Comments on: DIY “Otis” Three Speed http://golookabout.com/2007/10/02/diy-otis-three-speed/ Line in nature is not found; Unit and universe are round Wed, 08 Jun 2011 17:27:46 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Hapa9 http://golookabout.com/2007/10/02/diy-otis-three-speed/#comment-648 Sun, 20 Mar 2011 15:07:40 +0000 http://golookabout.com/2007/10/02/diy-otis-three-speed/#comment-648 Great blog, I am thankful I had this as a resource. I have been keeping an old ’87 Rockhopper alive (got it when I turned 18, I’m the original owner) and decided I wanted to build it up into a cruiser. Its seen many random modifications but the old thing keeps on rolling like a tank.

I had it built up as a freewheel single but wanted the ability to change gears when pulling a burley. I decided to pick up the Sturmey Sc2 kickback hub and build up a new wheel (first time for everything). A friend loaned me Jobst Brandt’s book “the Bicycle Wheel” which was an incredible resource. I got all of the parts and went to work.

Anyhow, I’ve had to play around with different rear cogs and eventually landed on a 46t front – 18t rear setup. It seems to provide enough range for most of my needs.

As you can see below, its a pretty funky assemblage of stuff (old wald front rack, handmade wood fenders, rattlecan paint job, etc.)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hapanine/5542669855/

Anyhow, thanks for the great inspiration.
-hapa9

]]> By: Big Al http://golookabout.com/2007/10/02/diy-otis-three-speed/#comment-644 Sun, 11 Apr 2010 21:38:52 +0000 http://golookabout.com/2007/10/02/diy-otis-three-speed/#comment-644 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: jfink http://golookabout.com/2007/10/02/diy-otis-three-speed/#comment-605 Fri, 11 Apr 2008 23:33:43 +0000 http://golookabout.com/2007/10/02/diy-otis-three-speed/#comment-605 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: mblum http://golookabout.com/2007/10/02/diy-otis-three-speed/#comment-604 Fri, 11 Apr 2008 21:25:55 +0000 http://golookabout.com/2007/10/02/diy-otis-three-speed/#comment-604 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: jfink http://golookabout.com/2007/10/02/diy-otis-three-speed/#comment-154 Mon, 08 Oct 2007 12:11:56 +0000 http://golookabout.com/2007/10/02/diy-otis-three-speed/#comment-154 BTW,

Here are links to the adjustment instructions for SRAM and Sturmey-Archer Hubs.

]]> By: jfink http://golookabout.com/2007/10/02/diy-otis-three-speed/#comment-152 Mon, 08 Oct 2007 09:41:43 +0000 http://golookabout.com/2007/10/02/diy-otis-three-speed/#comment-152 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: peter http://golookabout.com/2007/10/02/diy-otis-three-speed/#comment-151 Mon, 08 Oct 2007 08:34:42 +0000 http://golookabout.com/2007/10/02/diy-otis-three-speed/#comment-151 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

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