noglider 

Yeah, Nashbar has some $100 frames. Pretty irresistible. But do you have spare parts? Things like brake hangers and cable clips will nickel and dime you to death.

politicalgeek

That's one thing I have to consider. When the time comes, I'll take a look. The one appeal to a new bike build, even a Nashbar frame, is the wider range of parts. Unlike my Schwinn which has a few funky part sizes.

wahoonc

This one of those pay me now or pay me later issues. An IGH may have a higher up front cost than a derailleur system, but even the lowest priced IGH is of equivalent quality or in some cases better than most mid priced derailleur systems. Your pay back comes down the road when you aren't replacing chains, and freewheels on a biannual basis, cleaning the chain and cogs every other week, or dealing with a gummed up drive train on a day when you are late for work. FWIW I have a couple of old Sturmey Archer 3 speed hubs with well over 20,000 miles on them that I broke down for a check, they are still clean inside and showing minimal wear, greased the bearing, slapped them back together gave them a shot of oil and off they go, still ticking away. On a derailleur system used under similar conditions, I probably would be on my 4th or 5th chain, second or third freewheel and chain ring set. AFAICR I have only put 2 chains on one of those bikes since I bought it in 1982, it is due for another one.

IMHO too many people look at the initial cost but don't look at future cost. Kind of like buying something based on the monthly payment, but overlooking the total cost of 2-3 times the actual price down the road.

On the dyno hub you are eliminating the cost and hassle of batteries, if you go with LED lights you get rid of the burned out bulb problem. If you only ride occasionally at night the cost of the dyno is higher, but it is always ready to go, no if's ands or buts.

Aaron

noglider 

wahoonc, excellent point. The old Sturmey Archer AW (wide) model was reliable beyond description. The trouble is that it's hard to evaluate the monetary value of reliability.

I have an old AW hub sitting around waiting for a purpose. I don't ride it because the gears are spaced too wide apart. I may try one of the new hubs because Sturmey Archer and Shimano now make them again with narrow spaced gears.

politicalgeek

Put a Brooks sprung saddle on it today. Man what a difference.

graywolf

Thought I would weigh in here with a positive comment. Lacing wheels is not that hard even if you have not done it before you should be able to build a wheel in a couple of hours. There are even webpages that tell you how, or the "The Bicycle Wheel" is a good book on building wheels. One trick is to have an wheel to look at while you are building the new one.

I tend to disagree with the folks who say alloy rims are a lot better than steel rims. On utility bikes that are not being ridden at high speeds you hardly notice any difference. And while it is true that alloy does brake better in the wet, a clean steel wheel brakes better in the dry. On a utility bicycle in my opinion it is six of one and a half dozen of the other. I built alloy rimed wheels for my Dunelt three speed, so I have a direct comparison with both the alloy and the steel wheels being true and round. The reason I built the new wheels is because the front was not original anyway and it cost about the same as buying a decent original front wheel. I had spare hubs, so I only needed rims and spokes.

noglider 

Yes, whether you feel it depends on how much weight you carry and how fast you ride. I tend to ride hard, so I appreciate the weight savings. I ride heavy bikes with light rims and tires.

wahoonc

Which saddle? A B67? I just ordered a couple more for my bikes, got a B67 in black for my Twenty and Compact RSW (they share a saddle) and a Champion Flyer for my Giant Expedition bike.

Aaron

politicalgeek

It was the only sprung one they had in the LBS. 15% off too.

politicalgeek

Just ordered a SA front dyno hub with drum brake off of AE Bike. Their price wasn't far off from the Velo Orange dyno hub. The drum brake up front should make those winter and rainy commutes better.

Our co-op is doing a parts swap on Sunday. I may check them out for a few things. I'm really torn now between keeping this a road bike and playing with the drops to find a position that works and making it upright. I guess we'll see what I can find Sunday.

politicalgeek

And I found a set of B&M dynamo powered lights at our co-op's swap meet today. Picked up a Lumotec Oval Plus and Dtoplight Plus for $30.

noglider 

Wow, you're really on your way. Maybe you should paint a fake Dutch name on the frame!

alicestrong

Gorgeous stuff there...

wahoonc

Hi could name it after a state in the US...seems to be the German way.

FWIW I have a Staiger Florida.

Aaron

wahoonc

Good deal!

Aaron

politicalgeek

I went thinking I might find a pair of drops that would fit me better. Who knew I would luck into a set of dyno lights at a good deal?

The gentleman selling them related his "D'oh!" moment on how he came into the light set. He had bought the bike with the front dyno hub and the lights. Gave the front wheel away to a friend before realizing he had given away a front wheel laced to a SON hub.

politicalgeek

I might be leaning towards doing the wheel build myself after all. Anyone have suggestions for this type (S-A AW 3 speed in back and a new S-A front dyno/drum brake up front)?

I had one suggestion to use DT Alpine spokes-or at least something thick enough for the AW's spoke holes. Any thoughts on rims? The Velocity Dyad or the Sun Rhino Lite are two ideas so far.

wahoonc

I like the Sun CR18's I have them on a couple of bikes and they are a great value for the money and look right on any vintage of bike. Sun Rhino Lite would probably be my second choice. Regardless they need to be double wall with eyelets.

Aaron

politicalgeek

I've seen a couple Le Tours converted to 650b as well. Might be another consideration for me if doing the wheel build myself.

politicalgeek

My SA front hub came this week. Now I need to figure out the rims.

Anybody know what a need to connect the light to the dynamo? The wire that is attached to the light has the connecting ends for what I assume is a SON hub. Sturmey's connections is a bit different.

politicalgeek

Need to find the memory card to my camera, but crappy cell phone pictures will have to suffice. Finally got bottle cages on the bike. I think the traditional mounting points were a bit too thick for my clamps, so I went a bit unorthodox with bottle placement. Seemed to work just fine tooling around the cul de sac. Other than having to tweak the front one a bit to facilitate having more than just my 2 high gears available.

noglider 

How do you get the bottles out? They're blocking each other. I can't even figure out how you inserted the second one. Did you insert it before mounting the cage to the frame?

politicalgeek

They work. Just a little twist to one side or the other and they come out. I'm still going to play around with the placement, though. Just got too frustrated getting them on and wanted some results.

noglider 

I got some cool things made my Minoura that let you attach a bottle cage to a frame tube or a handlebar.

Also, there are things that will attach bottles to a seat or seat tube.

politicalgeek

I may try some hose clamps from the hard ware store. These are the velo orange clamps. But I think the Schwinn's were a bit over built and these tubes are a little thick for the clamps.