Originally Posted by
yamcha
I'm planning to upgrade my wife's Boardwalk SS hub to internally geared hub. Which hub do you suggest and how much do you think the bike shop will charge? Originally thinking about a 3-speed hub to keep tings simple but scared that the first gear might not be light enough top get her up hill.
We are just leisurely riders who go at a fairly moderate pace and converse a lot while riding.
Also, most the hubs that I have reviewed online come with either coaster brakes or roller brakes. Can someone please explain to me what roller brakes are? Can't seem to find a good definition online. Definetely don't want coaster brakes.
Thank you.
Perhaps I can help. I decided to convert my Dahon Boardwalk S1 into a three speed a while back with sucess. I ride a pace similar to yours so I think you will like the internal hub's features that will match your needs. See my Geocities page devoted to the conversion at:
http://www.geocities.com/folder_fanatic/Selection3.html
and photos on Flickr of the finished bike with a Sturmey-Archer three speed hub without a built in brake (I chose to add a hand brake instead) at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/world-of-folding-bicycles/sets/72157594461421431/
plus other sets have that Boardwalk featured too. Let me know if this is the direction of what you want in your own conversion of your bike (just curious).