Project City Slicker

If you were asked to build a city, street, commuting bike, what would you  build?   Where would you start?  Most people would likely take their mountain bike and put on some slicks and maybe add some fenders.  While there is nothing wrong with this approach, we didn't want to go this route as you'll soon find out. 

The customer was retiring and wanted a bike for the bike paths and roads near his home.  He didn't want to tinker and adjust his gears, dealing with derailleurs, etc.  Derailleurs are wonderful things, they're reliable, consistent and work in pretty much all conditions.  However, you must be ready to fiddle, clean, adjust, deal with pulley wear, chain stretch, cassette wear, not to mention rear hub adjustment, maintenance, then you have to worry about 3 chainrings in the front plus yet another derailleur.  We're going to have to do better than the standard drivetrain. 

Enter the Shimano Nexus 7 speed internal geared hub with a hub mounted brake.   Internally geared hubs have been around since the turn of the century.  They were usually 3-geared and offered a practical, reliable option to the urban cyclist.  They're more reliable then derailleured systems and require much less maintenance.  Probably the best feature about them is that they can be shifted while stopped, something that an urban cyclist would appreciate while riding in stop-and-go traffic.  That's something I'm sure any XC trial rider would appreciate riding in twisty root invested, rock gardens also.  So by selecting the Nexus hub, we've replaced two derailleurs, cassette, 3 chainrings, two shifters, rear brake and 3 cables for one hub, one shifter and 2 cables.  Pretty easy decision on our part.

Now that the drivetrain was decided, we had to select a frame.  Because the internal geared hub doeesn't have a method of tensioning the chain like the derailleur system, the frame must allow for it by offering a horizontal dropout versus a standard frame.  While there are frames out there that come with horizontal dropouts, they're mostly kids bmx frames or low end run of the mill winter beaters.  At the Interbike show a couple of years ago, while visiting the Titus booth, we noticed they had a frame called the Riddler and it was called that because it had replaceable hangers for both horizontal and vertical dropouts.  This frame was designed for urban trials and freeriding so it was built to last.  Perfect. 

Now that the heart and soul of the bike has been selected, the rest is simple. 

• Headset - Chris King
• Seatpost - Thomson Elite
• Saddle - Terry Men's saddle
• Crankset - Cold forged XTR crankset with middle and small ring removed with an XT UN72 square taper bottom bracket.  These cranks are indestructible and the XT BBs are no brainers.
• Fork - Rigid Titanium fork.  No rust, no fuss.  We love suspension forks but by definition, suspension forks require maintenance, even the best ones is more than zero maintenance.   
• Wheels - Sun Rhyno Lite 32h built with black Sapim Race spokes.  The front was built with a DT Hugi hub that we had in stock.  The beauty is both wheels are built with zero dish so the wheels are stronger and stay true longer. 
• Front brake and levers - Shimano LX with Avid 2.0 levers.  Something simple and practical. 

So how did it ride?  The shifter/hub combination is so smooth and transparent.  We ended up looking down all the time for the missing derailleur.  There was no tweaking of the front derailleur to rid chain rub or cross chaining to worry about.  We were able to shift while standing or seated.  No hesitation or skipping whatsoever during shifts in either direction and we didn't have to let up on our pedal stroke.  The rear brake while not a disc brake was more than adequate for its intended purpose.   Steering was direct and the ride was surprisingly smooth due to the dampening characteristic of the Ti fork.   The frame's sloping top tube made getting off an on simple for our intended customer and while we don't expect him to lauch off any staircases anytime soon, we know the frame is going to last him a very long time.

So the end result?  Basically a simple, low maintenance city cruiser that's easy to ride, made to last and practical.  Sure it costs more than a converted mountain bike from Walmart but I bet it's at lot more fun and will need less maintenance.  After a full year of riding, the only thing he had to do was hose the bike down and change a flat.  He loves his bike and rides all the time now.  It was a blast building the City Slicker and it works beautifully.      

Let us know what you think of our project and leave us your comments.