I think that the VAT, import duty is too much, i think it's better to buy a Merc.
But i think more gears are better to my city.
If i buy another gear is it possible to put in a Merc folding bike, this kind of gear:
http://www.sturmey-archer.com/hubs_8spd_XRF8.php
Is it possible to put more gears in a Merc ?
What do you think ?
Thanks
I think this idea of fitting an eight speed hub to the Merc might be tricky. I'm not sure about what sized rear cog you would need, or the spacing of the rear dropouts. You would have to buy a new hub gear and have the rear wheel rebuilt. As supplied the Merc has a reasonable gear spread, but you will maybe find occasions on very steep hills where you need a lower gear. I can get up most hills - even quite steep ones around town with the stock gears, but I have made a six speed conversion to my Merc by adding a second, smaller chainwheel to the crank. As supplied, the Merc has a 52 toothed front chainwheel and a neat aluminium chain guard disk. When I went touring with heavy luggage, I decided that I wanted more low gears. I was riding much further than normal commuting and carrying stuff, so I bought a spare, smaller chainwheel from Anita at Merc with a 39 teeth. This is the smallest chainwheel that the Merc crank can take. It cost about £4 plus a small amount of postage. It is a nice quality item like the rest of the bike. I had looked at European made chainwheels that were £30 and were no better quality than the one from Merc for £4.
The simplest solution to more gears is to put the small, 39 tooth wheel where the original 52 toothed one was on the inside, and put the old 52 toothed wheel where the circular aluminium chainguard was. Now you will have two chainwheels and can manually lift the chain from one to the other. You will have now 6 gears and will have spent about £6.
I made mine change from a handlebar lever, by buying a clamp and front mech to change the gear with a simple friction lever on the left handlebar. This gives me six gears, easily changed. It cost me about £50 for the parts. Most of it went on the clamp made by Steve Parry.
The simple method which needs you to change the chain by hand is VERY cheap and effective. I only use the low set of gears very rarely, and could have saved myself the money to get handlebar lever changing.
Here are some photos for you to see how it works.
I bought a clamp made by Steve Parry and a simple mech, which allows me a nice slick change between 52 tooth front ring and a 39 toothed one.