Had the Mikrokopter I built recently back for a few tweaks, and took the opportunity to play with it a bit 😉
Rohloff S&S Bike
Rohloff S&S Bike, originally uploaded by Ben Cooper.
Started off with a Surly Long Haul Trucker frame, chopped it to fit the S&S couplings, replaced the rear dropouts with sliding Rohloff-compatible ones, then built it up like this…
Rohloff QR cable stop
Rohloff QR cable stop, originally uploaded by Ben Cooper.
Problem: On an S&S equipped bike, how do you separate the Rohloff cables neatly?
Solution: Make a custom quick release cable stop which unclips at the push of a button.
So you just undo the two bayonet cable splitters at the back hub, unclip this, and the cable can uncoil and stay attached to the front half of the bike…
Rohloff stem mount shifter for drop bars
Rohloff stem mount shifter for drop bars, originally uploaded by Ben Cooper.
A little bit of machining required, but I think this is the best way to fit a Rohloff shifter to something with drop bars – looks tidy, and you can operate it peppergrinder-style with either hand…
The Beast…
The Beast…, originally uploaded by Ben Cooper.
An Alleweder towing a Carry Freedom Elephant trailer, carrying a Hase
Pino recumbent tandem, and a HPVelotechnik Scorpion recumbent trike.
This lot is going to the Bishopbriggs Cycle Festival tomorrow -my legs
are going to die 😉
Bishopbriggs Cycle Festival, 2-5pm, Etive Park next to Menteith Ave.,
Bishopbriggs.
Cotic Roadrat with Alfine
Cotic Roadrat with Alfine, originally uploaded by Ben Cooper.
Today’s project: A Cotic Roadrat converted to Shimano Alfine 8-speed, with a widget to use STI shifters…
Fuel Cell Bike
Fuel Cell Bike 2, originally uploaded by Ben Cooper.
Found some old pictures of a bike I helped build for the artist Simon Starling – called Tabernas Desert Run, this fuel-cell-powered bike was ridden through the Spanish desert. It’s now in GoMA – Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art.
It’s got a 2kW Ballard fuel cell, running from two aluminium hydrogen tanks which would be fitted to the seatstays. The fuel cell was used to keep a NiMH battery pack charged, and the battery pack ran a 900W Heinzmann motor through a custom control system.
It’s meant to look bodged, by the way 🙂
Rohloff dropouts on a Surly LHT
Rohloff dropouts on a Surly LHT, originally uploaded by Ben Cooper.
Sliding dropouts so there’s no need for a chain tensioner…
Green 8-spd Brompton
Green 8-spd Brompton, originally uploaded by Ben Cooper.
Fitted the latest version of the 8-speed kit to a new bike today – usually, I make the parts as I need them, but this time I made all the parts first and then fitted them so I could time how long it takes.
About 50 minutes.
That’s converting a brand new singlespeed Brompton – it’ll take a bit longer if you need to take off a geared hub first…
Koga Founder S with Mountain Drive
Koga Founder S with Mountain Drive, originally uploaded by Ben Cooper.
A little modification needed, but works well 😉