Clunkerbike

Hmm, the test hub I bought is a 130mm. However, I may be able to reduce the spacing on the non drive side to shrink it enough to fit. And probably relax the bearings a little, which are way too tight! It's not QR, so that won't be a problem, it's bolt one, so there'll be a tad more protrusion, is all, and that'll be handy for mounting the derailler hanger. Will need to dish the wheel a tad more, though, as a result.

This is Rosie and yes, she is riding me. She's my fixie. Rose gold, chromed, chromoly frame, manipulated seatpost, tight geometry Potential of Hydrogen PH01 Sulphuric Acid. A discontinued brand and, by extension, model. She was a bit of an impulse buy. She's riding me because this is the 2012 Melburn Roobaix and riding a fixie up that year's "Koperberg" was a fool's errand. (Some did, many of them fell, some hard.) And no, the fixed cog hasn't had any wear, I run her "flipped" - freewheelin'. (Photo credit: Creux Cycling.) Right now, she needs tyres, new bar tape and, if I can find an affordable solution, 2x5 derailleur gears. Melbourne doesn't have many really steep hills, but when you hit one of the ones that passes for a minor Tasmanian or Blue Mountains grade, an 80 inch gear breaks the spirit. If it's pavé, and cat 3, you'll suffer more than groin omlette, you'll suffer defeat, especially if you're a commuter hack, l...

There are these little "caliper to cantilever" brake adapter things that increase the cable pull by roughly 33% length, and they can also be used to addapt 6 speed friction thumb shifters to pull a derailleur accurately over a Shimano 10 speed MTB cassette. They say, "You can't friction shift reliably above 9 speed." Yeah, right. It's just about pull length and cog pitch, so there are always ways. These little adapters can be had for AU$17 on eBay and will change 1.2mm pull per cog thumb shifter to modern Shimano 1.6mm mountain cog pitch. The way they work is, the cable enters the pulley on a small diameter section, where a small movement results in a particular angular change. The cable then wraps around that small pulley and transfers to a larger pulley, fixed to the smaller one, such that the angular change results in a longer travel around the larger pulley so, as the cable exits the larger pulley, it creates a larger travel on a brake lever... or on a ...