Rohloff Conversion

After putting about 1000 miles on my Stop Cycles Proletariat, I found myself really liking the Gates belt-drive but feeling a bit frustrated with the Alfine 8-speed internally geared hub. One issue was the Alfine was not as low-maintenance as I had hoped. I found myself having to re-lube the hub's internals every 300 - 400 miles (about once a month). Another issue was the feeling that if I pushed the Alfine too hard, it was going to let me down. Odd noises, occasional missed shifts and too few gears were also weighing on me. So I decided to investigate converting to a Rohloff Speedhub. Lucky for me, the sole US service partner for Rohloff, CycleMonkey/East Bay Bicycle Workshop (EBBW), is only a mile or so from my house. I visited their blog, saw the various bikes they've built or converted to the Rohloff and the Gates belt drive system, and knew I'd found the right guys. After an email exchange with Neil, the shop's owner, we had a plan in place.

The MonkeyBone replaces the ISO disc brake adapter and engages the Rohloff axle plate.

EBBW would build the Rohloff SpeedHub using a Velocity Dyad rim. The interesting part? With any internally-geared hub, the hub axle must be anchored to the frame to prevent it from turning. This can be done with a custom frame drop-out or a torque arm, but Neil's shop has another way for frames equipped with disc-brakes: The MonkeyBone. Turns out this solution works fine with the my Proletariat, but the rear disc diameter was reduced for 206mm to 160mm. Fine by me as the larger discs seem more susceptible to being knocked out of true in everyday use.

The Rohloff design philosophy differs significantly from the Shimano approach. For example, the Alfine cable connection, while lightweight, is ... well, flimsy. To my mind the single shift cable design contributes to much of the Alfine's missed shifts because there's a single cable acting against a spring. Rohloff on the other hand, uses a two cable design that provides positive shifting action. It's a bit heavier, but not as heavy as the doubt you feel when you're not sure if your hub will shift at a critical moment, threading your way through heavy traffic in downtown Oakland.

The Rohloff has 14 speeds, which is a big advantage over the 8 speed Alfine. Many times I found myself pedaling into a stiff headwind with the Alfine, shifting down, but finding I needed a gear in between what I had. With the Shimano you have two choices: Man (or Woman) up and go for the taller gear or slow down and accept the shorter gear. With the Rohloff, there seems to be a gear for every occasion.

About the only complaint with the Rohloff Speedhub, and it is a valid concern, is that it's expensive. A Speedhub will run you five to six times what you'd pay for a Alfine 8 and about three times the cost of an Alfine 11. Why would you want to pay that much? After you ride the Rohloff, I'll wager that you'll appreciate their solidly designed product is worth the extra expense and never want to go back.

What's so special about the Rohloff? It's hard to describe but easy to understand once you experienced the Rohloff in action. First, the Rohloff just feels bulletproof. Want to push it hard? Do you have quadriceps as big as Iowa hams that can generate lots of torque? Like to stand in the pedals up steep hills? Relax. The Rohloff appears to be able to handle whatever the rider can dish out. Missed shifts are a thing of the past as long as you slightly reduce pedal force right before shifting.

The Rohloff makes some noise, especially in 7th gear and lower (when the planetary gears come into play), but it's normal. When the Alfine makes noise, it seems abnormal and you get the feeling you're doing damage or something isn't right. In 8th gear and higher, the Rohloff is basically silent, especially with a Gates belt drive system.

The bottom line is the Rohloff costs more, but it is utterly reliable. Their motto is "No Slogans, Just Facts." And the fact is that Rohloff is the best internally-geared hub out there.

Affording to Care

Growing up in rural Kansas during the Great Depression, my dad recalled how his father sat him down at the dinner table and explained that the passage of the Social Security Act of 1935 was the beginning of the end: The government had assigned everyone a number! I assume this was key to dad coming to believe that no one needs a handout or a leg-up. We couldn't have been more different, my dad and me. And when it came to health care or any other social assistance program, my father's views and mine seem emblematic of a divided America. On one hand distrustful of governmental intervention and on the other, longing for an equitable way to provide care and sustenance to those in need.

As a young man, dad went on to enlist in the army and survive World War II. Emergency surgery in an army field hospital in New Caledonia for a burst appendix nearly killed him, but he was tough. He chain-smoked and drank his way through life, never exercised, remained a staunch conservative, and lived from one pack of cigarettes to the next, for that next drink, and no further. He didn't plan ahead and later in life had no retirement savings nor any property of significance. Dad's day-to-day living expenses were met through an occasional check from my brother or me and his Social Security benefits, one of the very government programs that had been the focus of his conservative ire. For health care dad relied on government-provided health care; the doctors and staff at the local VA Hospital. This produced less cognitive dissonance for dad because as a veteran, he had earned those benefits.

All those years dad clung to the conservative belief of individual responsibility without ever realizing the irony of his situation. The bleeding heart liberals he derided had actually saved his bacon later in life. This was lost on dad because he never understood there is individual responsibility and then there's the Myth of Individual Responsibility. Admitting you've made a mistake, leaving a note on the parked car you just scratched, apologizing when you've wronged someone are all examples of individual responsibility. The Myth of Individual Responsibility is something altogether different, a simplistic way of looking at the world that says you're responsible to no one but yourself and maybe your loved ones: A friend in need is no friend of mine.

Even with the Supreme Court upholding most of the Affordable Care Act, distrust of government-run social programs lives on. Most Americans want to keep the core benefits of the ACA - protecting those with pre-existing conditions, allowing children to stay on their parent's policy until age 26, to name a few - but they seem afraid of health care rationing and unfounded rhetoric about death panels. Or perhaps they just don't like the man they see standing behind the landmark legislation - President Barak Obama.

How easy it is to influence the average American. Say something over and over again, and it becomes truth even in the face of evidence to the contrary. Visitors from other countries are puzzled by the popular rage against the ACA. As one tourist from the UK said to me, "Why would a country want its citizens, its very lifeblood, to not be healthy and educated? How else can a nation compete in a global economy?" Why indeed.

Dad passed away nearly two years ago, but the deep divide over many issues remains in America. And the debate over the ACA is far from over. Will we be able to look beyond the next election, take the long view, plan for the future, and realize that we're all stronger when we pull together? Or will we live day-to-day, minute-by-minute, worrying only about our own individual interests? Time will tell, but our nation's well-being may hang in the balance.

Driving the Fiat 500

Faced with an unexpected trip south, I did something I seldom do; I flew there myself in a borrowed aircraft and that meant renting a car. Now depending on who you talk to I'm frugal and environmentally conscious or just a cheap bastard; I arranged for a subcompact car. The rental car representative was set to put us in some sort of Toyota or Nissan, but I spied with my little eye a cute Fiat right in front. We asked if it was available, it was, and soon we were on the road to our hotel, having a bit more fun than we bargained for.

Think Small

Americans' ability to embrace smaller, more fuel efficient cars (not to mention public transit) seems to be directly proportional to the cost of fuel. The popular attraction of small cars may be cyclical, but there is a growing segment of the US population that embraces pint-sized vehicles on principal. Make no mistake, the Fiat 500, or Cinquecentos, is a small car inspired by the original model produced from the late 1950s until the late 1970s.

Rear sear room and headroom are two common litmus tests for US car buyers, despite the safe wager that most US cars are seldom carrying more than the driver and one passenger. Still, many consumers may shy away from the Cinquecentos for this very reason. We loaded up ours with three people (including the driver) and a two suitcases for a tolerable, 15 minute trip. That experience made it clear that the Fiat 500 is mostly a one- or two- person car.

Ever been in one of those parking lots that is just a bit too tight to be comfortable and wondered what kind of car could negotiate such small spaces? The Cinquecentos is that car with its 90.6 inch wheelbase and 30.6 foot turning radius. Even the narrowest roads and tightest parking slots can be negotiated with aplomb. The Cinquecentos can't compete with the Prius or Insight on fuel economy, but at 30 MPG city and 38 MPG highway, this car is no slouch.

Driving Experience

Entry and exit from the front seats is simple if you're under 6 feet tall, but clambering in and out of the rear seat is challenging for most people over 6 years of age. Once in the driver's seat, the ergonomics are good even if the steering column doesn't telescope. Visibility is very good, save the rear blindspot. A convex mirror applied to the driver's side-view mirror would be a good idea.

Pulling away from a stop reveals two things - the small engine (hey, that's where the fuel economy originates, right?) and the slightly herky-jerky, automatic transmission. The shift points seem okay, it's just that the shifts between first and second are a bit bone-jarring. You can opt to shift manually and with some practice you might do a better job. Selecting sport mode only makes things more vigorous so unless you are a die-hard G junkie, you'll probably want to avoid it.

The steering is nimble and though I didn't do anything as scientific as a skid pad test, I did find the Fiat handled nicely around town. On the highway the ride is surprisingly smooth and relatively quiet, but the steering at higher speeds is a bit twitchy.

Driver Amenities

The controls, knobs and buttons are not as cheap or flimsy as I had read in the press. I did find the driver's display a bit confusing, with the speedometer and tachometer arranged in a concentric fashion. There are no extraneous labels and no differentiating colors to distinguish these two instruments.

The sound system has a nice design, including a USB charging adapter in the glove box, bluetooth integration, and voice recognition. The voice recognition system was one of the simpler ones I've used and I only had to consult the driver's manual to get the bluetooth code for pairing my iPhone. The rest, I figured out by trial and error without much error which is always the sign of a good user interface.

All in all, I found the Cinquecentos to be an engaging, fun car. The Cinquecentos offers good fuel economy, nice extras for the driver, and a reasonable sticker price. Don't scoff because your next car just might be a Fiat.

Simple Thought on Democracy

Urban Attack Vehicle: Belt-Drive Proletariat

When I first saw a belt-drive bike it made a lot of sense to me: No chain, no oiling, no greasy mess, smooth and quiet operation. Belt-drive bikes rely on internaly-geared hubs which, by themselves, offer several advantages: Ease of shifting, completely contained from the elements, low maintenance, and simplicity of operation. These are all qualities every bike should have and it would seem the average person thinks so, too. The most common reaction from people who see my belt drive bike when I ride on BART is "Why don't all bikes have belts?" Why indeed.

I acquired my full-size belt-drive bike before my belt-drive Bike Friday Future Tikit and am therefore doing these reviews out of order, but there you go ...

I briefly considered modifying my existing Cannondale frame for a belt drive, but that would have involved cutting the frame's rear triangle since the belt is continuous and can't be opened the way a chain can. In retrospect, I'm glad I didn't try that route and just sold the Cannondale instead. A frame designed for belt-drive from the ground up is the way to go because precise alignment between the rear and front cogs is crucial. When things get out of alignment in a chain-drive, the chain just flexes. If things aren't aligned with a belt-drive, the belt may slip and that's B.A.D. Belt-drive bike frames also need to provide a mechanism to appropriately tension the belt, usually done with an eccentric bottom bracket arrangement or special dropouts on the rear of the frame.

Stop Cycles Proletariat with Gates Carbon Drive

Web research led me to Joe Bike, a brief and enlightening email exchange with store owner Joe Doebele, and shortly thereafter I took the plunge. The Stop Cycles Proletariat with an eight-speed Shimano Alfine hub and the Gates Carbon Drive belt system arrived via UPS within a couple of days and soon I had it assembled with my pedals of choice - Crank Brothers Egg Beaters.

Since receiving the Prole last October, I've added an Axiom Streamliner Disc rear rack and SKS P45 fenders. The rear rack lets me use the Ortleib Downtown pannier as my flight bag, holding my headset, iPad, and other essentials. While I wish the bag had more compartments, it is waterproof, quickly attaches/detaches from the rack, and has a nice shoulder strap. As for the fenders, some folks have complained than SKS P45 can't be installed on bikes with disc brakes. Some bending is required, but I beg to differ.

Front fender stays need some trimming and bending ...

Some creative bending of fender stays required to clear the caliper ...

These additions, combined with the beefy tires and excellent frame, make the Prole an ideal urban attack vehicle for the streets of the East Bay. Potholes, broken pavement, detritus in the bike lane? Fugetaboutit!

Having logged around 600 miles, I finally went for a ride with my wife and noticed something odd. Pedaling more slowly and lightly that I usually did, the Alfine hub was making weird sounds. If I pedaled harder (the way I normal would while commuting), the sounds went away. More web research led me to the very thorough hubstripping.com site and revealed such sounds are commonly reported by Alfine 8 owners. There are two approaches: Assume the sounds are normal and ignore them or give the Alfine 8 hub internals an oil bath. Shimano even has an oil made expressly for this purpose that runs between $80 and $120 per liter!

Some enterprising bike mechanics noted that Shimano's secret sauce bears a remarkable similarity to plain ol' synthetic automatic transmission fluid. Many Alfine 8 owners report that soaking the Alfine 8 internals in synthetic ATF every 800 to 1000 miles makes the funny sounds and occasional shifting hiccups disappear, so I decided to give it a try. After removing the rear wheel, this was the disassembly sequence. Don't try this procedure yourself unless you have the requisite skills and tools. If you do something dumb or break something, you were warned and don't blame me.

Removing my brake rotor required a spline tool, yours may be different.

Loosening the retaining nut to remove the rotor.

Removing cone bearing - requires 16mm cone and 18mm open end wrench

After turning wheel over to the drive side, removing C-clip (expansion pliers make this A LOT easier).

Removing the Gates belt cog.

Prying off the dust cover.

Loosening the case on the drive side with a strap wrench - LEFT-HAND (clockwise to loosen) THREAD!

Carefully opening the drive side

In a CLEAN working environment, carefully remove the innards.

Sloshing/soaking for a few minutes in synthetic ATF (modified soda bottle works nicely).

I did not do any disassembly of the internals of the Alfine 8 - I just sloshed and soaked for a few minutes, allowed the excess fluid to drain, then greased the bearing races and reassembled. My results with the ATF bath have been quite good: Shifting was noticeably smoother and the odd noises disappeared. Having ridden 50 miles since this service the shifting is still buttery smooth and the hub is still quiet. Time will tell, but it appears my Alfine 8 is good to go for another at least 800 to 1000 miles.

Future Tikit: Ride Report

Before putting my Bike Friday Future Tikit to the test on the mean streets of Oakland and the politically-correct (but just as mean) streets of Berkeley, a shake-down ride was in order. Sunday provided an opportunity for a short, but thorough test that uncovered some good things, some not-so-good.

Cruising along it's easy to forget the Future Tikit is a folding bike with smallish, 16" wheels. It feels much more stable than the Brompton I owned for many years and even the Dahon with 20" wheels that I've test ridden. Climbing hills and standing in the pedals reminds you the Tikit's wheels are small, but you can stand in the pedals and climb hills. For stability and rideability, the Tikit is hands down the best folding bike I've tried.

The Tikit's Nexus 8-speed internal hub is quiet, smooth, and simple. The only change in riding style is that you need to slightly reduce pedal force while shifting. Unlike a derailleur system, if you have to stop unexpectedly with the Nexus you can downshift (or upshift for that matter) while stopped.

Instead of the more expensive Gates Carbon belt drive system that is installed on my Stop Cycles Proletariat, the Future Tikit uses the CDRIVE made by a division of Delta Cycle Corporation. CDRIVE is less expensive because the front and rear sprockets are precision molded plastic rather than machined aluminum. The CDrive is not suitable for mountain biking applications and it stands to reason that plastic components are not as durable as aluminum when it comes to stump-jumping and abrasion from mud. Plastic components may give some cyclists pause, but for a commuter bike all I can say is so far so good.

I'm 5' 11", 32" inseam, and 34" sleeve so I ordered the large frame size Tikit. After a short five mile ride, it was clear a longer handlebar stem was needed to get some weight off my wrists and get my lower back more engaged. While Bike Friday's manufacturer says that handlebar stem replacement/adjustment is covered under warranty, I was hesitant to get into it with them after the schrader versus presta fiasco. By the way, I've not heard a single word from the company since I received my bike. So I did a quick trip to REI and had a new, longer stem for $20 that same day. And the results were immediately noticeable.

The only thing good thing I can say about the Bike Friday minimalist foam handlebar grips is that they are lightweight. For my purposes, they are worthless and while I was at REI, I procured a pair of Ergon GP1 grips. I had installed Ergons on my old Brompton and found them a great addition. The Future Tikit has a Shimano Nexus grip shift so some modification of the right Ergon grip was required. I already had experience trimming Ergons when I installed them on my Brompton. The best tool for the job? A PVC pipe cutter!

Before Cutting ...

Cut wisely, Grasshopper!

Viola!

Ergon installed

Bike Friday makes a folding rear rack for the Tikit that provides the ground clearance to carry a full-size pannier. The rack folds ingeniously and doesn't interfere with folding the bike. I've been using the Ortlieb Downtown 2 as my flight bag and while it's not ideal, it holds my iPad, my headset, and various supplies. It's also waterproof and it quickly snaps onto the Axion rack on my full-size Proletariat bike. Unfortunately, the Ortlieb bag bottom clip doesn't engage with the Tikit's folding rear rack. For now, I carry a bungee cord to secure the bottom of the bag to the rack, though there may be a better solution for the long-term.

Inelegant, but workable

Yesterday provided the ideal opportunity to integrate the Tikit into my work day. I was scheduled to teach at the Oakland Airport from 2pm to 4:30pm, but then needed to be at the Livermore Airport to teach at 4:30pm. Even if I pushed the lesson in Livermore to 5pm, there was no way I could make it in time through rush-hour traffic. The solution:

1. Ride Tikit to the nearby North Berkeley BART station
2. Ride BART to the Fruitvale Station
3. Ride Tikit from Fruitvale to the Oakland Airport
4. Load Tikit into the Piper Arrow for the first flight lesson
5. Have first student drop me at the Livermore Airport
6. Store Tikit in my second student's car
7. Teach the second flight lesson
8. Have second student drop me at the nearby BART station
9. Take BART back to Berkeley
10. Ride Tikit home

For pilots who want a bike they can take with them on a small plane, the Tikit will work with some caveats. One advantage of the Brompton is that it folds small enough to easily fit through the baggage door of a Cessna 172. Not so with the Tikit, though it will fit easily through the front doors and can be strapped onto the back seat.

My first flight was in a Piper Arrow and while I could have gotten the Tikit into the baggage compartment, it would have required lowering the seat. Instead, I chose to secure the Tikit onto the back seat using the aircraft's seat belts.

To Have and To Fold

Two constant companions during my freight-flying days were my Libra de Potenza (aka Mac Powerbook) and my Brompton bicycle. Okay, there were the other companions - sleep deprivation and boredom. Anyway, the laptop enabled be to write my blog, Skype my wife, and generally keep boredom at bay during layovers. Having a Brompton allowed me to take a bike with me to work and provided mobility and exercise. Rather than sitting in a hotel room all day, flipping channels on TV, I was out riding. A year or so after I left the freight-flying world, I ended up selling the Brompton to finance the purchase of a full-sized bike. Lately I've found a recurring need for a folding bike, so I started investigating a replacement.

The Brompton was compact when folded, but it wasn't particularly light. Bromptons only come in one size and the frame always felt a bit small. I never liked how the Brompton felt squirrelly and unstable while climbing hills. And standing up on the pedals? Fagetaboutit! I already knew Brompton's characteristics so I briefly considered a Dahon Mu. I found Dahon's ride to be very similar to the Brompton, but with a much flimsier, lower-quality feeling. I got a chance to ride a BikeFriday Tikit Model T and liked it very much.

Having sold the Brompton to purchase a full-size Cannodale Road Warrior II, only to sell the Cannondale to fund the purchase of a Stop Cycles belt-drive Proletariat, I realized I had come full circle. And the Proletariat convinced me that my next folding bike would have to be belt-drive.

More research.

I decided to purchase a Bike Friday belt-drive Tikit, variously described on their web site as the Future Tikit and the Future's Tikit. Whatever you call it, I ordered it in February and it arrived last Tuesday. Bike Friday cycles are produced by Green Gear Cycling, Inc. in Eugene, Oregon. That's right, the frames are designed and fabricated in the USA. They seem to be an unorthodox company, in many ways.

Here's some of the un-boxing and assembly.

Held at FedEx for pick-up, the box barely fit in my 1st Generation Insight

Strategically placed ReadMe leads the way ...

Snip ...

Snip ...

Snip ...

Snip ...

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Snip ...

Unfolding the handlebar stem

Unwrapping the bars ...

Installing the handlebars

Installing the front wheel skewer ...

Installing the front wheel ...

Attaching the front fender, some bending required

My pedal of choice, purchased locally ...

A little torque required

All said and done, remarkable little packaging, most of it recyclable ...

My impression of the company is that they are a bit ... quirky. Their web site seems a bit disorganized and purchasing anything requires a phone call. The salesperson I dealt with was nice, friendly, but not what I would call personable. And there were some miscues and missteps.  Virtually all communication with Green Gear was done by email and all but one message was initiated by me. It would take several weeks for my bike to make it through the fabrication schedule, I had some time to think and adjusted my order a couple of times by adding fenders and a rack. The sense I got was that my sales person was less than excited at the prospect of assisting me.

I get pretty excited about bikes and there are plenty of improvements I'd suggest. First, keep customers informed. If someone has plunked down several hundred dollars in advance, why not email them once every week or two with the status of their order. In fact, why not email some digital photos of each customer's bike as it makes its way through the fabrication process?

Second, when a customer calls, the salesperson should at least appear willing and able to assist. I had the nagging feeling that I was a more of a nuisance than anything else. The one thing that really rubbed me the wrong way the response to my request that my bike's wheels be built with presta valves instead of schrader valves. When I made this request I was told it was too late to change, that my bike had "hit the fence" - all the parts had arrived and though the bike was not yet assembled/built, they didn't want any changes. The salesperson offered to include two presta valve tubes with my bike at no charge and, to his credit, he did. Seems like shipping a bike with unwanted material would be counter to Green Gear's philosophy of being environmentally conscious. So apparently it would have been a too much of a hardship to change out the tubes before installing the wheels. Fascinating ... But check out the way this schrader valve tube was installed by the factory.

Bush league tube/tire assembly, oddly out of character for the rest of the bike.

The bike appears very well-made, the power-coat finish expertly applied, the design both clever and functional. After assembly and test riding, I emailed my salesperson saying that I'll most likely need a slightly longer handlebar stem. Swapping out handlebar stems is supposed to be covered under a 30-day warranty. I'm still waiting for my salesman's response ... Odd, really odd.

For a Future Tikit ride report, click here.