Fussing With Gear Inches

I finally ordered a set of cogs off of eBay. The guy was selling 7 cogs and my bid of about $12 won the shootin' match. The sizes are 20, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, and 13. I put the 15 on the Centurion, which has a 50T ring (actually, both bikes have 50s), requiring breaking the chain and removing a link, struggling to get the wheel on enough due to the shorter chain (should have used a half link), fixed the slow leak in the rear tire, and went for a ride.

The 15T is a definite improvement over the 18T I replaced. The 18 required too much spin on the flats and downhills. I still have a 16T on the Bianchi. The 50/15 gives good speed on the flats, and helps keep the downhill spin under control with less braking, particularly compared to the 18T. The 50/16 on the Bianchi allows me to stay in the top gear much of the time, with the occasional shift at the stop. I almost never shifted with the 50/18. The 15T requires more shifting, and I've been using the lowest gear more than previously (which was almost never).

This seems to me to be sensible, because I was riding much like I was still on a single speed fixie with both the 50/18 and the 50/16, usually only using the middle gear at a stop sign, and the low gear rarely. Now I'm still  in the top gear a lot, but I'm shifting down for moderate climbs and way down for the steeper stuff or when the headwind is fierce. I think 50/15 might be the best compromise, but I'm not going to stop just yet. I'm going to try the 14, then the 13.

I preferred riding the Bianchi until I switched the cog out on the Centurion. I wasn't sure why, but it seemed to take a bit more work to ride the Centurion. Now they seem about equally enjoyable to ride. I thought the Centurion was heavier or the fit wasn't as good as the Bianchi, but I suspect that the gear inches were the difference.

BTW, I tried to readjust the endplay on the axle to see if some of the lash on the black Alex wheel would improve, but I can't get it to be as good as the silver Open Pro wheel. Maybe the black one is an earlier run, or the tolerances aren't consistent. I know the earlier hubs had lots of lash, and it improved in subsequent batches. The difference in lash makes a difference in performance. I don't trackstand much, but the two wheels are a very different experience when I do. Also, the pedal bump is significant with the black one, and I find it a bit annoying on a fast downhill. NBD.

Pictures of the New Wheel and New Bike

So I finished the new bike and took it out for its first ride today. It is pretty good. The lash on this wheel is significantly more than the silver one has. I have not yet tried to adjust the cone, and I know there's too much play in the bearings, so hopefully I can lessen the slop.

As you can see, I strung a long cable housing through the top tube loops, and clamped a cable stop to the seatstay. It looks a lot better than the pulley, and seems to shift fine. This was what I tried to do on the first bike, but it didn't work out because it kept slipping. This time I wrapped some cloth electrical tape around the stay and wrapped a piece around the cable stop, then clamped it all together. It holds well, and seems to be adequate. You can see the clamp and tape in the bottom picture. I also used a couple of cable ties to hold the housing in place.

The bike rides about the same as the Bianchi, but seems a bit bigger, which is good. I'm going to ride them both for a while, and decide which one I'll keep. I like the looks of the Centurion better than the Bianchi, and the fit seems as good. Now I'm thinking about switching things around again: silver stuff on the Centurion and black stuff on the Bianchi, if I decide to keep the Centurion. We'll see. 

The Centurion now has a 50 ring/18 cog. When I rode today, it seemed like I was spinning too fast in the top gear. The Bianchi has a 50/16, which seems better. I think I'll try a 15 or 14 to see if I like being able to get some more speed on the flats and less RPMs on the downhills. It will require more frequent shifting. I'm only shifting 3-4 time per ride, other than for stop signs. The nice thing about this hub is that you can use cheap BMX cogs or even cogs from an old taken apart cassette to try out different gear ratios. Those fixie cogs are expensive.

New Frame for the Black Wheelset

Thinking I might build up a new bike with the Alex wheelset, I picked up a 63cm Centurion CompTA frame on Craigslist. It's a well preserved Japanese frame, from '84 I believe, made of double butted #2 Tange chromoly steel. It's a nice silver and charcoal color scheme, which goes well with the black hub, spokes, and rim. It has some Shimano 600 parts on it which I'll put away or sell on eBay.

Strangely, I found out that the axle on the front Alex wheel is too big for the fork.

Duh-oh!

WTF? I'll have to file out the dropouts to allow for the fatty axle. I didn't notice this until I tried to fit it on the Centurion fork. Not knowing whether this was something with the Centurion fork, I tried the wheel on another bike, and it would not fit on it, either.

I hate doing something permanent like enlarging the slots. My bikes tend to go from one incarnation to another, and I don't like making changes that prevent reverting to the former use. I suppose that a slightly larger opening won't hurt anything....

I will post pictures of the new wheel and the new frame ASAP. I'll have to collect some parts now, including a seatpost, seat, some bullhorns, a new stem, a pulley and cable stop (although I might try setting it up with the downtube shifter again), a crankset, and the other bits I'll need to get on the road.

What am I going to do with two 3 speed fixies?

Lash and Cone Adjustments

Red kiosk, aka Jim, sent me an exerpt from somewhere on the internet, written by a guy in the UK who has had some experience with the S3X hub. See the comments from my last post to get up to speed.

I found his comments interesting, and largely agree with his assessment of the Way Things Are. However, I have had no hint of the dangers of "neutrals" in the hub while shifting up or down, or in standing on the pedals. As you may remember, I have been wary of the possibility of the hub slipping out of gear and sending me on an endo while standing. This used to cause me some concern, but so far, the thing has been rock-solid. You do have to be ready for the shifts, and anticipate the changes in pedal speed, for sure. You do not want to downshift too early at high RPMs.

I had to loosen the locknuts on both of my hubs in order to adjust the axles to fit my 126mm frame. The silver hub was set up to 130mm and the black one was 120mm. I had to add or subtract spacers in order to fit. This caused the cones to loosen on both, and I had to readjust them as best I could. I will take Roger's advice, and research the SA adjustment specs. He does say one thing that rather confuses me. He says that after adjustment you want "... some play at the rim..." At the rim? I don't know what that means. I'm looking at lash at the pedal, but maybe he's locking the pedal and measuring the # of degrees the wheel moves in slack?  Any ideas?

I also agree that you want somewhere between 80-90 gear inches in the top gear. I have something in the mid 80s, and would like a bit more. However, my town has massive hills and the bottom gear doesn't quite cut it, as is, so I'll have to live with it. I may even put a bigger cog on, if I can't get fit enough to climb the last leg home without fear of stroking out. The dragginess of the lower gears I have mentioned and Roger mentions seems to be Not a Problem. I have not noticed any significant drag since I've learned how and when to shift.

This hub rocks. I am having a great time riding it, and don't miss my Paramount fixie one bit. If you can, and you think you'd like the flexibility of 3 gears, get one. You won't be sorry. Like the sage said: "If you have to ask why, you'll never understand."

I have been thinking about putting the second wheelset on the Paramount, or maybe my classic Mercian frame? Blasphemy? Who cares?

Thanks for participating in the discussion. I do appreciate it and hope that we can be of help to anyone interested. Any comments are welcome! Don't be shy! Let us know what you think and what you know.

The New Wheel

I don't remember if I mentioned that the first S3X hub I bought was a silver one that needed building into a wheel. After I got it, I found the Bike Island site which had the black wheelset for a great price and free shipping. So in the interests of easy and quick, I got the wheelset and mounted it on the Bianchi. It is the one shown in the pictures. I never did put the front wheel on, not liking the black so much. I figured I'd get around to building the silver wheel eventually, and start using it instead.

I bought spokes and an Open Sport rim from Harris Cyclery, and following the directions for a 36 spoke 3x wheel on Sheldon Brown's wheelbuilding site, laced it up and trued it as best I could. This was my first go at building a wheel, and it went OK. I had to enlist some help in getting the thing round, but but was able to tension and true it laterally on my own.

BTW, building your own wheel is not cheap. You will pay way more for spokes, nipples, hubs, and rims than a company that makes lots of them does. And you end up paying shipping charges, which are not cheap for wheel-sized packages. I paid more for the parts to build this wheel than I paid for the wheelset from Bike Island. It was an interesting experience, but I won't do it again unless I can't buy what I want off the shelf.  

I mounted it and took it out today for the first ride. Interestingly, it has less lash in the hub than the black one. I suppose it's from a later run, and they have been improved some. I think it looks a lot better than the semi-aero, black Alex SUB wheel on my bike.

There was no performance difference that I could tell. It worked great, shifted smoothly, and stayed true. Now I'm wondering what to do with the Alex wheelset. Maybe I'll find another frame somewhere....

Panties in a Knot

Here is a response to my s3x posting on the Google Groups rec.bicycles.tech group:


Congratulations on adopting what may be the least convenient convenience feature in the cycling world. If I'm going to have to pedal every stroke of the way, then what's the benefit compared the much more pure and authentic and less expensive "fixed-foot" walking?  And why would I want changeable gears to make it easier for me, if I already declined the most obvious and effective means of making my ride easier and more efficient?
This is sort of like those stick-on "sandals" that come back aroundevery so often.  Like, what's wrong with either wearing some damn shoes or just going barefoot?
Three-speed hubs with coaster brakes have been available continuously for something on the close order of one hundred years.  They doeverything your new toy does-- only better, more cheaply,  more safely, and more efficiently-- except bite your fingers off.  (Like other fixed gears, the S3X is really good for that.)


Chalo


Wow. 


And my reply:


Chalo,

That's the thing. You don't have to change anything. Ride your bike. Have fun. Don't get your panties in a twist because people do different things or think differently than you. It's funny how some ofthe bike crowd get when you don't have/do/think/want/ EXACTLY what they do. It's also sad how they sneer at other people who have their own ideas. 
I've ridden fixed almost exclusively for years (way before it became the latest hip thing to do for a couple months). I know what it is and I like the simplicity and the purity also. 3 speed coaster brake hubs don't do what this does, though. They freewheel. And they brake when you back-pedal. You know that. What makes you say that's the same thing as a 3 speed fixed hub?
No one will never convince you that this is a good thing. Your prejudice is obvious by your tone and choice of belittling words. This hub allows me to ride my favorite bike on my commute, which includes knee popping climbs and high RPM descents I don't want to suffer through every day with one gear.


My choice, not yours.


Regards,
Vance


I said that some people will revile you for not hating this hub enough!

Shift Cabling Revisited

Well, check out the pics. I bought a couple of bits from Harris Cyclery to make the shift-work more accurate and easier. The long cable housing and jury-rigged clamp were really binding up the shift cable.

I re-did the whole thing, eliminating most of the cable sheath. I added a cable stop at the extreme front end of the toptube, and added a pulley to transition down the seat stays. This was how they did it with the old English 3-speeds, I think. What I will change later is turn the clamps bolt-side down by flipping them over.

It's a bit obtrusive. I would prefer less stuff. Us fixie folks don't like mess. We don't like stuff. We want everything clean and simple. We want..... well....less, I guess.

I hear you. I asked for it. I got involved with... well....  more.

OK. So I have to live with it. But what about mounting the shifter on the seatpost? Or to a rack braze-on on the seatstay? (I don't have one.)  Or some kind of adapter that clamps to the seatstay? Or, borrowing the brake lever idea from the mountain unicycle crowd, a special clamp under the seat? I downshift/upshift maybe 3x on a ride. Reaching down to the seatpost 6 times in 2 hours is not a problem.

Or just go as-is.

Which is what I'll do, for now.