Convert 12 speed Miele to 6, or something more interesting?
 

I bought a Miele online for cheap and I'm using it to learn bike mechanics. I've had a hell of a good time tearing it down so far.

I'm thinking about doing something with the gears. I want to keep the bike's ability to shift in tact, I feel like it's just part of it's vintage character, but I don't want a plain old 12 speed. Was thinking of going to 6, but I'm wondering if there's some other setup that I could try? I'm not trying to drop weight, just make the bike a different riding experience from my regular 18 speed commuter bike.

Thoughts, concerns, ideas?

Never thought about shifting systems as part of a boutique approach! When you say you might want 6-speed, do you mean 1 chainring in the front and 6 sprockets in the back? What's in your vision of the most interesting shifting setup? Do you want to stay with the current spacing of the frame (probably 126 mm)?

I personally have no problem with cold-setting a frame as long as it's done well and the dropouts are re-aligned to parallel after the spacing is correct.

My 'More interesting' suggestion.

WI 'dos' Freewheel, 2 speed, + a double crank with chainring sizes chosen to use those 2 rear gears again in a higher or lower range.

Ratio total 4, all unique, no overlap.. near zero dish 1 speed rear wheel , but the 2 in 1 freewheel..

Yes, 1 chainring in front, 6 in the back. A more interesting setup? Maybe 2 chainrings in the front, 3 sprockets on the back. That way I can keep both my shifters. Again, not looking for any kind of riding benefit, just a different riding experience. I don't know if the 2 chainring/3 sprokect thing would even work, i havne't dipped into spacing or compatibility or anything yet.

I have no idea what cold-setting a frame is. I haven't measured the frame yet but I guess tha'ts pretty important for planning out what to do. I'll probably stay with the current spacing though.

I don't completely understand the jargon. I'm still a learner in all this and a point to doing an interesting setup is to learn about stuff like this. Can you elaborate for a newb please? (Whatever it is, it DOES sound interesting).

AH, did some research:
http://www.whiteind.com/free-wheels.html

freewheel hubs .. I have used a series of spacer swaps on the axle to let the hub be re centered to the right to make a 1 speed re dished wheel
loosened tighter right side tightened the left spokes to make them near equal..

The White Industries (Petaluma Cal) makes a 2 (Uno, Dos) cog freewheel ..

math will tell you how big a gear you want in front.. knowing the gears you use on your other bike.


another concept a 3 speed Internal Gear hub. and 2 chainrings Rear D becomes a chain tensioner , that lever can be used to shift the hub.

How about just learn the basics of repair and maintenance first. That's plenty interesting. Every bike is a bit different riding experience, so RIDE!

The internal gear hub sounds interesting but I don't know if it's suitable for a road bike'like setup. Very neat though. I like hte idea of the 2 cog freewheel. The bike currently uses a freewheel, but 6 cogs.

Currently in progress :)

Depending on which & how far, turn in the DER limit screws.
You can have your choice of a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10 or 12 speed for FREE!

for a different riding experience
consider changing the handlebars to a different shape
or
converting to single speed
or
assuming your miele has 700c or 27 inch wheels now
investigate the possibility of a smaller wheel diaeter
like 650b
which could give you the ability to run fatter tires
and ride off road

but simply going from
bike 'a' with x speeds
to
bike 'a' with x-y speeds
will make very little practical difference while riding

My regular commuter is a hybrid. A road bike is already a different riding experience for me, just want to take it a bit further.

One possibility that hasn't been mentioned so far (probably because it's a given for the experienced riders who have responded to your thread) is that of switching the current freewheel or cassette, as the case may be, to one with a more closely or more widely spaced range of sprockets.

If you've every ridden hard and wished that you had another gear just a little higher or a little lower, you're a candidate for a sprocket swap.
Note, though, that while switching to a smaller sprocket range should require nothing more than a bit of gear adjustment, if that, switching to a wider sprocket range sometimes necessitates installing a longer chain, a wider-range derailleur, etc.

i retract my words
go single speed or fixie
its reversible

Alot depends on your budget for an interesting gear setup you could go with a nice modern IGH 6/7/8 and a single front. Somehat pricey but a nice interesting setup that would work fine with older spacing. Or maybe 2 or 3 speed fixed hub if you want something truly interesting and pricey.

I was just looking at a Sturmey Archer S3X 3 Speed internal gear hub fixed: Sturmey Archer
I've never ridden one and they look pretty clean while still offering me a bit of variety with the 3 speeds.

The bike I'm working on is one of these (but this is not my bike):
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=409156

I haven't measured it yet for compatibility, but if anyone can offer insight on doing something like this, it would be greatly appreciated.

Also, thanks for all the comments. I'm excited about the possibilities and it's great to read all the input from you guys.

internally geared
is the best way to go and
there are many hubs

How about retro-direct gearing on a bike ? Retro-direct - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1 gear pedaling forward , a second one pedaling backwards..

I ride a S3X (along with numerous other IGH bikes)and I like it a lot. That is an ideal frame to mount one in, and you can mount the shifter on the downtube where your current shifter is.

the first leaning is to take that bike all the way apart, lube everything and put it successfully back together


I think you should have and end vision for you build......not just do something funky to do something funky. I have learned the most by having and end vision and then dealing with the issues as they come up.

What do you want to do with the bike....just ride it around, commute, do errands, go fast, train, etc.********** then build to that target and budget

here is are examples

I have a 83 nishiki that a number of years ago my vision was to turn it into an upright utility/commuter bike.

The end result was is that the bike has 2 original parts, the frame and the seat post

The vision was simple and clean. I reacted as I went because I didn't know what I didn't know

I went from 27 to 700 c wheels. learned about brake reach and fitting recessed nut brakes on a nutted frame

I bought some wheels on ebay....turned out they were built on deore hubs (135 width) so I learned how to cold set the frame.

Wheels were freehub so I learned about those (had only done freewheel before that)

I painted the frame so I learned what a pain that is.

because i painted I took the headset out.....and learned how to put a new one in

I dealt with indexed shifting installs.....even though later I went to a thumb friction shifter

I got a new used crank and cassette and learned about cassette BB.

the wheels had some issues so I learned how to build a wheel.

but it call came out of target vision.....

you also have to think budget.......when you start changing all the parts out it gets expensive even if you can source used.

Thanks for the advice and it sounds like you had quite an adventure with that bike.

I've been working on doing a tear down and my initial plan is to take it all apart and put it back together and checking on the condition of the internal parts and giving them a clean. From there I'd start modifying it here and there. I'm trying to put together that vision as I'm working and learning and I see doing the mods as a bit of a reward which I'm pretty excited about.

The tear down and cleaning has been like a drug. It's extremely satisfying to get a freewheel spinning nicely after giving it a clean, a clean it might not have had in 20 years.

That's great news. I was wondering about the shifter and mounting it. The current shifter position is on the stem but I've seen some pics of people mounting the sturmey shifters there.

But now i need to decide on going with a retro looking shifter vs a plain ol lever.

Wow, that's crazy! Maybe my next bike? That's really interesting. Thanks for sharing that!

now they also sell a regular thumb shifter, a bar end version, same 3 click lever & a grip shifter..

I used a friction downtube lever on my 3by3by3 speed bike I Built-up, in the Kennedy Administration years

That's the classic trigger shifter. Will not work with S3X
as the cable pull is different. The shifters for the S3X are bar end Sturmey Archer or thumbie Sturmey Archer
Either one can be removed from it's mount and mounted on your downtube boss.