Mechanic needed for gear conversion - track dropouts

Hello there,

so...i have a road bike with horizontal dropouts.

I'm currently running a Sturmey Archer hub gear and i sort-of hate it. It's a liability. It's super tetchy on alignment and heaven forbid i get a puncher....it's not the kind of thing i want to (if i can!) fix on the side of the road.

So.....i don't know much about gears. Fairly new to the gear thing. can someone recommend and fit a rear mech for me and advise on what i need to get / do to my rear wheel to get it working with a more conventional gear cassette system. I've seen that you can get add ons for the dropouts but i'm out of my depth on it.

I have a bit more faith in people on here than i do in most bike shops.

Thanks

The first thing is to measure the distance between the track ends: 130mm is the standard for +8 gears (using a cassette) and 126mm for 5-7 gears (using a freewheel).

Post a picture of the rear end (from the drive side).

It's 120 rear spacing.

A Brother Classic frame.

One of these?

In theory, you could spread the rear end (as it's steel) to accommodate the wider hub you'd need and use a chain tug with derailleur hanger.

But you'll have no cable stops and might run into clearance problems between the cassette or freewheel and the chainstay.

Much less painful to sell it and buy a frame designed for what you want.

yeah, one of those indeed

i thought as much, in terms of the techy-ness of doing this

hmmm, ok.
let me think on :)

Grass is always greener syndrome

You can fit a 5 speed freewheel to a 120 mm hub, but you really have to dig into the 1960/70s stuff. I might even be able to assemble one from the magic box of spares...

oooh.

and the rest?
is this something you could do?

I'd really prefer to keep the Brother frame as its such a comfortable ride.

whats up with the hub gears? the should be pretty bullet proof as opposed to tetchy?

That would be my thought too...

Going the derailleur route sounds a lot more hassle... and can only be done with obsolete componentry... can you not just MTFU and keep it as a single speed? Gears are kind of useless for urban use... and anyway why did you buy a track frame if you wanted gears?

Well, they have settled now....however i've noticed that for the first day or two....when pushing off from stationary the wheel 'moved'. Drive chain pulling and wheel slipping.
(i did actually take this to a bike shop to fix this issue but alas....)
Anyway...the gears were never really bang on aligned....had to have the gear switcher half on for it to change gear.
My real 'fear' is a puncture......because changing the tyre with this system means a totally new 'refit' of the hub.....aligning the tension cable....lots of tools, not a road side job.
ball-ache central.

'Manning up' isn't really what is at issue here.

I cycle 25 miles a day.
3 largish hills there, 3 largish hills on the return
i was cycling brakeless...which i had done for 7 years and by friday evening my knees were swollen to shit and painful.
i switched to single speed.....current frame.
was all good. but i felt that with gears i could knock off time.
which they do.
however i'm now in this situation.
don't want to have to change everything so drastically but maybe this is my only option.
The Brother frame is very nice to ride.....and thats all i'm looking for.
Comfort.
I'll see the tart on the weekends

I know what you mean about removing the rear wheel... you can fit a Tannus solid tyre at the rear... I have recently reviewed them on my blog... for urban use they are fine... Would advise to use a pneumatic at the front though, as these foam tyres are pretty harsh

http://paolocoppo.drupalgardens.com/content/zen-and-art-travelling-light-tannus-solid-tyres

What gear were you running fixed?

If your knees were swollen at the end of the week I'd suggest a lower gear and brakes, rather than variable gears.

Either way, putting gears on the Brother is going to be an expensive and unsatisfactory compromise.

For pretty much the same money as that will cost you, you can pick up an old Raleigh or Peugeot that's using the same sort of running gear as you would have to fit on the Brother. The big difference being that they were designed to run it and will therefore be less hassle.

No reason why they wouldn't ride as nicely as the Brother too.

Alternatively, sort your hub gears out (it's not hard) and fit something like a Marathon Plus. Routine good practice such as checking for the bits of crap that gradually work their way into the tyre and running the right pressure will keep punctures at bay: I honestly cannot remember the last time I had one.

TL/DR
What you propose is technically feasible, but is the most complicated of all the options open to you and the least likely to produce a satisfactory result.

The thing is you bought the wrong bike. If I had three hills on my way to work, I wouldn't buy a track frame... simple as that. I might consider one with disc brakes and 135 mm rear dropouts to fit an Alfine hub gear, but certainly not a track frame that leaves you with no real world options.

If you are not happy with the Sturmy Archer and you do want gears, sell it and buy something appropriate to your kind of riding. Get a Genesis Equilibrium disc or something

@Hauska2014 I'm guessing you mean doing this bit, have to be honest it's the main thing that makes me avoid hub gears. With deraileurs it's more of a pain to set but you can pull the wheel in/out as often as you like without it being unset.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Bma6jVvUb8

I would look into a kickshift/2 speed/duomatic/sram automatrix/sturmey s2, no gear cable it just shifts up when you reach a certain speed(usually around 18mph) and down when you back pedal or up when you back pedal while going with one of them. Very often they have a coaster brake too so be careful when buying. Less gears but easier to refit when you get a flat.

I did fit the sturmey myself.
adjusting it was a bit of a dick but i got it ok.
But then a few movements threw it out.
I took it to a bike shop to get pros on it but the same problem occurred.

Anyway, I realise what you are all essentially saying.

I'm barking up the wrong tree. I suppose i should just do a complete swap out
New bike!

pffff, ok ok ok.

I'm always spending money then being unhappy with my choices / the results.
foolish boy

despite what some people think - brakeless was a dream. Never problems.
mechanical, that is.

52/17.

Assuming 23mm tyres, that's 80.5 GI: no wonder your knees hurt!

That's a tall gear to be leg-braking on, never mind the hills.

Something around 67 GI and brakes (so you don't spin-out downhill) would be a lot more pleasant.

A sturmey is about the easiest thing you could hope to have to index.

Slack in the cable in 3, ability to pull a fraction more cable through in 1.

If there's no coaster or hub brake involved then wheel removal should be as simple as anything too. If disconnecting a sturmey cable and putting it back in the same place is beyond you, maybe you should just walk or get the tube. Infact, don't sturmey cables have a little keyhole shaped but on the cable so you don't need to touch the threaded bit?

I have a Sram/Sachs hub gear with a coaster do wheel removal is a bit of a cunt. I just run a decent tyre and I think I've wrapped inner tube in an old punctured tube.

yeah, i know i was pushing it.
But i enjoyed it......on the regular roads.
but since my commute changed i had to switch up
legs felt good even if my joints didn't

surprisingly, going up hill was always fine. like you mentioned, it's downhill where i noticed it. I often found myself over taking people on the ascent and having them whip passed me on the way down.

It really isn't as simple as that.
The cable needs to be realigned each time it moves....there is a locking thread, but to take the wheel off, it needs to be undone.

even if i change my handle bar position the tension is thrown out.

@Hauska2014 did you fit it to a bike that didn't have one before?

Are you missing a cable stop? It doesn't have to be on the top tube, adjusting without one would be lots more problems than need be. Essentially doing what this guy does to remove the slack but by undoing and redoing the gear cables just before the adjuster.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvR0S6lHJ4Q

even if i change my handle bar position the tension is thrown out.

You are missing bits of the cable run. Take some pics.

To index a sturmey you adjust the little chain so the collar where it enters the axle is flush with the end of the axle when its in gear. They even put little holes in the nut so you can see it.
Its really easy.

these gears shouldnt be hard to set up and shouldnt go out easily either.

can you post pics of the cable runs etc?

failing this i would just buy an old 531 road bike and put good tyres on and leave it at that.