what happens to the shifter cable if you flip it? wouldnt it just be flopping around with nothing to connect to?

mike, you need to reroute that cable before you ship any of those and order down tube shifters as soon as possible. if you want your company to be taken seriously, that is unacceptable.

I feel my company is taken seriously already and not judged on one given bike out of the over 150 that we sell. That said, I will be setting up this bike once it in as many alternative methods as I think are reasonable given the specs we have. DT shifters will not be included in that; if I see a demand for DT shifters on IGH hubs - we will build a complete new bike based on that. {I think the bar-con is a great way to go with IGH - but some people may prefer DT -- although most IGH bikes we do right now use twist grip}

we sell a lots of IGH bikes - many are in our shops only and not offered online at all. I hope to develop many more options with IGH if these type bikes catch on. We already have a waiting list on the Kilo WT5 which will not be in until March.

The Kilo S3X I speced and ordered before even seeing the hub; so we could be on the front end of delivery for the special hub. I feel lucky to have the bike in stock now.

You're never going to get a free WT now.

im saying that the gaffe that is that cable routing would be unacceptable to any reputable company and shipping it like that would hurt your reputation as one. maybe im being too picky.

curses!

How did I fail? The hub is designed so that the shift cable goes in only one side of the hub's axle. If you flip the hub around the other way like a traditional fixed/free flipflop hub, the designated hole for the shift cable/linkage would be on the wrong (non-drive) side of the bike and with nothing to attach the shift cable (which is still secured to the drive side chain stay) to the loose end would be flopping around as you rode.

Yeah, that's why it isn't a flip flop hub.

Very glad to see that the S3X is in production and about to arrive at customers. Time to go talk to my friendly importer.

He already knows I want a S3X and the new S2C.


I owe, I owe, I owe,
It's off to work I go.

HMM, you think so? How many other companies are already offering a complete bike with S3X hub? BD slapped this together so that they could sell you a complete bike with S3X hub as soon as the hub is available...thats the main point here, and Mike has basically made this clear in his post above. No one else is doing thais as far as I am aware, at least not at that price point and this soon. If you want a bike that is specifically designed for the s3x hub with all the R&D and opinion polls to deterime what will be most popular setup, with the correct braze-ons for DT shifter, etc, then perhaps you'll have to wait a bit longer.

You fail because you totally missed the point. The hub is very obviously not a flip/flop. If you reread my post and look at the attached photo, it should be clear that I was enquiring about the possibility of installing either a cog or thread-on freewheel on the same side.

I know this, I thought mihlbach was insinuating that it was/could be since he said you could install a freewheel on it.


How would you "thread on" a bmx style freewheel when the hub is obviously splined (and hence not threaded)?

I assumed you meant you thought the other side was threaded since it's obvious from both your pictures that a thread on freewheel won't work on this hub. Beyond that- anyone who buys an S3x hub then runs it freewheel is buying an airplane to get free peanuts anyway- freewheeling three speed hubs are inexpensive and plentiful if you want to coast.

Go review the attached photo again, carefully, and the SA website. The hub on their site is very clearly threaded...it is both splined and threaded. The channels between the splines cut through the threads. I have a BMX racing hub that looks exactly like it..the cog (and any spacers) fits in the splines, and the normal threaded lockring is threaded on. This S3X hub appears to have a normal Shimano threaded and splined body, and indeed the SA website says that this is the case.

I'm aware that 3-speed hubs are widely available...but the point I'm trying to make here is that it appears you can do both with this hub (Fixed and SS). You can alternate between free and fixed by swapping the cog and lockring for a singlespeed freewheel and vice versa. I wish Mike or someone who has one of these things can confirm or deny this.


Edit: Quoted from the SA webpage about the S3X hub, "Threaded driver accomodates a single speed freewheel for a non-fixed 3 speed conversion"...

Do your guys run them with 3rd as the flat land gear or with 2nd as the flat land gear with 3rd for downhills?

When the rear brake is locked, how far can you move the pedal?

+1 Even though I'd route it under the tape as far as the brake lever, there are a lot of people who route their BarCon cables that way too. IMHO Anyone who acts like it's a big deal is just looking for something to complain about.

I for one am glad the bar end shifters are the 1st ones available. Been using BarCons on all of my derailleur bikes since '77.

based on my personal use of a 3 speed hub, I would say set 2nd as "normal"

3rd is for when you are really hauling and 1st is for when you are carrying a lot of stuff.

Ideally that means that you spend most of your time in 1:1 mode which I would assume puts the least wear on the hub

I would buy one with DT shifters IMMEDIATELY.

Any chance of a Fantom Cross Uno conversion kit, or at least a swap-in-able rear wheel?

I may be remembering this wrong, but I seem to recall reading that 3rd gear is the 1:1 gear on this hub. On most three-speeds, that happens in 2nd gear.

slapped together is exactly how that routing looks. in time, youll be more patient.

Am I the only person thinks the cable routing looks fine? Alright, that stock photo could lose a few inches of housing, but that's about it. Have you guys ever seen bar-end shifters before? It's pretty standard to have the cable exit the bar tape somewhere on the drop (exactly as seen in the picture) and loop out in front. This means that there are a minimum of turns in the housing and none of them are sharp. It's not as clean as a brakeless tarck bike, but then that's not what this bike is.

Perhaps you guys are just so unaccustomed to gears that you can't understand the concept?

its that im unaccustomed to loop de loops.



bar end shifters can be routed under the tape with todays cables and housings with little negative effect.

I like the lasst bike. it looks good

"• Shifter can be removed and used on braze on down tube mounts"

...but, dang, no shifter boss on the frame...

The SA logo looks b!tchin'.

Would love to have seen these with full SA group, including front hub and crank, but if alternate parts are keeping cost down or SA parts didn't measure up quality-wise, the bike looks great.

People need to get over the cable routing. I'd rather too long, than just right for some setup, but maybe not for others.

BD Mike: What colors are coming in for these bikes, in what sizes? I really want to order one of these in my size, but I'd rather get a bike in my size period than have to wait indefinitely for a color I prefer...

Maybe I just spend too much time in the C&V forum... It looks right the way it is. These people talking about how bikesdirect will no longer be respectable in the cycling world upon release of this cable routing... wow. I'm glad they weren't around before aero brake levers were invented.

And even if the extra turns aren't detrimental, from what I've read, on larger frames you gotta buy tandem cables/housing if you want to go under the handlebars. Just seems silly to me.

I agree with everyone who says this cable routing isn't a huge deal. That is not the first bar end shifter I've ever seen set up like that. Might look a little out of fashion, but I don't see it as problematic. If you like the bike but don't like the cable routing, then it's an easy enough fix. I think people just really want something to complain about.