Spent the last week or so trying to decide between a Woosh Faro OR something proper second hand OR a rear hub kit
I had a v cheap towpath tourer I’d built and barely used so eventually pulled the trigger on a Aikema 85SX kit from Woosh with the 17ah battery as . (Frame is a Ridgeback Cerium with the most super stealth graphics I’ve ever seen on a bike)
super fast delivery from them and great instructions/info
What started out as a new bottom bracket and simple drop bar conversion ended up in a full 11 spd drivetrain conversion with a Shadow XT rear mech, wide range 11-42 rear cassette and Clark Clout hydraulic brakes, topped off with the ubiquitous Marathon Plus on the back
Install was a breeze, not even too much cable to deal with (though still have a little tidying to do) ...there’s more excess on the brakes if anything
Only issue was trying to get the hollow tech sensor ring to sit happily on the crank - the two part sensor just wanted to come apart and not sit square and didn’t really want to use glue
Solution was to make a sensor 'bracket' support to make the sensor ring more rigid (used a flouro-green Perspex kitchen splashback sample square cut to size with a hole saw )
Needed some zip tie ninja skill (head torch, tweezers and lots of swearing) to strap it all up to the crank spider, whilst keeping the granny ring clear but not getting zip tie between the sensor and granny ring so it would sit nicely against the inner ring bolts
Oh man, so much fun, and just what I wanted, something that rewards my own efforts. Sundays 10 mile shakedown turned into a 20+ miler
Route was largely on a local national cycleway, towpath and small amounts of road. Even some fairly technical rutted greenway chucked in. Handled it all without breaking sweat (...though Suntour SP12 seat post is coming tomorrow )
That rear mech is immense, I barely adjusted it and it shifts like silk. The cassette range is incredible. I’ve actually got 2 cogs up front and was eyeing up a v cheap XTR side pull front but don’t think I’ll bother - don’t think I’ll ever need anything lower.
Most of my ride was in power lvl 3 a fair amount of 2 and some sporadic 4/5.
Actually thought my battery meter was broken, 15 miles in and still full! Moved down to 1/2 because I started to get range anxiety Eventually flashed the top bar about 2 miles later, and back to full now its sat in hallway - which seems crazy!
Anyway - thanks Woosh and all here for the info I’ve stolen whilst lurking and making my mind up
I had a v cheap towpath tourer I’d built and barely used so eventually pulled the trigger on a Aikema 85SX kit from Woosh with the 17ah battery as . (Frame is a Ridgeback Cerium with the most super stealth graphics I’ve ever seen on a bike)
super fast delivery from them and great instructions/info
What started out as a new bottom bracket and simple drop bar conversion ended up in a full 11 spd drivetrain conversion with a Shadow XT rear mech, wide range 11-42 rear cassette and Clark Clout hydraulic brakes, topped off with the ubiquitous Marathon Plus on the back
Install was a breeze, not even too much cable to deal with (though still have a little tidying to do) ...there’s more excess on the brakes if anything
Only issue was trying to get the hollow tech sensor ring to sit happily on the crank - the two part sensor just wanted to come apart and not sit square and didn’t really want to use glue
Solution was to make a sensor 'bracket' support to make the sensor ring more rigid (used a flouro-green Perspex kitchen splashback sample square cut to size with a hole saw )
Needed some zip tie ninja skill (head torch, tweezers and lots of swearing) to strap it all up to the crank spider, whilst keeping the granny ring clear but not getting zip tie between the sensor and granny ring so it would sit nicely against the inner ring bolts
Oh man, so much fun, and just what I wanted, something that rewards my own efforts. Sundays 10 mile shakedown turned into a 20+ miler
Route was largely on a local national cycleway, towpath and small amounts of road. Even some fairly technical rutted greenway chucked in. Handled it all without breaking sweat (...though Suntour SP12 seat post is coming tomorrow )
That rear mech is immense, I barely adjusted it and it shifts like silk. The cassette range is incredible. I’ve actually got 2 cogs up front and was eyeing up a v cheap XTR side pull front but don’t think I’ll bother - don’t think I’ll ever need anything lower.
Most of my ride was in power lvl 3 a fair amount of 2 and some sporadic 4/5.
Actually thought my battery meter was broken, 15 miles in and still full! Moved down to 1/2 because I started to get range anxiety Eventually flashed the top bar about 2 miles later, and back to full now its sat in hallway - which seems crazy!
Anyway - thanks Woosh and all here for the info I’ve stolen whilst lurking and making my mind up