oxfords1

Update. Thanks all for your help and input. I decided to put a nexus 8 on my bicycle with the help of the suggestions here, we found that it will give me the 2 pounds I want taken off of the Pashe's weight and with switching out the heavy cranks and going with lighter tires it'll be even more. My project will end with that. Thanks all your input whether it was pro or con was valuable to me.


hi
Once again I'm here to get an answer that I just can't find through google. I did find a youtube video on someone putting a rear derailleur on an old bicycle but mine is different from his so I don't know if it even pertains
I have an English bicycle Pashley that wasn't made to have a rear derailleur but now that I can post photos I was wondering if someone could tell me if it's possible.

I do have two bicycles with gears a mixte soma buena vista 21 speed and a linus 7 speeds. I love them both but I love my pashley as well. It's not about the gears for the Pashley, I was looking for a way to shave two or three pounds off the weight because it's getting a little hard for me to lift it. gravity has a way of hitting you in the face when you're aging. the rear hub weighs 5.6 pounds so I'm seeing if a rear derailleur would shave a couple of pounds, if not I can bring it down to a 3 speed with a different hub.

The bicycle is upside down in these pictures




Our local bike shop is 3 to 4 weeks out for them to even look at my bicycle so I thought I'd try here first. Thanks in advance

Bianchigirll 

It’s possible but not very practical. Unless you can find a way to make that ‘claw’ adapter work backwards you’d have to remove the derailleur every time you wanted to remove the rear wheel

Murray Missile 

I'll second that.

merziac

@oxfords1

Hard no, keep this one as is, if you're asking the question, this would likely be a nightmare.

If you're in England as I suspect, there may be a workaround/kludge of some sort but the skill level to wrangle it would be high, maybe someone makes a kit, again still an aggravating adventure at best and not simple as far as we know.

Take the big pile of money that it would take to do this and buy another bike with more gears like you want.

oxfords1

thanks all. The main reason for this was to shave a few pounds off the heavy rear hub, but I'll take your advice and leave it as it is. I do have a nice soma mixte frame that's going to be put together on the 19th, so I'll have the gears and a lighter bike to cruise around in.

alo

Like others have said, it is theoretically possible, but there is probably so much involved, that it is not worth it.

It would be easier to buy a bike with one on it already.

pcb 

Many things are possible given enough time, money, mechanical aptitude and proper tools. Whether something is worth doing is another story.

If you google "derailleur hanger for horizontal dropout" or "derailleur hanger for track bike" you'll find some things made specifically for your situation. They look similar to the piece you showed, but they're a little different.

I'm assuming you know you can't use your current hub with a derailleur, so you'd need to replace the rear wheel entirely, or lace in a different hub.

Definitely a lot less hassle to find a frame/bike built for a rear derailleur than to try to adapt a rear-facing dropout on a Pashley.

CliffordK

It is extremely unlikely a rear derailleur will work with your full chain guard.

Is that some kind of "Drum Brake"? Also not common with multi-speed frewheels/cassettes, although Sturmey Archer has a 135mm cassette drum brake (135mm dropout spacing which is likely wider than you have), (Sturmey Archer X-RD with 7 speed freewheel or X-RDC).

There are some derailleur hangers that are attached to track ends. Litespeed has done it on a few of their bikes. The easiest mod would be to weld or braze a derailleur hanger to your track end. It should just need a small bit of black paint to touch up.

HOWEVER, my choice with your bike would be to upgrade to a multi-speed drum brake hub.

Something like the Sturmey Archer S80 X-RD8 (W). According to the website, 132mm OLD which is a bit wide, but perhaps something you could work with (likely re-spacing your frame).

I think first gear is 1:1, and 8th gear is 325% harder. So, you need a small front sprocket and large rear sprocket.

Other multi-speed drum brake hubs are available from 3s to 8s, some with lower gearing for first gear.

Dylansbob 

There's actually a really nice way to do it, but I still wouldn't recommend on that frame. A Problem Solvers chain tensioner with derailleur hanger.







I used one on this frame to provide full gears on a singlespeed frame I liked (and was super cheap).
Have to zoom in to see it.

oxfords1

Hi thanks. yes I did buy a sunracer derailleur hanger anticipating that it could be done, but I also did a search with your input and saw others. I wanted to do this because I wanted to get rid of the hub which weighs almost 6 pounds. I'm going to give it a shot, I'll take it in when I take my other bicycle in to see what the guys say. Thanks for your input, I have a couple of bicycles that I love but this one I love to ride with my Scottish terrier because it's so smooth and stable but the weight is starting to be a bit of an issue when I need to lift it. putting in track bike really gave me some good results. thanks much https://www.google.com/search?q=dera...4dUDCA0&uact=5

oxfords1

beautiful bike. thanks for your info and input.

oxfords1

actually it came with a sturmey archer 8 speed with drum brake. I was wanting to switch to a derailleur because of the weight. the sturmey weighs almost 6 pounds and as I mentioned to another person the weight is starting to be an issue when I try to lift it. I've shaved off about 8 pounds already and it's made a big difference. I do have a linus mixte that is my love, and just bought a soma frame buena vista that the shop is going to put together on the 19th. this one I like to ride around town with my little scottish terrier because it's so smooth and stable so if I can shave a few more pounds it'll make my life better but if not I'll probably take it down to a 3 speed instead and lose 2 more pounds. right now it went from 40 plus pounds to 35 with some of the things I've done with it. I should call it a day but there's always that one more thing that maybe I can do. he he

bwilli88 

I have a couple of bikes and extra derailleurs over at my house in Cambodia that would work.
They have the slot setup toward the rear so it would work with a bike with rear opening set of dropouts.
you have to look real close to see it on this bike.

cudak888 

Not advisable on a rear-facing end city bicycle - not to mention that the derailer would be fitted to the chaincase side of the bike, thus requiring removal of the entire chaincase.

Just FYI to all reading the thread, I *believe* the OP's bike is a Pashley Roadster, like this one:



It's possible to put a derailer drivetrain on one of these, but a fool's errand. I'd more sooner look for a modernized Raleigh Sprite.

However, if you want to shave weight from it, an excellent (and fitting) upgrade would be to swap out the Sturmey hub to a lighter Shimano Nexus Inter 8. The Inter 8 has splines for a roller brake, so you won't lose braking performance in the back, and it'll be a drop-in fit. It won't be massively lighter, but it will be an improvement over the Sturmey.

-Kurt

CliffordK

You may save some weight by going to a freewheel or cassette, but make sure you carefully count all the components you are adding.

Hub, freewheel/cassette, rear derailleur, hanger, probably a different chainring, whatever rear brake you choose, shifter, etc.

Unless you are going full racing equipment, you're likely going to have a couple of pounds of new parts. As mentioned, you'll likely lose the chain guard/chaincase (or go to a very short chainguard) which will save a bit. But, you could make that change anyway.

If you really want to save some weight and improve the ride, try Compass Tires (now Rene Herse)

I don't see what type of tire you have. But, for example, 26″ x 2.3″ Rat Trap Pass Tire, Extralight is 418g each.

26″ x 1.8″ Naches Pass Tire Extralight is 300g.

You may also look at lightweight tubes.

If you are using a tire liner, try the Panaracer Flataway tire liner.

dedhed

https://cambriabike.com/products/shi...leur-bmx-mount

oxfords1

Oh yeah, look at that. I downloaded your picture and blew it up. your bicycle's rear is exactly like mine. Do you know what they're called and how I can get my hands on one? thanks for your input

oxfords1

sweet thank you. I bought one of those but not the same model. I have to compare it to this one because the hanger on the one you're showing me is actually facing the right direction. lol I might have bought one facing the opposite direction, I'll have to look. here's a photo of the one I bought. looks like it might be for a vertical drop?

oxfords1

thanks cliff you guys are all awesome. I have Schwalbe delta cruisers on it. I'm not sure how much they weigh but I'll look around the web and compare. I did shave 3 pounds off the front too. I had a brake hub on it, so I bought a new rim with a regular hub and lost 3 pounds. I really don't need the front brake, and once it's all said and done I think we can put a caliper brake on the front if I really decide to put a front brake on it.

Moe Zhoost

First, Sturmey lists the weight as 2170g, which is a bit more than 4.5 pounds. Perhaps you are including the weight of the whole wheel in your estimate.

Second, I don't think you will save as much weight as you think. You will be subtracting the weight of the hub, yes, but you'll then add the weight of the derailleur, cassette or freewheel, the extra chain, brake caliper, etc. You'll probably save no more than half a pound for all the work that you'll put into it. It'd be simpler to just skip lunch a few days.

oxfords1

thanks, Moe lots of things to think about. my bicycle actually has the https://www.sturmey-archer.com/en/pr...detail/rxl-rd5 which lists the weight as 2480 gms or 5.6 pounds. I've been weighing the parts to make sure I get at least 2 pounds off. Of course, I would get a lighter rim because these brits use the heaviest stuff for these bicycles because they're supposed to withstand all the bad weather in England, rain, snow etc. I do have a brake caliper that weighs .3 pounds from another bicycle which I cannot find anywhere so I'm poaching that one. I have some of the other parts on hold with their weights and putting everything together to see how it will turn out. Skip a few lunches? Oh hell no lol,

alo

It is easy to get a derailleur which bolts to the end of the axle. However, the derailleur would come off every time you remove the wheel. This may or may not be of concern to you.

The challenge is to buy, or modify something, so the derailleur remains attached to the bike when you remove the wheel.

There have been some suggestions in previous posts which could be used.

Another idea to consider, is to buy a bracket like shown in the video in the first post, but facing the opposite direction. You could then use a wide range of derailleurs.

oxfords1

thanks alo the bracket you're talking about is it the hanger thingy? lol like the sunracer

alo

It is shown in the first video. But it would be ideal to get one the other way around, because your dropout is the other way around.

madpogue 

Coaster/drum brake? If so, what do you plan to do about rear braking? Then there's the already-mentioned question of what to do about the full chain case.

You see how these quickly become cans o'worms? It's not just a matter of hanging a derailleur swapping wheels. The bike was designed around an IGH with an integrated brake. Every pound you think you're saving may actually just mean moving that pound to another part of the bike.