Brompton wide range hub without derailleur

[richardjames]

Hi all,


I recently bought a second hand 3 speed Brompton, and would like to upgrade a few bits and pieces on it. Something that I'm interested in doing is fitting a new wheel with a Brompton Wide Range Hub to it, but keep it as a 3 speed, rather than adding the derailleur. My commute has some steep hills, but also some long flats. My aim is to keep 1st gear roughly where it is, and make 2nd and 3rd gears higher. I'm aware that it would be easier to keep my existing hub and change the sprocket and chainring, but I don't think that I can afford to make 1st gear any higher.

I can't work out whether this will work or quite how much work it will require beyond replacing the wheel itself. Has anyone done something similar? Will the hub accept one sprocket, or are they somehow designed to sit together as pairs? Will my existing gear shifter be ok, or do the standard and wide range hubs work differently?

Any other advice on why this is a good or bad idea is very welcome!


Thanks,

Richard

[Brucey]

you just need one sprocket, some extra spacers, and the wheel/gear internal. The shifter can stay, and provided you get the spacers in the right place, it can all be made to line up with the extant tensioner. The gears will be miles apart though.

Gears with the two hubs on 50/13 gearing:

http://ritzelrechner.de/?GR=BBWR&KB=50&RZ=13&UF=1330&TF=90&SL=2.6&UN=MPH&DV=gearInches&GR2=SAAW&KB2=50&RZ2=13&UF2=1330

Needless to say if you want higher gear 2 you need a smaller sprocket and/or some bigger chainrings; without these gear 2 will be the same with either hub.

cheers

[roleypoley]

don't put a rear cog on of more than 15 teeth as it catches on the frame I know cause I tried with a newly bought 16 tooth today now ordered a 15 tooth from sjs hay ho ongoing projects