Welcome back, class!  Now that you've adjusted your Shimano Nexus hubs, we'll dive into the next most interesting operation on one of these bikes: rear wheel removal.  Mastering this will allow you to replace tires or tubes that are worn out or damaged beyond patching.  This will get a little more technical than the previous post, so it's very important to make sure you're comfortable using tools and that you have the time and energy to safely put everything back together.  Please read through the entire post before tearing apart your bike, and be sure you're comfortable performing all the operations described (especially tensioning the chain!).  Troubleshooting and adjusting your hub didn't require any tools, but this will, so get out that toolkit and polish up your:

1. 15mm open-end wrench or 15mm deep socket w/ driver
2. 10mm open-end wrench and 10mm socket w/ driver (you can substitute another 10mm wrench or a small adjustable if necessary)
3. Cable cutters (diagonal cutters or wire cutters can be substituted)
4. 2mm hex key/Allen wrench
5. Dental pick, sharpened spoke, sturdy ballpoint pen, small switchblade, or something else with a nice point to it
6. Tire levers (if you plan on replacing tubes or tires)

Now that your tools are prepared, set your bike on its center stand (or clamp the seatpost in a work stand if you're lucky enough to have one).

We will remove the rear wheel first because it's a more complex operation and many of the steps will be duplicated in removing the front.  As an overview, we're going to disconnect the brake, open the chain case, disconnect the shifter, disengage the chain tensioners, and remove the wheel.  Then we will reinstall the wheel, engage the tensioners, tension the chain and center the wheel, reconnect the shifter and brake, and close the chain case.

To disconnect the brake, first loosen the cable fixing nut several turns.  Pull or clip off the cable tip, and pull the cable out of the brake.

Now once we've removed the torque arm clamp bolt the brake will be completely disconnected.

After that, move back to the right side of the bike and open the chain case, starting by unhooking the tension wire running along the bottom of the case.

Once the wire is unhooked about 3/4 of the way down toward the front, unsnap and unclip the rear section as we did in the previous post.

Now loosen the axle nuts about three turns (Don't worry, the chain tensioners will hold the wheel in place) and yank the rear section of the chain case frame straight back and out of the bike.

Shift the bike into first gear, and poke the long end of the 2mm hex key into the tiny hole in the back of the cassette joint.

Pull downward on the wrench to give yourself some cable slack, and then use your pointy tool to pop the cable and cable stop out of the cassette joint.

Pull the cable housing out of the housing stop, being careful not to kink the cable.

Now that you've disconnected the brake and shifter cables from the hub, all that's left is removing the wheel itself!  Loosen the chain tensioners until the nuts are even with the end of the threaded section, and loosen the axle nuts until the colored non-turn washers (yellow on the right, brown on the left) can completely clear the frame.

Lift the chain carefully off the teeth of the cog and set it down on the plastic of the cassette joint.

Now you'll actually remove the wheel: pull it straight backward until both chain tensioners are loose enough that you can flip them downward so that they hang from the axle.

The wheel will now be free to slide forward and out of the dropouts, and you're free to replace tubes, change tires or just marvel at your accomplishment.

To reinstall the wheel, you will essentially be reversing most of the steps you've just completed.  Set the chain on the cassette joint -- next to the cog but not on it -- and then slide the wheel back into the dropouts.  This may take some wiggling, and possibly even some fiddling to make sure that the chain tensioners are inside the dropouts, and the non-turn washers (brown and yellow) are outside.  Gently pull the wheel as far back into the dropouts as possible, giving yourself enough slack to flip the tensioners back into place.  Now that the wheel is held in place by the tensioners, you'll be able to reattach the shifter and brake cables, the chain, and the chain case.

Set the chain back on the cog and carefully turn the cranks a few revolutions to make sure that the chain is fully set on the chainwheel (front gear) as well.  To reconnect the shifter cable to the cassette joint, first slide the cable housing end into the housing stop.

Now repeat the trick with the 2mm hex key to wind the cassette joint back to a point where you can slot the cable stop into its cradle, making sure that the cable sits cleanly along its channel.   Shift up and down the range a few times to make sure that everything is working smoothly, and also use this opportunity to check the adjustment of your hub (just like you learned to do in the last post!).

Pass the brake cable through the housing stop and into the cable stop, tightening it down at at its original setting.  Make sure the housing is fully inserted in the stop.  At this point you can crimp a cable end cap onto the cable, then test brake function by pulling hard on the brake lever. 

Slide the rear section of the chain case frame into place, carefully pushing both top and bottom ends into place in the main chain case frame.  Be sure that the chain tensioner is outside the chain case frame on the axle.

Now that everything on the axle is in place, you can tension the chain.  This step is going to be the most technical that you'll perform during the operation, so shake the kinks out of your hands and get ready!  Tighten down the axle nuts until the tabs of the non-turn washers are fully inserted into the dropouts, but not so tight that you can't shift the wheel.  Throughout this step, you'll be keeping the wheel centered in the frame by watching the distance between the (ideally fully inflated) tire and the chain stays.  Tighten the chain tensioner nuts evenly as you bring the wheel back toward its original position.  On Workcycles bikes (especially if you are using the original cog size), you'll frequently be able to find this spot by the indentations left by the non-turn washers in the frame powdercoat.

Ideal chain tension can be an art and a science, but the easiest gauge will be this: at the tightest spot in the rotation of the cranks (because there will be tight spots and loose spots) you should still be able to move the chain slightly (<1/4") up and down with your fingers.  You should NOT hear a crackling sound as you spin the pedals through the tight spots, and the chain should not be so loose as to hit the bottom of the chain case.

Once you've got the chain at a nice tension, double-check the centering of the wheel and then reattach the rear brake's torque-arm clamp on the chain stay.

Now you can tighten down the axle nuts!  Make sure these are solidly tight, really get your arm behind the wrench (unless you're some sort of giant burly guy, in which case you'll want to exercise some restraint).

Now that the wheel is reinstalled and the chain case frame is reassembled, most of what's left should be familiar from the last post: closing the chain case.  Gently (because these are fabric parts, after all...) slide the rear section of the cover over the frame, keeping the chain tensioner outside.  Pull the edges of the inside slit (between the wheel and the chain case) together and slide the prongs of the clip into their pockets inside the chain case.  Snap the snap on the outside, and hook the wire back and forth across the hooks on the underside (don't miss any!).

...And you're done.  Go for a ride!

It's been almost a year since I built and started flogging the strange hybrid beast that we named the Saison (a saison is a Belgian farmhouse beer style whose wild yeast strains produce a light body but strong earthy flavor).  The idea was to build a bike that could balance the toughness and "fuhgeddaboutit" maintenance interval of one of the Dutch bikes with the speed and acceleration of a modern American commuter.  Strong wheels, a strong frame, internally geared drivetrain, disc brakes, full fenders, and a comfortable riding position were required.  Add a few little extra touches for comfort (carbon bar and 28c Tserv tires) and style (gold Nokon brake housing and gold grips), and I was ready to go.

The Frame
Predictably, I couldn't let myself simply order a frame designed to do exactly what I intended for it (they exist).  Instead, I decided to use the wrong-est frame to build this multi-speed city bike: a single-speed mountain bike.  The Surly 1x1.  And yes, I am perfectly aware of the abject silliness of this premise.  That said, measure the actual radius of a 26" wheel with tire, and a 700c wheel with tire, and you'll find a surprisingly small difference.  Measure the wheel/tire clearance of a 1x1 and you'll run out of measuring tape; you could lose a medium-sized child in the depths of that gigantic rear triangle.  Even with tires half again the size there would be plenty of room for nice beefy fenders, too.
 


With tough steel tubes, convenient horizontal dropouts, and easily adjustable brake caliper mounts, the Surly would have been a fair bet even if it weren't super cheap.  And deep down, who doesn't want to ride "the thing that should not be"?

The Build
Lace up a wheelset: light-ish rims made for 29'er mountainbikes on a Shimano Alfine hub (the stealth-bomber version of the eight-speed hubs in our Workcycles bikes) and a mostly-matchy front hub, and slap them into the frame.



Throw on the rest of the parts.  Get a different crankset because the chainstays are so wide that the arms of the compact road crank I'd planned on using wouldn't even come close to clearing...wow.  Bend the fender stays and install spacers to clear the brake calipers.  Install lights on the brake bosses because they're just sitting there doing nothing.  Install the KitchenAid headbadge because this is supposed to be an appliance, right?

The Ride
The first impression of the ride is the quickness: even though it's a big bike with a wide bar, it feels very nimble and responsive.  You just point your shoulders and the bike zips that way.  It's difficult to sufficiently emphasize the nimble feel of the bike and the resulting confidence: the handling is so intuitive that maneuvers that would be nerve-wracking on a more conventional bike just happen naturally and with little fanfare.  The wheels and frame are highly rigid, and even with relatively big tires and the flex of the carbon handlebar the ride isn't Dutchbike-smooth, but it's not punishing.



The Alfine hub and shifter snap off quick, positive gear changes with almost no lag or interruption of power transfer.  The disc brakes (Avid BB7 calipers and Shimano XTR levers) offer a surfeit of power and smooth enough modulation to keep it under control, although after putting in the miles on our roller brake-equipped city bikes they feel surprisingly aggressive. 

The Year
Now, after a year of riding around Seattle, up and down stairs, through alleys, around parks and pump tracks, through street brawls and farmer's markets, and over every nasty piece of pavement and road debris I could find, I can actually evaluate the bike.  It has commuted, gone on dates, shopped, and pubcrawled.  It's been taken on countless test rides, and borrowed for extended periods.  Through it all the Saison has required very little of its rider in terms of either maintenance or even basic consideration.  After a few adjustments for break-in, the mechanical systems have functioned as close to flawlessly as any bike I've ridden.  A little chain lube every few weeks, and the occasional stack of batteries for the cheap blinky lights I can't seem to get around to replacing with a sexy generator setup.  It's not quite as impossibly maintenance-free as a Workcycles bike, but it's not too far off.

I can explain the experience of living with this bike best by calling it "enough."  It's tough enough that even through the year of abuse I've barely had to think about it, while remaining light enough to accelerate and climb with pizazz.  It's fast enough to really feel fast, and -- most important of all -- fun enough that I consistently want to ride it.  The best bike is, after all, the one that you ride.

Want one?
With a somewhat less extravagant component selection, you can have one for right around $1700.  We're custom building each one of these for the time being, so even though you're dodging the challenging "experimentation phase" of a project like this you can still have plenty of input on the specifics of your Saison.  An albatross bar, a Brooks B67 saddle and 38mm wide tires for a more "Dutch" feel?  A narrow cut-down riser bar and racy tires for tackling traffic?  A Workcycles Transport-style front cargo carrier?
No problem.  Have a tall, chilly glass of Saison.

In the wake of Paris' successful Velib program, other European municipalities are taking note and considering similar programs to liberate their inner cities. The European Cyclists' Federation reported at the end of November that London Wants 80,000 Rental Bikes: The City Council of the UK capital has revealed an ambitious scheme to stimulate the use of bikes. Mayor Ken Livingstone has set a target of 80% increase in cycling by 2010. One of the means to reach this target could be the implementation of 80,000 rental bikes. As well, earlier in September, Cycling England the UK's national bicycle planning, advocacy and lobbying organization made public its 86 page research report Valuing the Benefits of Cycling filled with all sorts of great little tidbits:

If a cyclist makes 160 trips a year of 3.9km, rather than take a car, this would equate to savings for other road users of £137.28 a year as a result of reduced congestion in urban areas and £68.64 in rural environments.

There are over 30 million motorists in the UK, some likely stuck in traffic at this very moment. Apparently, cyclists can save them some time and money. I love seeing cycling's monetary, health and environmental benefits made more tangible.

To further the cause and provide more tangible data, Cycling England features its six showpiece cycling towns which are sharing nearly £17 million [$32 million US] to promote cycling:

There are currently four after school cycling clubs in Derby and while there is funding for another five, with the help of Cycling England's funding, Derby plans to increase this number to 27! Derby was the first local authority in the country to have a specific Community Sports Cycle Coach to work with these after school clubs and more coaches are in the pipeline.

I'd say cycling is becoming the way for some towns in the UK. I'm rooting for London to commit to a Velib-like program.

Gradually bicycles have inched into the political conversation about urban mobility. Increased cycling has the potential to reduce greenhouse gases, improve health, clean our air and streams like no other transportation modality. Many European cities have embraced this point of view whole-heartedly, lead by the oft celebrated examples of mobile culture, Amsterdam and Copenhagen. The "Copenhagenization" of US cities should be on every green and mobility oriented politicians to-do list. EU transportation planners are so far ahead of us, that some of their initiatives may seem insane to the everyday US citizen. Though it's already a bit dated (but still ahead of it's time in the US), here is a great example as reported by the San Francisco Planning + Urban Research Association: The more recent trend in European traffic engineering ideas is to actually remove signs and signals--and in some cases even sidewalks--to force drivers to pay more attention to the road for their visual cues, with a resulting drop in accidents involving pedestrians. An important point to take away from this is that by being open to thinking differently about how drivers will respond to different roadway configurations and uses, we can discover new ways of making the streets safer. Calming traffic and making streets safer is just one of the components to making city streets fertile for cycling. The landscape to a cycle-friendly future is vast. Many Seattle citizens and politicians are preoccupied with crumbling viaducts, cute trolleys and (for heaven's sake, even) proposing licensing fees for cyclists. The beauty, efficiency, health, aesthetic and environmental benefits of cycling get lost lost in the mire. When these benefits are taken into account as a whole, we can see that cyclists should be getting paid for the benefits — reduced congestion, no emissions, longer lasting roadways, increased parking, improved health and productivity in the workplace — which they bring to society. Because of this vast landscape and the political distractions of maintaining an automobile-centric society, local citizens and politicians may not feel they have enough justification, research or support to move more confidently forward on behalf of the bicycle. As a way of instigating some healthy nationalistic competition, I suggest reading the illuminating paper Why Canadians Cycle more than Americans. The Canadians (in comparison to the Europeans) are not the world leaders, but they are three times more likely to use a bicycle than US citizens. Add to that, the ever-strengthening loonie as a prod, and we may inspire a transit inferiority complex. So, if we can bear this first little step, we can look to Canada for some inspiration: In spite of their colder climate, Canadians cycle about three times more than Americans. The main reasons for this difference are Canada’s higher urban densities and mixed-use development, shorter trip distances, lower incomes, higher costs of owning, driving and parking a car, safer cycling conditions, and more extensive cycling infrastructure and training programs. Most of these factors result from differences between Canada and the United States in their transport and land-use policies, and not from intrinsic differences in history, culture or resource availability. That is good news, since it suggests the possibility of significantly increasing cycling levels in the United States by adopting some of the Canadian policies that have so effectively promoted cycling and enhanced its safety. —John Pucher , Ralph Buehler Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, University of Sydney, Newtown NSW 2006, Australia; Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University, 33 Livingston Avenue, Room 363, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA Once our national self-esteem has stabilized and we are ready as citizens, business leaders and elected officials to better support a bicycle-friendly future we can look to the Europeans. The great news is that the European Union has already spent hundreds of millions on better bicycle, pedestrian and public transit infrastructure, as well as research. The fruits of this research have been presented as a road map for all aspiring municipalities. This road map is in the form of European Commission's Cycling: the way ahead for towns and cities - A handbook for local authorities: Every day European cities demonstrate that a reduction in the use of private cars is not just desirable but feasible. Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bremen, Copenhagen, Edinburgh, Ferrara, Graz and Strasbourg apply incentives that favour public transport, car-sharing and bicycles, along with restrictive measures on the use of private cars in their town centres. These cities do not harm their economic growth or access to their shopping centres. In fact, they promote them because they understand that unbridled use of cars for individual journeys is no longer compatible with easy mobility or the majority of citizens. This point of view is light-years beyond the myopia of simply proposing a licensing fee for cyclists. It reaches into all aspects of city life and culture. It illuminates a mobile utopia within our grasp. So, for those of us looking to fuel our zeal for a greater self-propelled, two-wheeled future, I highly recommend reading "the way ahead." I wish to thank my friends at the always educational, inspirational and entertaining Cycliciousness for bringing this report to my attention.