Sirrus Rider

Seeing that Bianchi no longer makes the San Jose I was wondering what other frame can be used as the jumping off point for creating a drop bar IGH light tourer/Commuter like Sheldon Brown's San Jose8? Right now this it's a theoretical exercise leading to my next commuter.

One ongoing problem with my '07 Sirrus is I really chew up chains, and cogsets. My last chain only made 500 miles before it was too stretched to shift effectively. So I'm thinking I'd like to try an 8 speed IGH. Thoughts??

tjspiel

Bianchi still sells the Volpe right? From what I recall it's the same frame in geared bike form. You'd have a lot of extra parts to sell when you're done. Otherwise Nashbar sells a touring frame. There's always the Crosscheck either as a frameset or complete bike. Plenty of options really depending what exactly you'd like.

If you're looking for a single speed that could easily be converted, I don't know of anything that wouldn't require that the rear triangle be cold set in order to accept the 8 speed IGH. It's not that hard to do. And just because I don't know of anything, doesn't mean they don't exist.

Personally, I'd use a Jtek bar end shifter rather than what Sheldon did with the San Jos8.


BTW: Something is wrong if you're going through cassettes and chains that quickly.

Sirrus Rider

Yeah.. I'm 20 pounds overweight and I'm pretty sure I have another 10 in cargo leading to a massive amount of inertia. Then there is all the metal mashing torque I produce out of my massive hobbit quads.. All kidding aside, most modern components are thinned out and made for racing then add all the other factors I suspect that is why I'm blowing through it so easily..

Andy_K 

Pretty much any singlespeed cyclocross bike can be built up like that. In addition to the many bikes that are sold as SSCX, any frame with a BB30/PF30 can be easily converted to singlespeed/IGH use with an eccentric bottom bracket.

Reading your post has me thinking about what I can do with my Jake the SSnake, which has pretty much been gathering dust since the CX season ended.

noglider 

If your chains last 500 miles, you're doing something wrong.

bigbenaugust 

Not cleaning, perhaps?

I would say the Motobecane Fantom Cross UNO would work for an IGH conversion, but you may have to stretch the rear triangle to accommodate your choice of IGH.

jfowler85

That's what I was thinking.

RubeRad

It would have been nice if you included a link in the OP...

That's pretty funny, a bar-end grip-shifter. Leave it to Sheldon, who also made a bike with drop and flat bars simultaneously!

dynaryder

+1 on looking into your chain maintenance.

Also,Surly has several framesets that would fit the bill.

Sirrus Rider

I clean it every 5 rides and relube with prolink..

noglider 

Clean how? You're probably leaving grit in. Prolink is very thin. Use something thicker such as chainsaw oil or Chain-L. You don't have to apply these frequently. You get an E for effort, but your results show that something is wrong.

Sirrus Rider

I remove the chain from the bike (SRAM Powerlink) and agitate it in a pan of mineral spirits replacing the mineral spirits until it is clear.. I then dry the chain (Hi-heat under a blow dryer if I'm in a hurry)..

bikemig 

+ 1.

RubeRad

conversely, are you sure it's chain stretch that's the issue with your shifting?

bmthom.gis

You go through that every 5 rides? My chain is lucky if I do that once a year, and at that point I will probably just replace the sucker to skip doing any of that. I like where you are going with making a club bike - something I would like to do myself...but something doesn't seem quite right if you are burning through chains and cassettes that quickly. Wire stretch every 500 miles I could easily see, and that is a simple twist on the barrel adjuster. I'm definitely 20 lbs overweight as well, plus carrying stuff and I have never chewed through a chain that quickly. I've never had to buy a new cassette as of yet.

RubeRad

I wonder if overcleaning could contribute to chain wear?

grolby

I would guess if you are cleaning it that often, you are killing it rather than helping it. Not to start a religious debate, but I think chain cleaning is something people do with good intentions but is mostly misguided. It is easy to strip lube from the interior spaces of the chain, but very difficult to flush grit. What happens is that you remove the lube but not the grit, and that's a recipe for very rapid wear. Re-lubricating doesn't prevent the problem because it takes time for the new lube to work back into the chain. If you keep the chain regularly lubricated, a lot of that grit gets carried to the outside of the chain where it's gross but doesn't do any harm. I spent a lot of time cleaning chains earlier in my riding days, and even after re-lubrication they sounded raspy and gritty for days. I'm now positive that was time wasted. Lube protects the inside of your chain and you shouldn't remove it unless you are able to really remove all of the grit from the inside of the chain before re-lubing. I think even if you can, it's really not worth the effort. I haven't cleaned a chain in years beyond wiping down the outside of it with degreaser if it's really gross. I just lubricate regularly (my current favorite is Rock N' Roll Extreme, Boeshield T-9 is good, too) and wipe it down and off I go.