Timmy666

^^^Good to hear. We settled at $800 and he's pretty much hand delivering it to me tomorrow since I'm local. Really excited considering this'll be the first geared bike I've ridden that isn't a mtb

veganbikes

Should I build a 1X11 Di2 Alfine bike with mechanical discs or a fixed gear cross jammy with hydros?

Bwasically I am going in on one of those All City Nature Boy 853 bikes and cannot decide and have been working out build kits for both and the build kit for Di2 wouldn't be that horribly expensive for me doing all the math so it is not a cost issue.

50voltphantom

I shouldn't knock it since I haven't tried it, but FG 'cross just seems completely insane to me. I vote 39x19 WI freewheel + hydros. Big-boy BMX style riding with killer brakes.

veganbikes

My plan if I do any cross is to slap a FW on it but mainly it will be on the road for most of it. I am just trying to figure out if I want to make it internally geared or SS/FG?

Carcosa

Should I get a 2015 Cinelli Histogram frameset for a great deal and transfer all the parts from my Leader on it....

Or get a Nature Boy disc and embrace dirt?

Worked it out so money is about the same.

veganbikes

Nature Boy, of course. You can run it on the road with wider tires and be really comfortable with great stopping power. It would make a great commuter and on the weekends you could slap some knobbly tires on and hit the dirt. Not a bad deal if you ask me.

Broctoon

I don't have any experience with the Alfine, but I had a Nexus 8-speed IGH that is very similar. I did not like it.

I thought those things were supposed to be low maintenance, very reliable, good in all conditions, etc. I had in mind cycling bliss, with none of the complaints I've sometimes had about chains and derailleurs. This seemed like a realistic expectation especially because the bike also used a Gates belt drive. It was a Trek Soho Deluxe, which had a really nice frame, riser bar, and front disc brake. I loved those things about it, and it handled great, but that's where the pros end, and the cons were many.

Turns out the Nexus requires some special attention, especially if you ride it in the rain. And it can be particularly fussy about shifter adjustments. I could not get mine to always shift when and only when I asked it to.

Read Sheldon's tech articles about them at sheldonbrown.com/internal-gears.

Also check out the abundance of good info from the folks at Aaron's Bicycle Repair in Seattle:

Internal Gear Hub Service

If you like to tinker with stuff, these hubs can be a dream come true. I've worked on helicopters, fighter jets, even German sewing machines... all kinds of intricate stuff. But when I took my Nexus apart to service it, I was stunned by the complexity of that gizmo. Dozens of parts in a machine the size of your fist.

I believe pairing the belt drive with the IGH was partly to blame for the problems my bike had. Each of these is probably a good component on its own, but they didn't seem to work well together, because of the relatively high tension the belt requires. The hub didn't seem to like that radial stress.

Another thing I absolutely hated about that bike was the Shimano roller brake they paired with the Nexus. That thing was so porky, and yet astonishingly weak. With the IGH and brake, the rear wheel assembly weighed about 1.5 tons. The Nexus can be used with roller brake, coaster brake, or rim brake. I think the Alfine works only with disc or rim brake.

I was really temped to scrap the rear wheel and shifter, get a White Industries Eno hub, and make the Soho into a belt drive fixie. I ended up selling the whole bike, and I've never missed it.

Veganbikes, of the two options you mentioned, I'd strongly favor the hydro-brake fixed gear CX machine.

Huffandstuff

FG on the dirt isn't half as bad as you would think. Your body just kind of accepts it after your first couple of downhills. Hardest part is if you have to bunny hop anything.

SquidPuppet

I looked it up. 2040 grams = 4.5 lbs.

veganbikes

I think the Alfines are a bit better but yeah they have their issues. We have a bike at the shop with Alfine and belt and hydro discs which is quite a nice bike but alas not what I want (at least frame and set up wise) Roller brakes and other oddball brakes aren't what I would go for, rim or better yet discs.

I think I might end up with the hydro fixed because I really want it and IGH hubs can be heavy especially if I add Di2 and such but having an even more odd ball bike would be kind of fun.

Keep in mind folks that I probably wouldn't ride a whole ton of CX stuff fixed if at all and it would mostly be with a freewheel for that fun but fixed on the road where it will probably spend a good portion of time.

50voltphantom

Should I get a On One Pompino frame for $200 and quit forcing my Steamroller into CX duty?

johnnytheboy

thinking of sinking a few bucks into the nature boy and swapping over to all silver components. stem, seatpost, bars, crank, rims and hubs. or should i leave them black?

50voltphantom

I'd leave it. Silver (polished rims) don't take kindly to dirt/mud/grit. This is why I've been riding on my "budget beater" wheels all year while Archetypes x Phil wheels have been hanging up. If you do go ahead with it I recommend the wheels be black rims/silver nips/black spokes/silver hubs. It will still look good if the hubs and cranks match.

velofinds

I sank more than a few bucks into my NBD:

50voltphantom

Ho. Lee. Crap. Moar.


This bike is perfect. Wheel specs?

Broctoon

Oooh! Very pretty. Nice job!

Mumonkan

sup.

SquidPuppet

Kool bike and pic.

johnnytheboy

damn. that thing is so pretty i wouldn't even wanna ride it!

50voltphantom

I would've never thought to put Campag cranks on it, but wow, it works.

ThermionicScott 

That is a sweet-looking build, @velofinds!

Two questions: How do you like the Fairweather-branded tires so far? and How do you handle the rear fender when dealing with the rear wheel -- undo it?

velofinds

Thanks guys -- didn't want to hijack the thread, but it seemed topical. Wheels are H Plus Son Archetypes laced to Surly Disc hubs. I think the shiny bits really do a service to the bike -- I didn't like All-City's all-black build. Here are a couple more:

velofinds

Thanks @ThermionicScott -- so far so good with the Fairweathers. How well or poorly they wear out will be the true test, but it's too soon to tell. Also, they measure 30mm wide instead of their listed 32mm, which I'm not thrilled about. I also haven't had the opportunity yet to unbolt the rear wheel, but when the time comes, I'm hoping that by slackening the chain (and maybe letting air out of the tire if necessary), I won't have to remove the fender!

TimothyH

Yeah, that's a great looking bike to roll the streets of NYC.

Carrying a lot of style right there.


-Tim-

ThermionicScott 

Cool. I've had my eye on those tires since they were announced because I've had a couple issues with the Pasela tread pattern. Now that the price has been increasing closer to Compass's tires, I'm in a quandary, though.

With nearly all of the Panaracer-made tires I've used, they started a little undersized when first mounted and grew to full size (or more!) after a few weeks/months of riding. If not, 30mm ain't a bad size.