THE RICKPAULOS COLLECTION

[Acustomizer]

My lady flying by..

 

[rickpaulos]

Fully automatic 3 speed.

I bought the used on in Iowa City. Price kept dropping. $350 300 275 250 200 175 150 100 Bing.

Test rode and realized it wasn't shifting. Well I welcome the mental challenge of sorting out such a electro-mechanical set up.
Started cleaning it up and found the shift point adjuster control and it was set to N for what? Normal? No-shift? Turned it and viola, it works. So much for having to tear it all down. Riding is a big disappointment. The way too high handle bars and upright position keeps me from getting any power to the pedals. I'll try inverting the bars to see if that helps. MSRP of $589.99 plus fenders and a nice rear carrier. I'll be putting up for sale at the local bike coop this weekend.

I can see why it was set to N. On all 5 shift point settings, your pedal speed has to get pretty high before it will shift. I've been called "Mr RPM man" for my high cadence but even I think it's set too high. I see Trek changed the cog specs for the 2009 year, from a 20t cog to a 18t cog. That 10% jump in gearing might help. I might look for a spare cog to fit it. Removing the rear wheel isn't trivial.

Budget Bike Center has some nos color kits. Change out all the plastic/rubber bits for a different look. Good if you are trying to restore one that is missing those parts.
http://budgetbicyclectr.com/trek-lime-p ... r-kit.html

I welcome Trek occasional plunge in to something new. They have knocked out a few hits in the past. This was a miss for sure because of the "Comfort Bike" design. They kept it going for about 3 years before dropping the Lime line. I read other blogs about how it was too expensive but it does come with a lot of expensive parts, ie, the servo, the front dyno hub, the seat, the rear hub , the custom fiddly bits like the hub caps, chain cover, unique crank, etc. Far too much spent on style. It is definitely a niche market bike. Just try selling a $600 bike to someone who "can't figure out gears". I think that is why fixies & single speeds are still so popular.

I wonder how it would do if I moved the hubs and servo to my Trek Earl. Maybe the servo is too bulky to fit a normal frame. Shimano & Trek went to some length to try to hide all the bits under the covers. Yo, Shimano! Try again please. Mount the servo up high, like just above the seat stay bridge. Get the servo circuit board out of direct line of water flying off the front tire. Add a knob on the shift point adjuster so you can tune it while riding. Leave the cables & wires exposed to view. use normal hub shells. Make it so it fits any normal frame set. Even sell it as a kit. You already have a normal 3 speed and front dyno hubs which I suspect the Lime's hubs share internals with. How about 2 adjustable shift controls, ie one for 1-2 and a second for 2-3. You could expanded to work with the nexus 7 too.

 

[rickpaulos]

One of trek's former top end mountain bikes. black with red decals. $1999 in 1996.

rear der hanger snapped off. Doh! Non-replaceable type.

Thinking of a single speed converstion using an ENO hub.

Any other suggestions?

 

[Hsean]

It looks like that back piece can be removed. if so im sure theres a way to replace the whole piece. I had the top end bike from specialized from 1996. those older nice bikes ride amazing. if you can replace it id say do that. because. its not like new bikes are getting better. save the old good ones that you can

 

[Machine Age Victim]

Sweet bike, I would run a 7speed internal rear and single up front, simple and clean but versatile.

 

[sqrly]

Buy a derailler hanger replacement from a newer bike and use a file and a drill to make it compatable with a replaceable hanger. Thats what I would do.

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

^^ what he said. Cut/file a step into it matching the new replaceable hanger, drill and tap two holes.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

Nice bike! I'd say if it's not replaceable try to find a shop that could weld on and make a new one or convert to an internally geared hub or single speed or maybe even a fixie? :lol:

 

[rickpaulos]

daylight photos.

It had a steel insert that was still attached to the der.

ss/fixie/igh would require some way of adjusting the chain length on these vertical dropouts. Either a ENO hub (1 speed only) or an eccentric bb.
Or a chain tensioner attached to the hanger, doh!

I asked a Trek dealer. His response was to send it to Trek for repairs. $$? or $$$? or $$$$?
I checked the Calfee site, they don't do "carbon to aluminum" repairs.

I do like the idea of trying to fit a replaceable hanger. I'll have to look for one that might work among the thousands of different hanger designs. the current dropout looks beefy enough to carve in to.

I've done some aluminum welding. Not a promising idea. Lots of issues with that.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

Half link chain would solve chain adjustment issues for single speed or fixie.

 

[CHAMPION123]

Just a thought. I would go to a semi-trailer repair shop or find a good welder in your area that can weld aluminum. I don't know if J.B. weld would handle the stress very well. Or check with the local Harley Davidson shop. They know where all the good welders are located. Gary

 

[rickpaulos]

Half link chain would solve chain adjustment issues for single speed or fixie.

Only half way. Pure chance a half link or even a full link would get the chain to the proper length. Just short of a half inch of slack is still way too much to ride. Fixies need 0.0 slack.

 

[rickpaulos]

Just a thought. I would go to a semi-trailer repair shop or find a good welder in your area that can weld aluminum. I don't know if J.B. weld would handle the stress very well. Or check with the local Harley Davidson shop. They know where all the good welders are located. Gary

Like I said, there are many issues with welding this part.

Welding on a small piece of aluminum that is bonded to carbon fibre with thermo epoxy that sets at just 150 degrees F isn't going to work. The outer surface of aluminum (aluminum oxide) melts at 3500+ degrees, the base aluminum melts at 1200 degrees. Aluminum is good at quickly transfers heat so keeping the heat away from the epoxy just an inch or two away would be a problem. Once welded, the aluminum surely needs to be heat treated (just like most aluminum bikes) at temps in the 300-400 F range to relieve the built up stresses that welding causes. The carbon frame would melt down for sure. Trek carbon frames are not "1-piece". They are built up from a number of molded carbon sections that are bonded together with a heat set epoxy.

There are many thousands of aluminum alloys. Usually identified by a 4 digit number that specs the percentages of the various other elements mixed in. 6061 & 7005 are a couple of the more common families of alloys used in bicycle frames. When you weld aluminum, you use a filler material designed for each specific base alloy. I have no idea what alloy Trek spec'd in the dropouts that were never intended to be welded, perhaps they chose a "non-weldable" alloy or a "non-heat treatable" mix for ease of manufacturing or for more strength. The part looks cast or perhaps it was forged (stamped) prior to machining. There is a whole different family of aluminum alloys meant for casting.

When I hear a welder tell me he can weld anything (including bikes that were never welded together in the first place), that reaffirms to me he is clueless about the metallurgy needed to do a reliable repair and the load stresses that bike frames are subject too. If he says "all aluminum is the same" run, don't walk, away.

I did some aluminum welding in my welding training and I was amazed at how easy my great looking welds snapped right off during testing. Welded aluminum gets much of its strength from the geometric shapes in the design of the product and proper heat treating during and/or after the welding. Round tubes and triangles as used in typical bicycle frames are far stronger than trying to butt weld flat plates which is what this repair would be.

I would bet any weld repair would fail very quickly on this part.

 

[TheNerd]

WOW, that's a relic from my bike shop days, I really like it. There is no way that could be welded, heat and bonding issues as you mentioned would ruin the frame. I would make a template of the non drive side drop out and file/grind/cut the broken one to match it. I have set up a few single speeds that way, using a BMX style freewheel. you may have to play around with the freewheel and sprocket sized a bit to get the chain tension just right, but it can be done. You could also make up a "custom" chain tensioner.

 

[CHAMPION123]

Like I said , it was just a thought. I'm not that versed in aluminum alloys. I hope you can repair it and have some fun with it. I'll be watching for the fix. It will probably be something so simple....we just want to make it complex. Good luck and have fun in the process. Gary

 

[outskirtscustoms]

Ah, I didn't know it was carbon fiber, that opens a whole big can of worms. In that case you may have to send it back to Trek for repairs or turn it into a single speed or internally geared setup like mentioned above. I'd think since the heat set epoxy sets at 150 degrees they'd sell a replacement dropout that you could glue in yourself or it wouldn't cost that much to fix but I have no idea. I know shipping is kinda crazy now days though.

 

[old_skool]

You could use a Blackspire Stinger bottom bracket mounted tensioner/chain guide to single speed that frame...

 

[rickpaulos]

Ah, I didn't know it was carbon fiber, that opens a whole big can of worms. In that case you may have to send it back to Trek

I did ask at Trek, just got a response from their customer service. "Part out of stock for years ...." Shoot.

Doner frame anyone? Trek sold a lot of OCLV bikes that must have failed in other places or were crashed.

The way it broke leaves plenty of the material to support any hub so ss/fixie/igh is still an option.

To get proper chain tension there are two solutions from White Industries.

First up is the Eccentric ENO hub. A rear hub with a built in eccentric axle that allows for chain adjusting. $150 or so.
http://www.whiteind.com/eno-single-speed-rear-hubs.html

Next up is the PhilcentricTM but it's designed for outboard bearing cranks so I'd have to get one of those tube cranks in a single ring configuration like a Spot Brank crank. $275 for the bb and $75 for the crank. That still might require a half link to work.

or I can get lucky trying many cog/sprocket combos as suggested.

And I must say, the bike seems front heavy. I don't think a single speed hard tail really needs a shock fork so how about a normal carbon fork in 1 & 1/8" steerer with canti mounts. Humm. Now what rake?

 

[rickpaulos]

You could use a Blackspire Stinger bottom bracket mounted tensioner/chain guide to single speed that frame...

Whoa!. Never seen that. Looks simple and low cost. 30 bucks and it comes in different colors!

Would that work with a coaster brake? (for a different bike)

 

[old_skool]

You could use a Blackspire Stinger bottom bracket mounted tensioner/chain guide to single speed that frame...

Whoa!. Never seen that. Looks simple and low cost. 30 bucks and it comes in different colors!

Would that work with a coaster brake? (for a different bike)

I suppose it would - as long as the bottom bracket is the threaded Euro size BB (not American)