Hi,
Monday, September 15, 2008, 6:35:41 AM, Harvey Sachs wrote:
> Well, I might be jealous! Sounds like a wonderful period piece. I can't
> imagine doing anything other than possibly relacing the rear wheel, and
> that only if it's popping spokes. Yes, the hybrid derailleur + internal
> gives you the worst of each technology, but it was the best option
> available for a while, and rather a high-end investment. As far as the
> spoking is concerned, I can't visualize the constrictor rim, so I don't
> know how much it wants to aim the spoke nipple. But, my memory is that
> most of the builds of that era were 4-cross, so the spokes are
> essentially perpendicular to the radius from spoke hole in the flange to
> axle center. These seem to resist being re-laced in the opposite
> direction, whether steel or aluminum. I have been known to install tiny
> brass washers under the spoke bend to thicken the flange if I relace
> with modern spokes that are spaced for thicker modern flanges.
The wheel in question is laced 4-cross with unbutted 2mm thick spokes,
and practically all the spokes were loose when I received it. And it
was very obvious from the angle the spokes exited the rim at that
something was wrong. To my eyes it looked as if somebody built it up
but rode very little if at all (and that corresponds with what the
gentleman I bought the bike from told me, that he had not ridden it
for a number of years).
> So, it's yours to do with as you please, but if you do "upgrade" or
> "modernize", please keep the old kit for the next owner.
FWIW: The Cyclo converter was installed by the previous owner, who was the 2nd owner of that bike. I did not indicate that in my original message, but the SA hub on that bike is FM (not FW as somebody suggested). The 2 sprockets are 19 and 22 teeth, with a 44 teeth chain ring. Hence the current gearing seems too low, and some gear combos duplicate each other - if I got the math right, the current gears are:
With the 19t sprocket: 40.1", 51.6", 60.2", 67.7" With the 22t sprocket: 34.7", 44.6", 52.0", 58.5"
So looks like the two middle gears with the 19t sprocket are almost the same as the two higher gears with the 22t one.
Hence, supposing I keep the overall setup (the FM hub and the Cyclo converter), I would probably like to replace either the sprockets or the chainring (which may be more of a problem, as the current one is a very very nice Chater-Lea one, with good chrome and teeth). Which brings me finally to the next question - are the sprockets used with the Cyclo converter different from normal ones (I assume that is so), and if yes are they easy to get, or is there a way to use more easily obtainable ones with the converter? Another option would be to get a FW hub (with a wider range, which seems to make more sense with the 2 speed converter) and rebuild the wheel on that, but I guess I would still have to replace the sprockets with fewer teeth ones...
--
Cheers,
Dmitry Yaitskov,
Toronto, Canada.