cudak888 

Little update on the non-C&V bike that is definitely taking over this thread:

The 8-speed Sturmey hub that @dweenk sent me also came with a shifter that was - unfortunately - broken, but I worked out a repair. It is a pretty basic el-cheapo, slightly-better-than-Wal-Mart twist shifter with the necessary 8-speed detents, which broke at the usual weak point around the adjuster barrel. These things should have more plastic in the bore to begin with, but that's another story.

As a rule, I dislike twist shifters, but I also dislike ordering a $20 Sturmey thumb shifter from the UK for a beater commuter bike. Also, since the twist shifter is tucked neatly around the brake hardware, it isn't as easy a target for petty vandalism.

Since said twist shifter is made of some form of ABS plastic that just won't glue together for anything (and probably wouldn't hold even if you could), I decided to sleeve it with a quarter inch brass tube. The inner bore was probably 0.3mm too tight, so it wasn't that hard to hand-thread a quarter inch drill bit through it and file it some to get it just right.




A bit of JB Weld slathered over the joint prevents any chance of it easing apart:



The Dremel made quick work of chopping off the excess. The factory spring for the adjuster barrel no longer fits, but a #2 spring from ACE Hardware did the trick.



This is what the Whale looks like now (sitting on the Lime's rear wheel until the 8-speed is laced up). It's been outfitted with a Dallas ofo front basket - which looks eerily like a factory piece to complement the rear - and basically all of the ofo's tactile cockpit bits, save for the 8-speed shifter in place of the 3-speed shifter. The comically tall seatpost is for yours truly, and makes this thing look like a dockless bike




Not sold on routing the cables through the rack mount. The cables squeak against the rubber sleeve too.




The repaired shifter with its adjuster barrel:



I'd also like to fit it with some ofo or Lime axle security nuts - good luck to anyone who wants to make off with a wheel.

I've also given a bit of passing thought that this is the one bike that I have that would be really neat with a Bafang front hub drive (as a pedelec).


PM sent.

-Kurt