# Custom Surly Pacer (folding Nexus commuter!)



## Camikaze (Oct 14, 2005)

After 3 months of research, parts sourcing, and (finally) assembly, my dream commuter is built.

It's a 46cm Surly Pacer, which has been hacked in half, endowed with S&S couplings, re-sprayed in pearl blue paint (HUGE PLUG TO GREENSPEED AUSTRALIA www.greenspeed.com.au who did the couplings and paint in less than 10 days), and finally furnished with a careful blend of heavy-duty, and functional parts.

The spec:

Surly Pacer frame and fork (the second Surly in my household now)
Nexus 8 speed (redband) hub, with 8spd twist-shifter and KMC 3/32" chain
Ritchey WCS 4 axis stem, WCS headset, Pro post, Pro pedals and Pro flat bar
Dura ace brake calipers
SKF 600 series ISIS BB
FSA Gossamer cranks with 36T chainring (soon to be fitted with bashring)
DT Swiss TK7.1 touring rims, black competition spokes with 340 front hub
Ritchey Tom Slick Fortress tyres
Salsa CX levers
Fiz:ik Aliante Ti saddle
S&S machine couplings
ODI lock-on grips

Overall, a beautiful little bike to ride. I am most proud of my solution for fitting the Nexus shifter (fitted to a backwards-facing Ritchey WCS short barend), as the transition from bar to shifter is just so natural, and it frees up space on the bar.

I'm sure the build of this bike will polarise people, but it's ended up just the way I wanted (transportable, simple, efficient, low-maintenance, durable quality, long-lasting components which are light where applicable), and that's what matters :thumbsup:


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## commuter73 (Feb 6, 2005)

Interesting build! I looked at your pics before I read the description. I thought you were running a working double chainring up front with the nexus in the rear. By chance, do you know the gear ratio spread on the 8 speed hub?


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## Henry Chinaski (Feb 3, 2004)

Wow. Very nice.


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## Camikaze (Oct 14, 2005)

Hi commuter73,

Yeah, I haven't gotten around to sourcing a bashguard to replace the outer chainring yet - I have considered milling the teeth of the outer chainring that's on there, as it looks stylin'!

The ratio range is roughly a 28" - 85" rollout. This is equivalent to a high gear of about 50/16, and a low gear of 1:1 (or 26/25, if there were such a gear!!!).

The spread is good enough for the commuting I'm doing, and the touring I plan to do. I have a road bike to satisfy my big-gear-grinding needs, if I feel up for it


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## Dave Hickey (Jan 27, 2002)

Vey nice build....How are you handling the cables? Are there quick releases on the cables?


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## Camikaze (Oct 14, 2005)

Hi Dave, and thanks for bringing up the cable issue... 

I am yet to source a cable breaker, but this was actually one of the major reasons for selecting a shifting mechanism which recruited only one rear-mounted gear cable. 

The rear brake cable is fairly simple - I don't mind undoing it, given that re-joining and tensioning a brake cable is a minor affair.

The Nexus shifting cable will need a cable-joiner, which I intend to purchase shortly. Having no derailleurs to worry about is just a huge bonus for me. Time and trial will teach me anything else I need to learn about this setup 

Cam


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## blackhat (Jan 2, 2003)

that is..wow. nice choice on the color too, looks a bit like the 1st generation crosschecks. maybe Im dense and missed it, but what was the purpose of mounting the shifter on an inward facing barend?


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## fmbp (Apr 23, 2003)

cool solution for the nexus shift mechanism, what a great idea. I like the color too. My CrossCheck has been indestructible, and believe me, I've tried. Have fun with that great looking bike!

fmbp


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## Camikaze (Oct 14, 2005)

blackhat said:


> that is..wow. nice choice on the color too, looks a bit like the 1st generation crosschecks. maybe Im dense and missed it, but what was the purpose of mounting the shifter on an inward facing barend?


Hi blackhat,

I really wanted to save as much room as possible on the bars for other equipment, which is not yet installed. The Nexus twist-shifter system takes up a lot of room on a 580mm flat bar (the taper from the stem takes up about a third of the bar as it is), didn't allow me to install the brake levers where I wanted to AND use ODI lock-ons. It meant either pushing my brake levers too far inwards to be safe for downhill descents, or too far out so the lock-ons wouldn't fit.

In other words, because of the component choices I made, I had to find a better, workable solution for my personal needs.

I hope the bar-end will lead me to a better system for the inevitable road drop bar Nexus bike one day, as the current choices (sticking shifter at end of drop bar) are very limited.

It probably still seems OTT though...


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## gonsa (Feb 20, 2005)

Very interesting build. I'm a big fan of bikes built for reliability, especially one built for travel.

It appears the Pacer rear dropouts are vertical. How are you tensioning the chain?

I have my commuter is set up singlespeed with vertical drops. In order to make the gear work, I have to use a stretched chain but eventually it gets too stretched and starts getting slack. Now whenever I change the chain on my mountain bike, I put the used one on my commuter.


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## luvmybike (Aug 19, 2002)

What is the spacing on the Nexus hub? I think it is awesome. Surleys are indestructible good value bikes. I like it.


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

*Sweet*

nmnmndm


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## Camikaze (Oct 14, 2005)

gonsa said:


> Very interesting build. I'm a big fan of bikes built for reliability, especially one built for travel.
> 
> It appears the Pacer rear dropouts are vertical. How are you tensioning the chain?
> 
> I have my commuter is set up singlespeed with vertical drops. In order to make the gear work, I have to use a stretched chain but eventually it gets too stretched and starts getting slack. Now whenever I change the chain on my mountain bike, I put the used one on my commuter.


Hi Gonsa, I used an online gear calculator to work out what chainring/cog combinations I could use, given the length of the Pacer chainstay, without using a chain tensioner. The only limitation here was the gear ratio spread I needed as well.

Luckily, I struck gold with a 39T/20T configuration, which means the chain is perfectly tensioned, and my low/high gears are suited to loaded touring. I'm using a 3/32" BMX heavy duty chain, and will see how chain wear affects performance over time but, like you, will replace the chain before it stretches too much.

I have used the "8R/L" anti-rotation Nexus washers for vertical dropouts to secure the hub.


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## Camikaze (Oct 14, 2005)

luvmybike said:


> What is the spacing on the Nexus hub? I think it is awesome. Surleys are indestructible good value bikes. I like it.


Thanks alot, I like it too 

The Nexus hub is spaced at 120mm, but came with washers for 130mm road spacing.

I really wanted the v-brake version, to keep things "clean", but had to settle for a roller brake version, which still needs the cover cap fitted on the non-drive side.

Ah well, it is a work in progress!

I'm really looking forward to testing Surly's famous durability out in the field :thumbsup:


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## Lamdog (Jan 11, 2006)

Camikaze, very nice build. I've seen you post a few months ago have was very impressed. Now that you have some time with the bike, especially the Nexus hub, how is it? The bike does seem like the perfect commuter.


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## KenS (Jan 28, 2004)

*S&S couplers*

Very cool bike. What was the reason for the S & S couplers?

Ken


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## sucka free (Aug 31, 2005)

An inspiration! As a proud owner of a BIanchi San Jose for almost a year, I've been tinkering of the idea of what to do next. I currently run it with a Surly fixed/free hub, but thinking of going Nexus 8, but the problem was the only shifter was a grip shifter and you solved my problem. i want to keep running a drop bar and your set up looks sweet.

Great build you got there.


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## commuter73 (Feb 6, 2005)

Camikaze,
So what's the long term report of your setup? Any positives or negatives we should know about?

I'm thinking of doing a similar Nexus setup on my fiance's Surly LHT. Up until I remembered your bike, I was contemplating putting the shifter on the end of her drop bars with a drop bar extender. However, I just looked back at your ride and I'm considering using the bar end technique.

Side question...How do you use the gear calculator to figure out the correct ratio? How accurate are they? If I don't want a chain tensioner hanging there, I'll have to figure out the ratio ahead of time.


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## endure26 (Jan 27, 2005)

Anyone know if the cable pull ratio (i.e. amount of cable moved per detent) on the Nexus is on par with old 8-speed Shimano stuff? Compatibility would open up a whole bunch of shifter options. 

[not that Shimano would ever think about compatiblity]


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## commuter73 (Feb 6, 2005)

*Nexus/Thumb Shifter Combo Seen on Flickr*



endure26 said:


> Anyone know if the cable pull ratio (i.e. amount of cable moved per detent) on the Nexus is on par with old 8-speed Shimano stuff? Compatibility would open up a whole bunch of shifter options.
> 
> [not that Shimano would ever think about compatiblity]


I did a little research and found this link on Flickr.com:

http://flickr.com/photos/kfo/486537339/#comment72157600289059063 

Apparently this guy used a thumb shifter to shift a Nexus hub. This is the first time I've heard of anyone doing this. In the description of his photo he didn't specify which shifter or which hub, but hopefully he'll answer my question. If he does, I'll post here. Hope this helps.


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## Reynolds531 (Nov 8, 2002)

*Shimano made a rapidfire for nexus 7 speed internal*



commuter73 said:


> I did a little research and found this link on Flickr.com:
> 
> http://flickr.com/photos/kfo/486537339/#comment72157600289059063
> 
> Apparently this guy used a thumb shifter to shift a Nexus hub. This is the first time I've heard of anyone doing this. In the description of his photo he didn't specify which shifter or which hub, but hopefully he'll answer my question. If he does, I'll post here. Hope this helps.




http://www.amazon.com/Shimano-ST-7S20-RapidFire-Shifter-Optical/dp/B000A6DEAC


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## sucka free (Aug 31, 2005)

Based on what I've seen on the Surly Pacer build, it got me to thinking about converting my own Bianchi San Jose. With the above information in mind, I set out to build my own Shimano Nexus Red Banded cyclocross/city/do-it-all bike.

With the help City Cycles in Alameda, CA, here is my very own Bianchi San JosGR8.


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## DrRoebuck (May 10, 2004)

Awesome ride. Congratulations!


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## sucka free (Aug 31, 2005)

DrRoebuck said:


> Awesome ride. Congratulations!


Thanks! 300 miles of commuting/club riding/tooling around, and it's turned out to be a great do it all bike. I have found one small caveat in that there is a small break in period (at least for me) of about 5 miles or so. Other than that, the Nexus 8 is GOLDEN.


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## Doggity (Mar 10, 2006)

Great build,_ beau_tifully implemented! I've been cogitatin' on a bike like this (sans the couplers). Thanks for the inspiration!


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