Cycling UK Forum

I have looked unsuccessfully for the "right" city bike, so I´m probably going to do my own with the following:

A Dawes Haarlem 2005 as the basis.
An SRAM 7-spd hub gear to replace the SA 3-spd (Already bought that)
A Sturmey Archer X-FDD dynohub/brake combined
A dynamo lighting set up.

Some advice - if you´re still with me please ...

Does anyone see any major pitfalls with this combo? Is there a better "donor" machine? (I know of the Dawes Geneva, but I want the SRAM hub, not the Nexus)

Where can I buy a D´Lumotec DIWA LED dynamo F & R light set up? This seems to be the ideal solution, but I can´t seem to find it listed at any of the major retailers (SJSCycles, CTC Shop, Gearshift, Wiggle, etc.)

I can´t find a review of the SA hub dyno/brake combo. Is it any good?

I figure the above will come to c.£450, but the SRAM will outlast the bike, so I can justify that. It seems to offer the ideal combination of low maintenance with only the rear brake not in the hubs (I bought the wrong SRAM!!! - too late now)

However, you may know better, so any advice appreciated...

The Sturmey Archer Hub Brake/Dynamo will get a review in the forthcoming edition of 'Velovision', a subscription cycling magazine. lts due out in the next two weeks.

Where can I buy a D´Lumotec DIWA LED dynamo F & R light set up?

Available in the UK from Kinetics
http://www.kinetics-online.co.uk/html/diwa_system.shtml
Or a bit cheaper from Germany
http://www.roseversand.com/rose_main.cf ... =0&CID=175


The rest sounds good, did you already have some parts? When I costed doing it myself it came to a lot dearer than that, so I got an off the peg.

Thanks for the quick replies!

I´m not sure the B&M DIWA seat at Kinetics is the same as the LED set - there´s a halogen and LED version. This is from the B&M website:

Set contains:
D'LUMOTEC topal DIWA plus
D'TOPLIGHT DIWA plus 173/328DW LED

It seems very new, so it might be too early to get hold of it yet. Anyway, the winter´s drawing to a close, so not the highest priority right now.

I bought the SRAM hub new for £80. A bargain - I hope, but failed to realise it wasn´t the hub brake version. Too late now.

I have subscribed very recently to Velovision, so I look forward to the review with crossed fingers, as I just ordered it from Old Bike Trader! At £60, it seems to good to be true. Wish it was a 90mm brake, not 70...

I looked extensively to find an off the peg bike to match my needs, but didn´t find one. Hence the posting. The Dawes Haarlem is being discounted as the 2006 range is launched and is avaialble at £213 delivered. I like the ride and I may even get a few quid back on eBay for the SA 3-spd hub! Any takers? £35 + P&P... The Ridgeback Switch Nemesis is nearly there, but the geometry is too aggressive for my vintage. Orbit do a bike, but again the geometry seems too MTB for me.

Using the Sheldon Brown gearing calculator, I´m a bit concerned that the gearing may be a litttle too high, so I will go for a 22-tooth rear chainring, if available. My ride to work is flat, except for a very steep hill right at the start (end in the afternoon) - Gellert Hill in Budapest, if you know it.

If you have the cash the Schmidt SON dynohub has a lot of friends, either with 2 lamps, E6 & E6Z wired in series, or the Solidlights unit. It's not cheap, £110 for the hub, Solidlights adds another £140, but the feedback from the Audax brigade over on ACF suggests a very bright, reliable & long lasting system.

Hi! Thanks for the advice.

I got the Busch and Muller stuff from Germany: http://www.bike24.net/1.php?content=8;navigation=2;product=4039;pid=66;menuid1=5;ID=44e1f9fad09da5a62344562217c2eac6. Much cheaper than any UK source and the P&P was just 6 Euros. Arrived within 24 hours too.

The SRAM hub and shifter arrived fast and I just need to get the bike to fit it to now. There´s a 7-speed hub thread going on on the board and I will heed the advice there to get a 24-tooth rear sprocket as I feel the gearing will be too high for me with the standard 18-tooth one.

I cannot afford the SON set-up mentioned, but I will feed back on the SA Dynohub/brake combo. I´m looking forward to building the set up.

So, I bought everything necessary and assumed getting hold of the Dawes would be a doddle. How wrong I was! I have tried 15 or so dealers for the Haarlem model. All out of stock until the end of April Why does the UK suffer from this dirth of commuter models...? Why can't Dawes supply their machines?

I saw an Orbit Orion with £100 off today. Had I not splashed out on the kit, I would've gone for that. Have to stick with it now.

If anyone can suggest an alternative to the Dawes, please do. The Giant Expression 3 nearly fit the bill, but it doesn't have a frame-mounted rear brake. My SRAM hub is unbraked...

donkeebrain,

What do you see as the differences between the sram and the shimano nexus. Why does that make a difference in terms of the "donor" machine.

Kevin

Not sure how much a harlem costs, but how about you buy an on-one pompino in their sale? It's around 3-400 quid for a pro with a carbon fork. They have track dropouts which should work with your hub gearing, and you want to replace the wheels anyway. Check that the rear spacing is large enough though...

Wow, two replies a year after my last posting

Basically, I went with the Haarlem and fitted various other bits and pieces to it.

Do a search for "Haarlem" and you'll see what eventually happened...
I learned the hard way about OLDs.

My bias against the Nexus is based on a Nexus 7 hub I had about 8 or 9 years ago that just felt flimsy. The SRAM Spectro 7 is a proven bit of kit.

FWIW, in the end I got a Sturmey Archer hub!!!

belgiangoth,

I think the OP has finished his city bike long ago. I just wanted to remove one more thing to go wrong with my decision making. I already have the frame I want.

Just from what donkeebrain wrote, I saw the possibility that the different hub gears, spectro or nexus might require different dropouts.

Kevin

ktam2

So long as your dropouts are horizontal to provide the possibility of chain adjustment they will be OK. The shorter Campag ones are not as good as longer ones but the will do.

As mentioned earlier, the difference between different makes of hub gear is down to different OLN's in this context.

This old thread raises the question of what makes a perfect city bike? Expensive or highly specialised components that raise the nickability quotient are out. Ditto idealised frames which generally miss the point of a neglected bike.
My city bike would be (by a nose) a quality steel, old school, rigid MTB with 'guards. Detachable rechargable lights, 1.5 reinforced slicks, a large QR Carradice, SPD/platform pedals. That's what I use anyhow. Remove the wheels and seat pin, turn the bars and the bike fits in a nylon bag for carriage on public transport.