My wife has an older English bike that she loves, but the 3 speeds on the internal rear hub are limiting and it makes her less inclined to ride it. Does anyone know if I can upgrade it to a derailleur system with relative ease?
Her bike is similar to this:
And the hub looks like this:
Shimano makes a 7-speed internally-geared hub for about $175, but a new wheel would have to be laced on to it.
In reply to Gimp:
I agree with JamesMcD - check out the Shimano 7-speed.
To answer your question - yes, but... There isn't a normal derailure hanger on an old Raleigh, so you'd need one that is held on by the axle nut. These are found on lower-end bikes, and it's not a great way of doing things. Though for casually pedaling around the neighborhood it should work ok.
Is it really limiting her or is she using that as an excuse? Keep it as is and ride the heck outta it!
Limiting?
I like mine for an errand/pub bike. No number of gears is going to change its character much, though the 7-speed may make it a bit nicer.
I'm planning to put a larger cog on mine, just because I'd like a lower low, but I'm not going to miss the top end, as it's geared plenty tall for the uses it gets...
The limiting part comes down to not steep enough gearing for some of the bigger hills to run into when we go out on bike rides. I've even tried myself and it's not easy with the current gearing.
Larger cog is the simplest and cheapest solution.
In reply to 02Pilot:
Unfortunately I think that would require modification or removal of the chain guard since it wraps around the cog. I'll have to check clearances when I get home.
I've got a disassembled vintage 20" girls five speed Raleigh (either a Rodeo or a Fireball, I forget which one). All I really want is the tires and the chain guard. If you think you can adapt the gearset to a 26" wheel, you can have all the necessary stuff.
[URL=http://s175.photobucket.com/user/Woodyhfd/media/Schwinn/SchwinnSpeedster020_zpsffa3fecb.jpg.html]
[/URL]
Smaller front gear is the same as a bigger rear, and the chain guard won't care.
You'll need to log in to post.
