I know there have been a number of successful Quickbeam internally- geared hub conversions discussed on this list. The one that inspired me most is by Eric Norris (post = http://bit.ly/9gyfnB; pics = http://www.flickr.com/photos/35176...@n03/4225472677 ).
But Eric switched back to singlespeed and sold the Sturmey-Archer. (post = http://bit.ly/9amjYM) Wonder why. On Nov 21, 10:50 am, "Thomas Lynn Skean" <thomaslynnsk...@comcast.net> wrote: > Hi, all! > > Does anyone have any experience with the sorta new Sturmey-Archer duomatic > hub? If so... Are they of reasonable quality (as opposed to being a novelty > or a fashion-gimmick or something intended for a department-store bike)? If > you have no experience but would venture an opinion, would you *expect* them > to be of reasonable quality? (I know nothing about the modern Sturmey-Archer > company or about low-gear-count IGHs at all.) > > Could you imagine one on a Quickbeam/SimpleOne? > > I like the idea of a singlespeed bike. But I expect that with my weight > (~240ish) and given that I have already flirted with slight knee pain, riding > a singlespeed bike very much would not be my favorite thing (or the smartest > thing) to do. Over time, I expect that launches would challenge my knees with > any gearing that I could contemplate cruising in. I understand that the > SimpleOne is designed to be more than just a singlespeed. But I know me; I > really can't see me hopping off the bike and moving the rear wheel whenever I > needed to exploit that fact. > > However, I've done some gearing arithmetic and have concluded that I might be > happy with the two-speed duomatic hub. I could imagine launching in "low" > (somewhat carefully) and then cruising in "high" (somewhat spinningly). But > the "carefully" and "Spinningly" parts would be generally "good things to do" > sometimes anyway. And, though I am in now way tired of biking the way I do > now, I am on the lookout for ways to "mix it up" so as to keep riding as long > as possible (think numbers of years, not distance per ride). I'm thinking the > duomatic might even prove a "gateway hub" to actual singlespeed riding > (theory being that if I keep riding in general, and sometimes a two-speed in > particular, I'll continue to get healthier and become less vulnerable to knee > pain as a result). I'm not remotely considering doing away with multi-speed > riding (why would I leave my home in Hillborne heaven?). > > I've had uniformly bad experiences with multi-speed IGHs in the past (7- and > 8-speed Shimanos of 5+ years ago). But I'm open to the idea that, with the > duomatic being a two-speed and with IGHs having perhaps improved as they've > become more popular in the mainstream since then, it might not give me > problems like those hubs of yore. > > Any thoughts? > > Yours, > Thomas Lynn Skean > P.S. > One possibility I'm considering is a completely cable-less SimpleOne with the > coaster-brake version of the duomatic. That's the way I often rode bikes > growing up; one rear brake, one rear gear. Though there'd be complexity > hidden in the hub, the rest of the bike would be as simple as it gets. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
