Forum | New Guvnor arrived — fettling about to start, advice needed

Just taken delivery of my new 3 speed Guvnor from Cyclesense in Tadcaster and was pleased that it came with everything it should i.e. brass bell and the tin containing the maintenance kit (including the tea). Following the 10 mile ride home I’ve made the necessary adjustment to bars/stem/saddle and I’m now looking at other ‘cosmetic’ changes that I could make :-

1. Although I do need the 3 speed (rather than single) I’m not too keen on the look of sturmey archer shifter. I’ve seen a picture in the forum of the shifter being replaced with a down tube friction shifter which is probably  the route I’ll take but wondered if any other options were available ?

2. I would also like to try and make some of the cables less obvious so I’m also considering bar end brake levers to try and reduce the amount of cable on show — has anyone else fitted these ? How difficult to fit are they ?

Ian C

MGcC — spotted your post on brake cables but feel some internal routing of the cables through the bars may help me with my compulsion to do a bit of tidying — I did originally toy with the idea of a two speed guvnor which has a coaster brake i.e. no cable,  but following a recent undulating ride I was glad of the extra gear and so were my legs, lungs and heart !

Anyhow saw this photo which gave me the idea — I’d probably look to exit the cable nearer the stem though.

Mr C,

I have a Plus 2 Guv’nor with the coaster brake and kick back gear change so there is only the front brake cable to worry about. It came with the dropped Lauterwasser bars and a Tektro bar end brake lever, which works very well. There is blurry picture of the bike half way down page 7 of the Welcome post and I’m happy to post some more detailed pictures of the lever and cable if you would like to see it. It’s very similar to the picture above with the cable jumping out half way up the bar tape.

Cheers,

Frosty.

Ian

That is indeed Brooks tape on the bars, and very good it is too. The cable runs underneath the tape (not in the bar) and pops out nicely between the potential hand positions. The cable is neatly positioned right on the inside of the knuckle and after 30 seconds you don’t notice it. The only downside I have noticed to the Lauterwasser bars is the distance between hand and bell, and the danger of emergency bell ringing when a young lady is spied.

I did twenty miles the other day and was surprised that my back wasn’t complaining at the end. It was a long way to go for a curry, but it was a sunny evening; possibly the last of the summer.

Frosty.

Duchy, 

I totally agree — the plus 4 would have suited me perfectly !

I’m assuming that the bars supplied on my three speed are of the Northern Road variety — would you happen to  know the diameter of them as bar end levers are available in 2 sizes (22.2 or 23.8) and I’ve no means of accurately measuring.

Many thanks

Ian