MnHillBilly

Anyone know of any special maintenance tasks or product recommendations to keep Shimano Coasting auto-shift bikes in good shape? (Trek Lime, Giant DX, Raleigh Coasting)

Went to a generic maintenance class tonight and got some good recommendations on lubes and cleaners that work better than others for regular road bikes and mtn bikes, but I'm wondering if there might be any folks who tune or own these auto-shifting models who might have tips on what works to keep the grime from eventually affecting the auto-shift box itself, and the unique wheel hubs?

I have 2 other bikes and know the basics - but was curious if other Lime/Coasting owners did anything differently? Certain kind of lube better/worse/indifferent when there's a cover on most of the components? Anything special to safeguard the mechanisms/integrity of coaster brakes, or just a matter of keeping everything clear and clean?

The tires are sturdy puncture-proof, and it's not likely I'd ever run into a serious flat, but the hubs on these models don't resemble any other kind of bike and they look like they're begging to be cleaned/lubed eventually where the tube meets the outer hub "caps", but since it's not quick-release or quick-anything, I'm wary of doing much with them beyond drying them off after rain.

Reid Welch

Hello, MnHillBilly, you got ZIP for answers. This bike is RARE, is why.

See my page two for HOW TO REMOVE THE LIME FRONT WHEEL:
https://www.endless-sphere.com/forums...11238&start=15
It is so elegant, so easy to R and R the front wheel, much easier than a conventional cruiser axle.

I'm a newly-active member. I just got a Trek Lime Lite two weeks ago.

I am determined to learn the workings and tricks and mods and maintenance of this arcane bike.

You and I should compare notes and be good friends.

Are you a rural guy, like in Arkansas? I love Southerners;
salt of this earth, all of them.

See my too-long thread at ES?
https://www.endless-sphere.com/forums...hp?f=4&t=11238
Here "we" are going to learn by doing, ALL ABOUT the good and weak points of the Shimano/Trek venture that is called "LIME": the very first automatic shifting bike on the market.

MORE electric shifting bikes are coming; do you all know this?
It will be the wave of the future. The Lime is but a test-the-mass-market; sort of a Model T.

I like it very much so far.
I vow to learn every detail of the system, with help from you and others,
or I will also proceed to dissect and KNOW my bike, all by myself.

I will share any really cool things: like how to adjust the shift points.

Mine is but a three speed. Q: Is your Lime five speeds?

Your new friend, like it or not, ha ha!

Reid "the lemon eater" Welch,

signing off for now, with a little photo essay: CLICK the images to super size?
This is from the ES forum thread of my creation:

Reid Welch

Please wade through the pages of my Endless LIME thread just cited?

All you need to change the front tire or tube, for instance, is a 10mm hex wrench.
It is so well designed to be SIMPLE. Have no fear of a flat.

Now, later, I will be changing the rear tire too, because I happen to like Bontrager Hank Slicks;
they roll so much easier than treaded tires, and in my locale (Miami) our roads are free from mud,
glass, pot holes, slush and other tire killers.

I love Hanks and will have them on both ends of my LIME, as soon as they come in
(on order from the local TREK dealer, is the only way to get Bontager products)

See you soon?

Reid Welch

tatfiend 

Wallhanger;

Not the first, merely the first available commonly in the USA. Shimano 3 and 4 speed auto shifting electronic controlled hubs were available in Europe and Japan for a number of years before they became available here. Shimano also now has a 8 speed auto shift electronic controlled group on their European site, called the Cyber Nexus. Here is the link.

https://cycle.shimano-eu.com/publish/...ber_nexus.html

The ONLY bike I have seen available here using it is the Ferrari CX-70, a very expensive city bike or cruiser.

Shimano Europe also has the Auto D Inter 3 shown which appears to be a less dressed up version of the Coasting group. Here is a link showing it.

https://cycle.shimano-eu.com/publish/...o_inter-3.html

The 4 speed auto shifting hub and controller are apparently discontinued though Nashbar still had some available some time ago.

There is now a Yahoo group for all IGH owners and those interested. The link to it is in my signature block below. No reason that electronic controlled hubs discussions cannot be included there.

Reid Welch

A 1.5 year report. I enjoy the Lime Lite and ride it daily, about 4 to 8 miles.

Have become fairly adept at changing the rear tire's tube when I blow one out.

With practice, it now takes me only about 20 minutes. You can't fight the parts.

The bike has only about a thousand miles on it. It runs smooth as Swiss watch.

I don't think the casual user would enjoy changing a rear tire tube, but it is relaxing

if you don't get upset, like I did the other night, bike next to me in the shop,

BANG, my cheap inner tube exploded. And I'd just installed that tube the day before.

I will get better tubes online, than from the LBS.

Many folks ogle the black Trek Lime. It's dorky, but sort of cool looking.

It shifts flawlessly almost always, and is quite weather-proof if you keep it inside between rain-rides.

I'm happy with the bike. It was four bills when I bought mine from the LBS. Today they are on sale,

the few that remain in stock, so I see online. People stare at the parked bike. I think a thief would pass on it:
it's too easy to spot if stolen. So rare, like an Edsel-gone-Ipod, odd, but fun and it coasts so well, the auto shifting
is a joy for flatland riding. I changed the rear sprocket from the slow-mo 20T to 16. It can go twenty then if you spin it.

Note the oddball set-up? I have a Thud-Buster (it's a pleasure) and have reversed the stem,
and also added a stem-extender (inexpensive steel sleeve), painted the stem black,
and fitted a magneto-powered (self-powered) 12-LED light. Cars see me day or night coming.

Lightweight plastic fenders keep me dry in wet rides. No rattles, and the Nexus Inter Three is almost totally silent.
I like a quiet-running bike, so I can hear the environment.

In closing, it's a pet bike that likes people. It would not last long if left in the weather, I don't suppose,
it would get into bad shape, and those hub covers are decorative plastic: dump this bike and it's going to look ugly.

jccaclimber

That isn't strictly true. I believe the "Autobike" carries that distinction. Mind you it didn't work all that well, although it my experience with both Limes, autobikes, and cars with automatic transmissions, they aren't my thing.
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...-Autobike-quot

Thank you for contributing though. How-to threads with pictures are always needed.

Reid Welch

Thank you for the correction.
That old post was written in honest ignorance, long ago.

Oh, that "Autobike" and the "Landrider" sound terrible.
Ouch.

Have read about, since I posted my misstatement so long ago,
of two other automatic transmissions:

One was a German-made two-speed IGH
with centrifugal-weight-actuated shifting.
It was good and is revered by collectors today in Europe.
https://www.torpedo-coasterbrake.com/...atic-a2110.htm

Another automatic, also IGH, I found online as a patent proposal,
of about...1949, Google patent search. It, too, worked on a velocity principle,

The Lime was not the first "automatic", not by a long shot.
Thanks for the correction. Other Shimano Coasting bikes
arrived, I think even a bit before Trek's iteration hit the stores.

Well, again, the Lime is, for me, reliable and, at one thousand miles,
that Nexus Inter 3 has grown as quiet and frictionless as could be desired.
It's stealthy-quiet, which I like, so I can hear the cars come from behind.
It runs like a canoe on smooth water, large volume tires, slicks I added,
let it ride very soft, so easy rolling.

I like the Lime. Perhaps, next time I lose a rear inner tube, I'll try to make
a video showing the general procedure for removing/replacing the rear wheel.
That's the only unpleasant prospect about these bikes that I've found.
It takes me about twenty minutes now, if I think, to change a rear tire or tube.
Front wheel is five minutes at most to remove and replace.

If anyone here lives in Miami and wants to test ride this bike,
drop me a line? Just don't squeeze the Lime and try to hurt it?

-------------------------------------

I got ill. Most all of the roughly thousand miles have been
put on the bike since last September or so. Am learning to ride again and live.

J. Dub

Do these auto shift bikes automatically shift to the lowest gear when you come to a stop?
Or do they only auto shift up in gears?

Anyother bikes besides the lime that autoshift that are below $800? I'd love a comfort bike, hybrid bike, or dual sport to have autoshifting 8 spd capabilities.

mhellerart

Hi Reid,

I've got a Lime Lite and I've never attempted to replace the wheel tire or open up the back hub... However, I just purchased a bicycle trainer for artistic reasons and I need to use my lime lite with this... In order to use the trainer, I need to open the back hub but unfortunately I'm a complete newbie and it looks pretty scary inside. I'm using the Kinetic fluid trainer (https://www.rei.com/product/769753/ki...a-001b2166becc)... Do you know of any resources, or have any advice for me?

Thank you so much,
Matt

BonesMC

Hello. I have owned the Trek Lime Lite automatic Shimano 3-speed w/coaster brake bicycle for nearly ten years. It is one awesome beach cruiser to say the least. Well, after all the years of riding off and on the drive train double ended head cable broke (the cable which enables auto shifting). Since they no longer make the parts I am struggling to find one. I spoke to Trek directly, Trek dealers and Shimano. None of them have the part.
Does anyone know where I may be able to order one or even from a used bike?
My last plan is to try and find someone to make one for me. The Shimano representative said they came in three different lengths. Without pulling the cable out of the hub to measure it, I was also wondering if anyone would know the length; 120 MM, 170 MM or 200 MM?
Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
-Bones
p.s. I tried to add an image but I could not since I am new to the forum:/

Gresp15C

I hope you get a chance to post a picture soon. I have put custom ends on cables. I wouldn't feel comfortable recommending it for a brake cable, but it might be OK for a shift cable.

Trazy

I am in the same boat. I partly inherited a trek lime light bike several years ago which my neigbor's granddaughter tried to dispose with trash at end of their driveway after my sweet neighbor passed away. I asked abt it since it was a perfectly beautiful bike with a rear flat tire. They were unable to take the tire off to fix it due to the unsual mechanics & decided to get rid of it. I tried it myself and found it difficult to replace, so I took it to a Trek shop who fixed it and I purchased lifetime maintenance for the bike. Recently my bestfriend had borrowed the bike and the son rode it & decided not to ride it back home one day so my friend had to pick him up & put the bike in her car. They had a difficult time putting it in and somehow got it stuck & unable to pull it out after they got it home. Once they finally got it out, they noticed the gear shifting cable got broken in half and you can no longer use the auto shifting gears. Instead it feels like spinning and moving half mile an hour. I am unable to find a shop to fix it in my new neighborhood, was told that parts for the bike is no longer manufactored, so now I am in a dilemna on how to get a beautiful bike repaired with a new cable. Did you have any luck getting yours fixed? If so how and where? - Trazy

JohnDThompson 

Lime is an orphan product, so finding replacement parts for its proprietary components will always be an issue. That said, here are a couple documents that may prove useful:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Luc...ew?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lUl...ew?usp=sharing

veganbikes

Trick to these bikes is finding a mechanic old enough to have worked on them. They all complain about how terrible they are to deal with but every big brand at some point has to have some marketing person design a bike and allow it through. Proprietary garbage that nobody else uses, let's market the hell out of that thing like it is the best thing since sliced bread we will be millionaires and then a couple years later, what bike we didn't make that bike!

BonesMC

Hi Trazy. Sorry to hear about your trouble. I did manage to get my awesome Trek back on the road. I had a friend who has worked on bikes to fix it. At first it was hard for him to figure it out since he never saw it working correctly. But he was able to fix it without replacing anything because the wire was long enough for him to work with. With yours being cut you may need to replace the wire. Too bad the bike shop couldn't help you. Do you know of anyone handy with mechanics possibly? Or look for an old one for sale just for parts. Sorry I couldn't help more.
-Bones

jccaclimber

I don’t remember the cabling on these bikes, but cable splitters sufficient for brake cable duty are a regular thing on coupled bicycles. Those are normally designed to hold one bare end and one headed end, but it wouldn’t be that hard to make one that holds two bare ends. This would let you make a double headed cable with factory heads if you could find ones with the correct heads already attached to just one end.

oldguyhockey

Thanks for these manuals. Hard to find anywhere.