It was pretty well vandalized, with the lights and generator long gone, the fenders totally bent around, and the shifter long since broken. BUT it was in the cool 24" size which I love for smaller people and kids, it was a nicely put together steel step-through frame, and best of all, it had a Sachs (pre-SRAM) P5 internal geared hub! Worth my time to get back there and pick it up.
So I get it home, and its really pretty rough, but seems like it is fixable. I stripped the fenders off and straightened the racks and misc. parts. Needs new cable but the brakes look serviceable. Front wheel is severely twisted, so that might need to be replaced if I can't bang it out. Looks good otherwise though! I see a sticker w/ Germanish words, so looks like it's for the German home market.
How it ended up here in The States, then vandalized and abandoned on a back road is beyond me. Anyway, everything is totally fixable except that hub. Looks like I can get a new shifter and click box, but I have no idea how to install it and/or service & repair the hub as necessary. It may be hard to believe, but my local LBSes (yes, more than one) pretty much don't want anything to do with this. Anyone out there in internet-land have any idea on what I can do or who I could send the wheel to for service??? I'd really like to get it running as it is a great little bike. My kiddos are almost able to fit it, so would be great for them to have (I love internal geared hubs for kids!).
Update: I've had several SRAM bulletin links forwarded to me and it looks like the parts I need are all pretty straightforward common parts. Now, locating them anywhere in the States is the trick. It was suggested I get hold of retailers in the UK and Germany, but that's something I'd rather avoid unless I absolutely have to...
4 comments:
Good luck, looks like a lot of work.
It all hinges on that hub... any suggestions????
Will the Penta-5 control box work?
http://www.yellowjersey.org/suprsevn.html
Wisconsin shop, ugly website, happy to ship to anywhere.
You can also get the P5 kit via Harris Cyclery, in MA, but it should also be available from any Quality Bicycle Products (QBP) dealer.
As for tear-down and repair, if it works (and it probably does), don't! There are far more tales of misrebuilt hubs never working again than there are of working hubs improved. Gearhubs are not only tricky things inside, they're also fairly bulletproof, and few of them need any maintenance to stay that way.
Feel free to contact me at rcousine@gmail.com if you have any other questions. I like gearhubs.
Hi Ryan, thanks for the advice! I'm not terribly eager to get into the hub, so am hoping it will have a nice long life as is!
I've been in contact w/ SRAM, and while they aren't selling me the small parts I need directly, they did give me the part # which I then gave to my LBS, which then called them, and they will hopefully send out and then I can get it from the LBS. And they say the government is inefficient! I also ordered the kit you linked from QBP via my LBS. Time will tell if it actually works out... stay posted!
Post a Comment