I completed the conversion of my commuting bike to a 3 speed mentioned in a previous blog post. The work went pretty smoothly. I built a wheel, installed the shifting parts and chain, and replaced the rear brake pads and brake cable.

The bike runs nicely again. The new chain is vey quiet. Of course, it's difficult to hear drive train problems over the sound of the studs whirring on the pavement. The other day, I had a U of M student caught in my chain. I didn't notice until I stopped at a traffic light and heard his iPod.



A Very Clean Drivetrain




I think it's noteworthy that I didn't use the 3-speed shifter. Instead, I used the Sun Tour friction bar-end shifter that was already installed. It works fine. I was worried that it wouldn't control the cable well enough to prevent me from finding the slipping spot near the middle gear. I haven't had the problem yet. I know two very experience riders who are using the same setup and they say it works great (Mellow Velo and Boones Farm).

I still want to build a more heavy-duty wheel for this bike. Mellow Velo has a 40 hole hub he's going to sell me. I'll pick that up this week sometime. The wheel I just installed has 28 holes and I intended it for another project I have in mind.

Now, the 3-Speed Blog is more three-speedy than before.