This is my rescued Marin Hamilton, that over the years has evolved into a modern take on the old English 3-speed. My former commuter was stolen, and at the same time this appeared, broken, rusty, and abandoned on the same office bike rack (coincidence?). I saved it before the office management sent it to the trash, and got it on the road again.

The wheel bearing races were pitted from rusty neglect and I find SS awkward in the urban stop-start, so after a failed experiment with an SRAM Automatix 2-speed hub I fitted a Sturmey Archer 3 speed. 3rd is a single-speed ratio, 1 & 2 are for hills and setting off. It’s a sweet setup for my area and usage, and is almost as robust and low maintenance as SS.

A transportation bike needs fenders (Velo Orange Zeppelins - excellent, effective, silent). The original fork rang like a tuning fork on braking no matter what brakes or pads, so I got a $40 Marin fork off Ebay and converted the front to disk, and put on generator lighting at the same time.

And just now it got some luxury new tires - Schwalbe Marathon Supreme 700x50 on the label, but are actually 43mm, in typical Schwalbe fashion. Great tires though - light and fast and grippy and durable and puncture resistant.

It’s a fast and comfortable city bomber. I have a little TSDZ2 motor and battery that I fit each year for commuting the hottest summer months, and then in winter it gets studs to get me through the ice and slush. For fairer weather riding I have a very similar derailleur bike and the pair of them get me around nicely.

  • Evkob@lemmy.caM
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    1 year ago

    I love that this appeared at the same time your previous bike was stolen! Well obviously I don’t love the bike theft part, but the way this bike and you came together is wonderful, seems like it was meant to be! You’ve clearly put a lot of love and care into it.