n_r_child

Folks,
I love the look of the Electra Amsterdam- for my commute, though, I fear 3 speeds may not be enough. (yes, I know there are those of us that commute on single speeds- it isn't for me). So I am investigating the idea of swapping in a larger internal gear setup (like the Alfine 8 speed). Any thoughts as to the practicality, difficulty, cost effectiveness of such surgery?

Thanks.

JeffS

If you really like the frame design, go for it. Cost effective it is not though when compared to the cost of many bikes on the market that come with a 7 or 8 speed stock.

I have an Amsterdam for the sole purpose of carrying a bobike mini child seat (which mounts to a 1" theaded stem). While it works for what I use it for, I would never want to commute daily on the bike. The slight pedal-forward design really bugs me when I try to go faster than a comfortable, easy pace.

I understand this is a personal preference thing though.

joeyfrench

Do it, man! I love my Alfine, but cost effective, meh, not really. Convenience-wise, it can't be beat. Difficulty-wise, I don't know, does the frame have horizontal drop-outs, and is the frame spacing 135 mm? If you are interested in running disc brakes, the Alfine supports this out of the box, as well.

JeffS

That's a good point about axle spacing.

The inter-8 would not fit unless you wanted to spread the dropouts. The inter-7 might fit since it's axle width does match with one of the inter-3 hubs. The 3 comes in three different sizes though. They're all fairly close, but it would be nice if they matched exactly.

There's no provision for brakes so whatever you went with would have to have a roller brake. I do REALLY wish the amsterdam had a front brake. I'm quite clumsy with the coaster brake after riding almost three decades with only hand brakes.

I would strongly prefer a classic 3-speed over the amsterdam, i just couldn't find a decent one in my size.

n_r_child

On the electrabike.com website, they list two styles of Amsterdam- classic (skirt guard, lights) and sport (more of a naked bike); each is available in two colors, and all are listed as 3 speed models. Do you mean you would prefer the sport style?

I hadn't realized they only had coaster brakes. That in and of itself might be enough for me to reconsider.

With regard to axle spacing, that is a great point! I guess it is time to do some research on axle spacing, pricing and gearing. Thanks again!

Schwinnsta

This really depends on the kind of ride or commute you do.

I have an old 50's cruiser, my ride is flat, nearly dead flat, with lots of pot holes, in the city of New Orleans. I put a 7-speed nexus on and it is an improvement but not a great improvement. I got a deal on it and wanted to try it. It came with the wheels and tires. Schwinn aluminum, new with low pressure balloon tires, which I like. It was an easy install even with having to spread the stays.

If I had to buy this new, I would not do it. It is good, shifts great. Now if there were hills then probably would. Then again if there were hills I might have to rethink the old cruiser.

The coaster brake works great.

squeakywheel

Rebuild the front wheel around a drum brake hub. Use an internal gear hub for the rear with a built in drum brake. Both front and rear would have hand activated brakes.

JeffS

No, I meant that I would prefer something like a 70's Raleigh Sports/superbe. Actually, I don't want that either, I was just trying to find something cheaper than a Breezer Uptown, which was my ideal bike for this task.

Anyway, with the Amsterdam, the sports and classic are the same geometries. I paid about half of msrp for mine, or I wouldn't have bought it at all. There were several bikes with the 1" stem at REI that I was considering. In the end, I just decided the Amsterdam would have better resale value when I ditched it in about six months or so when the kid outgrows the seat.

Can you tell that I don't like this bike very much?

Rob_E

When I was bike shopping, I was smitten by the Amsterdam, too. I couldn't find one to ride, though, and didn't want to order one sight-unseen. I rode a couple other Electras though, and found that the forward peddling and limited gearing did not work for me. I ended buying was felt decent to ride and was in my price range. It lacks the style of the Amsterdam, but it has 24 gears, and I use every cog during my commute home, so I'm very glad I didn't limit myself to 3 speeds. I like to think about going with an internal hub, but it's hard to think about giving up all of those gears (although I guess I could go internal-8 on the rear and keep the front derailleur).

rodar y rodar

If you want to keep your FD, you`ll need one in the back too. Unless you want to change out your chain for a longer or shorter one every time you shift rings. A few IG hubs allow the use of cassettes or multiple sprockets, that might be an easier option.

Do Alfines have different axles than Nexus 8s? My I-8 has 132.5 OLD. I didn`t even cold set the stays on my bike (135mm)- just drop the hub in and tighten it up.