Sturmey s3x or s2 on a Quickbeam?

[Philip Williamson]

I'm itching to build a new wheelset around some cheap rims and spokes
I got from Iro. I'm thinking an Alfine dyno front, and either a fixed
3-speed s3x, or a brakeless two-speed kickback hub (the S2).

Does anyone have experience with either of these hubs?

I have a Sachs automatic 2-speed I ran for a while, but always
resented the coaster brake. I like fixed-gear riding better than
freewheeling, but I'm worried about the 3 degrees of reported chain
lash on the s3x.

Philip

Philip Williamson
www.biketinker.com

[Montclair BobbyB]

Hey Philip:

I'm lacing up a brakeless S2 hub now (for use on my 86 Nishiki
Prestige). It was so cheap online, I had to own one. I hope to have
this done within the next few weeks (several competing priorities are
delaying me!!!), after which I'll let you know how it comes out. The
fixed 3-speed both intrigues (and scares) me. If it helps with
staying in the pedals on downhills, that's pretty cool... it's a
limitation I have with the way my fixie is geared (with a lower, old
man gear), for which I have to slow down on the downhills.

Peace,
BB

On Feb 23, 3:15 am, Philip Williamson <philip.william...@gmail.com>
wrote:

[Michael Richters]

Elton Pope-Lance (of Harris Cyclery) has a Quickbeam with an S3X:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/20909677@N05/sets/72157625727619871/

I don't have any experience with the hub myself, but I am planning to
get my SimpleOne set up that way when it arrives. I've been wondering
what the shifting experience will be like, but since I've already
decided to try it, I'll find out by exploration. SimpleThree,
perhaps?

--Mike

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[Philip Williamson]

I may go the crazy way and build two rear wheels - one S2, one S3X.
They'd both match my existing SON front wheel. Then I could put a
dynohub on my wife's bike instead.

("But I NEED six wheelsets for two bikes!")...
Philip

Philip Williamson
www.biketinker.com

On Feb 23, 8:19 am, Michael Richters <michael.richt...@gmail.com>
wrote:

> Elton Pope-Lance (of Harris Cyclery) has a Quickbeam with an S3X:
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/20909677@N05/sets/72157625727619871/
>
> I don't have any experience with the hub myself, but I am planning to
> get my SimpleOne set up that way when it arrives.  I've been wondering
> what the shifting experience will be like, but since I've already
> decided to try it, I'll find out by exploration.  SimpleThree,
> perhaps?
>
>   --Mike
>
> On Wed, Feb 23, 2011 at 3:15 AM, Philip Williamson
>

[trevor segraves]

I realize my bike is not a Rivendell, though the build is quite Rivish inspired, Thought the group may enjoy the photos

Took a ride up Harding Truck Trail on Saddleback Mountain here in Southern California, Passed maybe 4 other riders all day.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7649556@N02/

Cheers, and apologies if this is off topic

Trevor

Laguna Beach, Ca

[Stonehog]

Nice pics!  Looks like the conditions Seattle is getting tonight (snow).  

 Brian

[Bill Rhea]

Hi Phillip,

I just completed my QB conversion to an S3X hub, with a barcon shifter
in my Nitto Noodles. I built it on a Velocity Dyad rim, just like the
front wheel, which has a Shimano 3N80 dyno hub.

First impressions are good! It's quiet, and does not give too much
friction in the lower two gears. No clicky-clicky sound either, as
you'd hear with a normal SA 3sp hub. I live in a new place now in the
mountains, so I commute down the mountain with my bike on the roof
rack and ride the remaining 1/3 of the commute on it. Even the
approach to where I park my car has a few steep crunchers that would
make me walk otherwise - and where I live in the Santa Cruz mountains
all the road and trails require a granny gear for sure.... Converting
to a 3sp was the best way to get my trusty QB back on the road.

I ran that cable along the top tube and used a brake cable stop (and
barrel adjuster) bolted to the rack mount on the RH seat stay. I
don't know about the "3 degrees" issue - to me it the slight play
feels more like chain tension - no worse than when I had I had a
single fixed gear on the back.

One caution would be to make sure the cable stays adequately tensioned
through the first few weeks, lest the hub slip at an inopportune
moment - especially if you thread on a fixed cog (as I have) instead
of a freewheel. Also, you'll want to double check the cone adjustment
since mine loosened up a bit already (I didn't tighten the locknuts
against the cones before installing the wheel, but should've).

I'll try to post some photos once I get a Round Tuit....

Good luck,

-br



On Feb 23, 12:15 am, Philip Williamson <philip.william...@gmail.com>
wrote:

[John Speare]

On Wed, Feb 23, 2011 at 7:14 PM, Philip Williamson
<philip.w...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I may go the crazy way and build two rear wheels - one S2, one S3X.
> They'd both match my existing SON front wheel. Then I could put a
> dynohub on my wife's bike instead.
>

Hey Philip --

Isn't the S2 also a coaster brake kickback? You said you had a Sachs
duomatic 2 speed kickback coaster brake wheel and you didn't like
that? Why would you try an S2 then? Am I confused?

I had the Sachs 2 speed kickback laced to a velocity blunt 700c rim
for a while. It never really clicked for me; I'd rather go fixed or
just singlespeed. The extra gear on the 2 speed was way too high --
and I think I was running a 40x18 or so.

--
John Speare
Spokane, WA USA
http://cyclingspokane.blogspot.com/

[PATRICK MOORE]

Interesting, and glad it works for you. Please give us periodic updates on your experience, especially as to slack, slipping and bearing adjustment security. I'm still thinking about one.

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--
Patrick Moore
Albuquerque, NM
For professional resumes, contact
Patrick Moore, ACRW at resumesp...@gmail.com

[PATRICK MOORE]

Oh, and how do you have the bike geared, ie, ring and cog?

[Doug Van Cleve]

Hey John,

There is more than one version of the S2 hub.  The S2C (I think) is a coaster brake, the S2 has no brake but shifts by back pedaling...

Doug

[Philip Williamson]

Excellent! Thanks for the report, Bill. It really is nudging me
towards the S3X. If the slack in the system isn't too bad, the other
stumbling block for me is the cable-run. Did you ziptie the housing to
the top tube? I'd love to see the photos when the Round Tuit arrives.
If I get one, I'll keep your cones and cable-slippage advice in mind.
Does the hub freewheel if you miss gears?

I'd like to engineer a little widget to mount the shifter at the
seatstay boss instead of the bar-end. (I'm thinking sawn-off piece of
drop bar mounted side-on)

What size ring and cog are you using? Something that attracts me to
the S3X is just poking numbers into Sheldon's gear chart... with two
rings, 40 and 44 look really good to me with a 15t cog. 46" - 56" -
73" and 50" - 60" - 80" Then there's the possibility(?) of threading a
dingle cog on there for even more fun (44/52 x 17/21?)...
My inner nerd is my outer nerd.

Philip

[Philip Williamson]

Hey John,

As Doug says, there are allegedly two kickbacks - the S2C has a
(C)oaster brake, and the S2 has no brake.
Coasting is fun, I cannot lie, but I do prefer the feel of a fixed-
gear drivetrain.

The two speed auto-shifting hub is pretty slick, especially without
any cabling, but the coaster brake keeps the pedals from doing either
of the things I expect them to do at a stoplight. And it weighs like a
pound.

Leaning toward the S3X,
Philip

Philip Williamson
www.biketinker.com

On Mar 2, 3:27 pm, John Speare <johnspe...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Wed, Feb 23, 2011 at 7:14 PM, Philip Williamson
>

[Bill Rhea]

Hi Phillip,

I did indeed ziptie the cable housing to the top tube - not very
elegant, but works just fine. Maybe I'll find my Round Tuit this
weekend and post a few pics - I really like this bike!

Patrick also asked about gearing choices. I have a Sugino 172.5mm
double crankset, with a single 46T ring and a VO chainring guard. The
rear cog is a 16T fixed gear. It could be fun to experiment with a
2nd ring, but this bike is a an all weather commuter / grocery hauler
and won't be used for mountain riding (got the Hunqa and the Hilsen
for that). My initial plan was to run my White Industries 16/18
freewheel on this wheel, but I didn't have my 4-prong freewheel puller
handy when I was building it up so I installed the fixed. I think I
may keep it this way for a while....

I like how the high gear (gear 3) is the one-to-one ratio. I spend
most of my ride in that gear, and it appears to be the one with the
least mechanical friction - not that it's horrible in gears 1 and 2,
because it isn't. I'd still rather pedal than push. It's also kind
of cool and different to be able to shift at a dead stop.

If the cable tension gets too slack it may indeed "freewheel" a bit
and then re-engage. This caught me once during my first week with
this rig when starting out from an intersection in 2nd gear, and it
was awkward I must admit. Internal gear hubs have always been
dependent on proper cable tension, and just like derailer cables, once
the housing compresses and the cable stretches a bit they pretty much
settle in. I'll keep an eye on it, but I'm not really worried about
it. I grew up in a family Schwinn bike shop, and built and serviced I
don't know how may Schwinn Speedsters and Raleigh Sports 3 speeds back
in the 70's and early 80's. This is the first 3 speed I've owned,
though!

Cheers,

-br

On Mar 2, 10:42 pm, Philip Williamson <philip.william...@gmail.com>
wrote:

[CycloFiend]

on 3/2/11 10:42 PM, Philip Williamson at philip.w...@gmail.com wrote:

> Excellent! Thanks for the report, Bill. It really is nudging me
> towards the S3X. If the slack in the system isn't too bad, the other
> stumbling block for me is the cable-run. Did you ziptie the housing to
> the top tube? I'd love to see the photos when the Round Tuit arrives.
> If I get one, I'll keep your cones and cable-slippage advice in mind.
> Does the hub freewheel if you miss gears?
>
> I'd like to engineer a little widget to mount the shifter at the
> seatstay boss instead of the bar-end. (I'm thinking sawn-off piece of
> drop bar mounted side-on)

When I've "mind-built" my multi-gear, fixed QB, I've always envisioned the
old Trials rider hack of putting the shifter on the seat tube, running the
cable down to the bb and noodle-ing it aft.

There used to be some widgets for multiplying cable stops so that you could
run hyraulic lines. Keep an eye out for old chainstay-sized stops. My Zeus
has that - you can it see pretty well in the second photo.

http://www.cyclofiend.com/cc/2006/cc060r2-cc-jim0506.html

Mine was part of the build kit I inherited, but I see them around.

- J

--
Jim Edgar
Cyclo...@earthlink.net

Cyclofiend Bicycle Photo Galleries - http://www.cyclofiend.com
Current Classics - Cross Bikes
Singlespeed - Working Bikes

"You must be the change you want to see in the world."
Mahatma Gandhi

[CycloFiend]

on 3/3/11 12:18 AM, CycloFiend at cyclo...@earthlink.net wrote:
> When I've "mind-built" my multi-gear, fixed QB, I've always envisioned the
> old Trials rider hack of putting the shifter on the seat tube, running the
> cable down to the bb and noodle-ing it aft.

Just to be clear - shifter mounted on the aft side of the seat tube.

--
Jim Edgar
Cyclo...@earthlink.net

Cyclofiend Bicycle Photo Galleries - http://www.cyclofiend.com
Current Classics - Cross Bikes
Singlespeed - Working Bikes

Gallery updates now appear here - http://cyclofiend.blogspot.com

"Maybe a bike, once discarded, pines away year after year for the first hand
that steered it, and as it grows old it dreams, in its bike way, of the
young roads."

-- Robert McCammon, "Boy's Life"

[rperks]

Jim,
That is very close to my layout for a bike I am planning. I was
thinking of putting a set of clamp on DT shifters on the ST. One coud
be routed to the hub, if needed, routed around a pullty on the upper
rack boss. The second shifter could be for a BB dyno. The theory was
about me getting another job here in town and wanting a beater comuter
that was easy on the mild hills here in town. If the frame I end up
using had shift bosses on the DT I was just going to work out longer
cable runs.

Rob

On Mar 3, 12:18 am, CycloFiend <cyclofi...@earthlink.net> wrote:

> on 3/2/11 10:42 PM, Philip Williamson at philip.william...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> > Excellent! Thanks for the report, Bill. It really is nudging me
> > towards the S3X. If the slack in the system isn't too bad, the other
> > stumbling block for me is the cable-run. Did you ziptie the housing to
> > the top tube? I'd love to see the photos when the Round Tuit arrives.
> > If I get one, I'll keep your cones and cable-slippage advice in mind.
> > Does the hub freewheel if you miss gears?
>
> > I'd like to engineer a little widget to mount the shifter at the
> > seatstay boss instead of the bar-end. (I'm thinking sawn-off piece of
> > drop bar mounted side-on)
>
> When I've "mind-built" my multi-gear, fixed QB, I've always envisioned the
> old Trials rider hack of putting the shifter on the seat tube, running the
> cable down to the bb and noodle-ing it aft.
>
> There used to be some widgets for multiplying cable stops so that you could
> run hyraulic lines.  Keep an eye out for old chainstay-sized stops.  My Zeus
> has that - you can it see pretty well in the second photo.
>
> http://www.cyclofiend.com/cc/2006/cc060r2-cc-jim0506.html
>
> Mine was part of the build kit I inherited, but I see them around.
>
> - J
>
> --
> Jim Edgar

> Cyclofi...@earthlink.net
>
> Cyclofiend Bicycle Photo Galleries -http://www.cyclofiend.com

[Montclair BobbyB]

Now you're talking!! You should be able to use the same chain for
either hub (assuming you have the same sprocket size). It's a dag-gum
disease, I swear... I know I'm gonna end up with a S3X, too... I just
know it! Cuz they're so freakin COOL, including the red color (which
would look so sweet on my Red and Silver Nishiki Prestige)... Damn
those Sunrace people... couldn't leave well enough alone...



On Feb 23, 10:14 pm, Philip Williamson <philip.william...@gmail.com>
wrote:

[Montclair BobbyB]

Big Pink... That's a beauty... Who's the mfr? Nice build, NICE BIKE..
PERIOD!!!

BB