's HubBub, but it cost me $4 instead of $50!)
- Primo Comet 406 * 1.5" kevlar tires, 100 psi
I chose the Sturmey Archer instead of the Nexus Redband 8 for several reasons, but one of the big ones is that direct drive is in 1st gear, and the 305% range goes above that. So when I'm struggling up the San Francisco hills, at least it's in the most efficient gear! And this also means that I can use a fairly normal size chainring, even with these small wheels. My 42/25 combination gives me a range of 31" - 96".
The hub was super-easy to set up, though the cable routing is not exactly ideal. It works very nicely too, and if there is any extra resistance compared to a derailleur setup I can't tell
As for the shifter adapter, I just happened to notice that an old 7/8" quill stem fit
perfectly inside my drop bars. So I cut it down to suit the length of the twist shift and bought a shorter bolt. I also made up a 0.75 mm shim using a PET bottle, since the quill stem was just a little smaller than the inner diameter of the shifter. I had intended to mount the shifter on the right bar, but when it arrived the shifter turned out to be asymmetrical - so I mounted it on the left. I'm left handed anyway, so it may even suit me better!
So do I like it? Well, on San Francisco's TERRIBLE roads the ride is bone-jarring! Seriously, there's more pot-hole than tarmac here
But where's there's a small bit of smooth road, this bike can really fly. It feels stiff and I really like the handling. It's very light, and accelerates well. I'm really happy with the gear range so far, though I haven't put my rack on yet and tried it with a full load of shopping
Lastly - big thanks to Peter Reich for building the wheels for me, and to James_swift for patiently answering questions and letting me have a little go on his Swift fixie!
Pictures - sorry about the messy & distracting background! I'll try to find a plain background and take some better ones, but no time today.
