The Swobo “Otis” is the best new bike design I have seen in a while. Modern without looking trendy. Classic without looking retro. Utilitarian and stylish. Nice going, Ms. Yaeger!
If I wanted to spend $700 on a bike, I would send it right to you. However, I just can’t do it. Sorry.
For Lookabout readers only, here’s a secret formula:
Mountain Bike from the 90′s + Three Speed Coaster Brake Hub = “Otis”
Yup. Salvaged 80′s road bikes inspired a generation of Fixies. Salvaged 90′s mountain bikes will launch a fleet of Three-Speeds. Here’s why:
- Horizontal drop-outs - Get your beautiful chain tension with no derailer.
- Rugged steel frame – Re-space your rear triangle. Dent your frame. Watch it rust. It’s indestructible!
- 94% as minimalist as your Fixie - One cable for the shifter is all that’s required.
- Maintenance-free gears – Tired of spinning-out on downhills? Shift up, why dontcha?
- Back-pedal Coaster-Brakes - Feel 8-years old again.
P.S. to Brad Quartuccio: In Issue #3 of Urban Velo you hint at a “hare-brained” project involving a three-speed hub. Let us in on the secret, guy!
Tell you what. I’ll go first. And describe how I made it…
1. Buy a three speed hub.
I tried to purchase the SRAM 3-speed/coaster-brake hub specified on Swobo’s bike, but it was out of stock. So I picked up the Sturmey Archer version for about the same price. The SRAM hub has a little bit wider gear range, but you do what you can with what you got. And, it’s not like Sturmey Archer is some oddball brand. They basically invented the internal gear hub.
2. Get a rim
I suppose that you could buy a rim, but you should be able to find a wheel on a junk bike that has a decent rim on it. Look for something aluminum a reasonably straight. You can cut the spokes off with a wire cutter. Once the most of the spokes are cut, there will be no tension on the spokes and you can unscrew the nipples with a screwdriver.
3. Buy Spokes and Nipples
Believe it or not, this was the hardest part. I used this calculator to figure out my required spoke length, but Sheldon Brown also links to a few others. If you can’t find your parts in the included lists, you have to carefully measure the flange diameters of your hub and the inside diameter of your rim to the nearest millimeter. Luckily, three-speed wheels and hubs are symmetrical, so you only need to find calculate and purchase one length of spoke.
I wanted to buy the spokes at Cyclemania, but they were $1/each! BikeStop had them at $20/pack of 50. What can you do?
My nipples came from Back Bay Bike. They were a dime each. That’s my price!
4. Build a Wheel
I’m not going to go into detail on this topic, because I’m really not qualified. But, I will say this: Don’t be scared. It’s not that bad.
Have you ever tried to straighten a warped wheel? It’s much easier than that.
I used Sheldon’s page and Jobst Brandt’s book as a guide. It took me three tries to get it laced up right. Maybe an additional two hours to get it tensioned and true.
You can do it. They have Brandt’s book at the Portland Public Library. Don’t have a truing stand? Improvise!
5. Install the Wheel
This turned out to be harder than expected. My hub was spaced smaller than my bike’s rear triangle. However, with a bar-clamp and some gentle persuasion, I was able to re-space the rear triangle to match. Good old steel. Nothing beats steel.
6. Install the Chain and Shifters
I ran the chain to the smallest chainring for carrying 30 pounds of Kid Fink and some groceries up Munjoy Hill. You might want to use the second chainring.
After that, you just set up the shifters. The instructions that come with the hub are very good. If you read Japanese, they might be even better.
7. That’s it. Go cruising!
im having alot of problems with the three-speed internal-hub SRAM on my swobo otis.
The Bike itself I love but the gears are really noisy clicking constantly.
Just what i didnt want.
The Gears skip constantly which make it really dangerous when cycling in traffic you drop from 3rd to first and go lurching forward.
This happens constantly and if you hit the slightest bump they skip too.
Today cycling to work it was awful
Gear 1 and 2 are so light they are virtually useless so i always cycle in third which defeats the purpose of me having the thing.
Maybe i have a faulty hub otherwise it is rubbish
By: peter on October 8, 2007
at 8:34 am
Yikes! That’s not right!
I need to re-adjust my Sturmey-Archer hub every time that I remove the rear wheel. If its not adjusted right, the gears will skip. It’s an easy procedure, but sort of delicate. Maybe your SRAM hub needs some adjusting?
Also, can you swap out the front chainring for a larger one? That might help you spend more time in the lower gears.
Thanks for the comment, Peter. If you figure out a good solution to your problems, pass it along…
By: jfink on October 8, 2007
at 9:41 am
BTW,
Here are links to the adjustment instructions for SRAM and Sturmey-Archer Hubs.
By: jfink on October 8, 2007
at 12:11 pm
One of the the things I’ve noticed with the sram and nexus 3-speeds, is most people don’t read the manual. You must stop pedaling, shift and resume pedaling. Shifting while pedaling tends to round the internal pawls, leading to the symptoms described above. The wratchet (clicking) noise is common and is louder or more pronounced in third gear because all the pawls are engaged. Hope this clears up a few things for other readers. I’ve rolled on a sram three speed for three years with no problems and I love it. I played with the gearing ratio until I got something that would give me “legs” on the the flats but geared low enough I can still climb the hills of Seattle.
By: mblum on April 11, 2008
at 9:25 pm
Mblum is right. I find that I need to stop pedaling, and sometimes even backpedal a little to get the shift to go well. But, the upside is that you can shift down to a lower gear while you are stopped at a traffic light.
I have REALLY been enjoying my coaster brake. It took a little while to get used to, because you need to be in the right pedal position to get enough leverage on the pedals to stop well. However, once you get used to it, it’s nice to be able to brake without changing your hand position on the handlebars.
By: jfink on April 11, 2008
at 11:33 pm
I have just built up an old 25″ all steel racer with a Sturmey-Archer 3 speed coaster, its a fantastic ride and well worth doing. I went for a 55 mile ride on Saturday and passed a few carbon fibre boys while they fumbled with their gears.
I built both wheels, I had never done this before and it was easy, I can’t stop myself now, I even built a spare singe speed coaster wheel, but I’m so pleased with the 3 speed I don’t think it will ever get used.
Alan in Sunny Great Britain.
By: Big Al on April 11, 2010
at 9:38 pm