a.twiddler
Veteran
I have had a few ideas in mind to make life simpler with the Linear, including resuscitating the front triple chainwheel in a separate thread. I have been collecting bits over the months. Yesterday I fitted bar end changers after putting it off for a long time, mostly due to anticipated problems with the Sachs 7 X 3 gear hub. A Suntour Bar Con on the RH vertical bar end for the 7 speed derailleur, non indexed, which once tensioned worked well. Encouraged by this I fitted a Sturmey Archer bar end shifter to the LH vertical bar end. This was the one I had qualms about but after fitting a Sturmey Archer trigger shifter as recommended by Sheldon Brown as being compatible with the Sachs 3 speed hub, I didn't see why it shouldn't work too. So far, with the bike on the stand, it has worked cleanly and accurately with no further adjustment. Due to the orientation of the Sturmey Archer lever, both levers are forward for high gear and vertical for low.
The rationale for changing to bar end shifters has been (a) my arms are slightly too short for my fingers to fall naturally on the shifters under the seat. (b) the bar end shifters are on the ends of the vertical bar ends and I can actually see them to visualise what gear I am in. The version of the Linear currently in production gives the option for this set up, so I am giving it a try. A proper road test should sort out any bugs.
The rationale for changing to bar end shifters has been (a) my arms are slightly too short for my fingers to fall naturally on the shifters under the seat. (b) the bar end shifters are on the ends of the vertical bar ends and I can actually see them to visualise what gear I am in. The version of the Linear currently in production gives the option for this set up, so I am giving it a try. A proper road test should sort out any bugs.