This project included a very involved Rohloff conversion on a
Bruce Gordon Rock N' Road Touring frame for a customer in San Francisco, CA. The project revolved around building up a reliable commuter and occasional touring bike using the
Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 and the
Schmidt SON dynamo hub. The customer found the frame used in his size and, based on Bruce Gordon's long-standing reputation for building reliable steel touring frames, decided it would fit his needs.
For the wheels, we laced up the Rohloff and Schmidt hubs into
Velocity Dyad rims using
Sapim Race double butted spokes and brass nipples. The Dyad rim is billed as do anything rim, and we have certainly used it for many applications including recumbents, heavy duty road wheels, commuting wheels, light to moderate duty touring wheels, and mountain bike wheels. It is offered in a variety of diameters to fit almost any need, with 26" and smaller sizes being labeled Aeroheat instead of Dyad. While we prefer a beefier rim for expedition level touring, the Dyad was perfect for this build, offering a good combination of weight, strength, and durability. At 24mm wide, it works well with your typical 28-38c commuting tire widths as well as typical 1.9-2.1" cross country mountain bike tires.
The frame was immediately sent off to
Bilenky Cycle Works for some major modifications: the frame was cut in half and S&S couplings were installed, the bottom bracket shell was cut out and replaced with an eccentric shell, cable guides for the Speedhub were added to the top tube, and a boss was brazed onto the left seat stay for the Rohloff OEM2 axle plate to mate with. The frame then went out for powder coating, and finally new decals were applied.
The now virtually new Rohloff-specific frame was built up with a mix of top-quality, mostly US and German-made components. The matching red anodized Schmidt and Rohloff hubs and Schmidt Edelux headlight pop against the gloss black powder. Everything came together nicely, and the customer has been very pleased riding the bike.
Build details
- Frame: Bruce Gordon Rock N' Road Tour steel
- Fork: Bruce Gordon Rock N' Road Tour steel
- Headset: Chris King 2-Nut
- Stem: Bruce Gordon
- Handlebar: Aluminum Drop Bar
- Shifter: Rohloff with Hubbub drop bar adapter
- Bar Tape: Selle Anatomica Leather
- Seatpost: Aluminum
- Saddle: Selle Anatomica
- Front Hub: Schmidt SON Delux dynamo
- Rear hub: Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14
- Skewers: Pitlock
- Spokes: Sapim Race
- Rims: Velocity Dyad
- Front Skewer: Shimano XT
- Crank Arms: White Industries VBC
- Chainring: White Industries Single
- Bottom Bracket: Phil Wood stainless square taper
- Brakes: Paul Components Touring Canti
- Brake Levers: Cane Creek SCR-5
- Racks: Bruce Gordon Touring Pannier Racks
- Pedals: Tioga Spider
- Front Light: Schmidt Edelux
- Rear Light:Busch & Mueller Dtoplight XS Plus
This project included a very involved Rohloff conversion on a Bruce Gordon Rock N' Road Touring frame for a customer in San Francisco, CA. The project revolved around building up a reliable commuter and occasional touring bike using the Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 and the Schmidt SON dynamo hub. The customer found the frame used in his size and, based on Bruce Gordon's long-standing reputation for building reliable steel touring frames, decided it would fit his needs.
For the wheels, we laced up the Rohloff and Schmidt hubs into Velocity Dyad rims using Sapim Race double butted spokes and brass nipples. The Dyad rim is billed as do anything rim, and we have certainly used it for many applications including recumbents, heavy duty road wheels, commuting wheels, light to moderate duty touring wheels, and mountain bike wheels. It is offered in a variety of diameters to fit almost any need, with 26" and smaller sizes being labeled Aeroheat instead of Dyad. While we prefer a beefier rim for expedition level touring, the Dyad was perfect for this build, offering a good combination of weight, strength, and durability. At 24mm wide, it works well with your typical 28-38c commuting tire widths as well as typical 1.9-2.1" cross country mountain bike tires.
The frame was immediately sent off to Bilenky Cycle Works for some major modifications: the frame was cut in half and S&S couplings were installed, the bottom bracket shell was cut out and replaced with an eccentric shell, cable guides for the Speedhub were added to the top tube, and a boss was brazed onto the left seat stay for the Rohloff OEM2 axle plate to mate with. The frame then went out for powder coating, and finally new decals were applied.
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