[Angus Fletcher]

Hi,
I have a TSR2 that delights me as I zip about London. However, in August I plan to take a more touring route from Scotland to London and I’m going to need more that two gears!
I wonder if my TSR2 can be converted to more of a tourer (akin to TSR30). If it is possible I wonder how cost effective it would be versus laying out for an additional touring bike. And advice would be gratefully received!
One other question. I bought my bike from the shop Verolution in London that is sadly closing this month. Can anyone recommend a good dealer?
Many thanks in advance.
Angus

[Ian]

Is your TSR2 the belt drive version? I think the rear ‘triangle’ would need replacing as I think the 2 does not have brackets for the front derailleur and may not even have the one for the rear (that others Sturmey Archer hub models have). There are no mounts for brake calipers either are there? Quite a lot of work (and expense).

I have seen a conversion to a 5 speed coaster brake hub. Looked pretty neat. Still need to lace the hub to a rim, and find a way of running a gear cable to the rear as the 2 does not have cable do-dads brazed on does it?

But If I were you I would just get another bike for the trip. The TSR27 is pretty adaptable unless you really want drop bars, when the changers can be a problem. The TSR9, with its derailleur could be adapted for drop bars and you should be able to get a front changer and triple ring chainset fitted pretty easily.

(I have a nice APB 3×7 for sale if you are interested!)

[Angus Fletcher]

Thanks Ian. It is a belt drive. That probably makes things worse!

[Patrick Doocey]

The belt drive is less of an issue than you might imagine.

The TSR has a unified rear triangle, which means that the entire drivetrain – including front derailleur and chainset – is mounted on the rear triangle, and can be removed as a unit at the rear pivot.

One could feasibly have a city rear triangle (i.e. a TSR 2) and a country rear triangle (TSR 27 or 30), and hot swap between them when required

It would be very easy to convert a TSR 30 to a TSR 2, notwithstanding a few minor issues with what to do with loose cables, etc. One could have a spare set of handlebars making it a 15 minute job to do a full conversion – not something you’d want to do every week, but it would be tolerable a few times a year.

Vice versa might be more of an issue. I don’t know if all of the necessary cable stops are on the TSR 2 frame.

However, if a TSR30 owner added up the cost of buying a spare rear triangle, wheelset, drivetrain and possibly spare bars and controls, you’d nearly have bought a complete TSR2. And there’s nothing more convenient that just grabbing the bike you need and jumping on it!

Do let us know if you go further with this idea, I’d be very interested to hear the results.

[Jeroen De Greef]

Dear all
Since two months I have been the proud owner of a TSR 22 that I upgraded with a 750w electrical motor. I use it for daily commute (40km a day). I now wonder the following: would it be possible to upgrade this bike even more by putting in a Rohloff speedhub with a Gates carbon belt drive? I am not in a hurry, this would be a future project that I need to earn by riding the current bike for at least 10 000 km, but still… One is allowed to dream, right?
Any help would be much appreciated!
Kind regards
Jeroen, Brussels, Belgium

[Ian Anderson]

I’m new here, and don’t (yet) own a Moulton, so I would defer to those with more experience, but seeing as it’s almost a month since your post I thought I would chip in. Presuming your motor is front drive the biggest obstacle would be modifying the rear triangle to accommodate a break so the belt could be fitted and changed. A competent frame builder who is used to belt drives should be able to do this. Shand cycles have a very neat solution in the rear dropout on their Rohloff equipped bikes, see Stoater Rohloff for example. The second issue is tensioning the belt, eccentric bottom bracket or sliding dropouts (does the TSR have unified rear triangle so tension would remain constant with suspension movement?). Belts only come in certain lengths (five I think) so you’d need to check chainstay length, clearance etc. As with most things, there’s always a solution if you have enough money!
Ian

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