Hello BobbyB, Glad to hear you got the fixed 2-speed going. The more you ride it, the more you'll love it. Hello John Wilson and Mark Parker, Sorry I missed your posts from May 22. Hope you give it a try when you can. I often use mine on the local rail-trail, but also take it out for a road ride with rolling hills. I've been using the low gear a little more as a way to save energy for later in the ride. I never tried the S3X, but the reviews that I read made it sound problematic, I find the Bendix to be a simple and eloquent solution to for my fixed gear riding needs. It seems as though the Quickbeam was made for it. Happy Trails, John On Sunday, August 9, 2015 at 2:29:36 PM UTC-4, Montclair BobbyB wrote:
> Finally got my 2-speed wheel laced up and installed on my S1 (BIG THANKS > TO JOHN SHARPE!!!!!) > > I took it out on a semi-hilly ride, and WOW... this moves along the flats > at a good clip, but just a quick flip of the thumb shifter and I can > actually climb a long hill that would otherwise have me pushing the bike... > VERY COOL!!! > > The lower gear is great for hills or for tooling around at low speed. > TOTAL BLAST TO RIDE!!! > > > <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-we3W3LKKEIQ/VcebVw1DSNI/AAAAAAAAFJY/bw5T_tQD9r4/s1600/FullSizeRender%2B%252815%2529.jpg> > > > <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-d6iySHJeNzs/VcebZhnbSVI/AAAAAAAAFJg/YiLnx-tS63I/s1600/FullSizeRender%2B%252816%2529.jpg> > > > On Tuesday, May 19, 2015 at 9:36:45 PM UTC-4, JohnS wrote: >> >> I'll start with a little back ground on the Bendix modification. I found >> this review about a year ago and it was what got me in the market for a >> QB/S1 since the Bendix requires an OLD of 120mm. As you all know there >> isn't another production bike quite like it with this spacing. I've been >> riding the QB with the Bendix for about three months, so this is a short >> term review, will provide a more comprehensive review a the end of the >> season. >> >> http://www.63xc.com/genng/bikesmith.htm >> >> The upside to the modified Bendix hub are the following: >> 1. Cruising gear is fixed, nearly 100% efficiency, same as any other >> fixed gear bike. Rides just like one. >> 2. Shift on the fly, no need to get off the bike, loosen wheel, move >> chain... so on. >> 3. Down shift is 25% of the cruising gear. For me this means I'm using >> the cruising gear like normal, up and down rolling hills, easily 90% of the >> ride, if not more. The low gear is there for steep up hills or sustained >> head winds. As an example I got in a 33 mile ride on Sunday afternoon, at >> the most 1 to 2 miles were in the low gear. All the rest were about working >> the fixed gear. >> 4. Simplicity, few moving parts within the hub and as Bobby B. noted, >> they are stout. I've rebuilt a couple Sturmey Archer AW 3 speed hubs and >> the modified Bendix has a fraction of the parts. >> >> As with everything there are downsides: >> 1. DO NOT DOWN SHIFT AT SPEED! This is a two speed fixed hub, meaning you >> shift from one fixed gear to another fixed gear. Going from a cadence of 80 >> to 100 could throw you off the bike. I found this out the hard way, luckily >> I rode it out and didn't crash, but it was pretty scary. Up shift isn't as >> critical, just ease up some. >> 2. This is a bolt on hub, you need to carry wrenches to take the wheel >> off should you need to fix a flat. >> 3. It is heavy, at around 3 pounds. At least the weight is at the hub so >> the rotational forces don't play into the energy to move it. >> 4. The 18 tooth cog is integral to the hub and can not be changed. You >> have to change your chain ring to make adjustments to the gear ratio. >> 5. The cog requires an 1/8 inch chain. >> 6. Requires some sort of friction mode shifter, but the choice is yours. >> I'm using an old school Campy down tube shifter and cable guide, very >> minimal set up, forward is for the low gear, back is the cruising gear. >> 7. Because of the shift cable, I'm not likely to loosen and move the >> wheel to take advantage of a crank with two chain rings. >> 8. No conversion to a free wheel, but I suppose you could use the hub as >> is with the coaster brake. >> 9. Bearing are not sealed. Will require regular maintenance. I'm using >> Phil Wood tenacious oil on the gears and the two bearings near the gears. I >> used Park grease on the left bearings. >> 10. This is not an off the shelf part. The hub needs to be welded. >> Fortunately I found a professional welder who does the MIG welding for $25. >> >> Overall, having a two speed fixed gear bike is great! I live in a hilly >> area and the low gear just makes fixed gear riding a really fun experience. >> Without it, I would be limited to less hilly roads, having to walk up more >> hills or would have to switch back to a geared bike. A geared bike would >> not be the end of the world, but my preference for the past four years is >> to ride fixed. >> >> JohnS >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
