# Is this a good idea? SA 5-speed on Kilo WT



## bikesdirect

I had so many requests for a bike like a Steamroller at a good price that I did the Kilo WT - which is selling great. {thanks for the ideas}

While I liked the sample so much that I thought; 'wow, way not a bike like this with internal hub?' I mean some people in areas like Austin, Seattle, San Francisco, etc have hills but want simple commuter / winter bikes.

So I got a sample of this KILO WT5 - which is with a 5 speed SA hub and bar-con
I love it, my wife thinks it is over the top and beyond what people want in this type bike [she likes her UNO]

What do you think?


















































We get $429 for a Kilo WT; so I thought maybe we should make this an extra $10 per extra gear [$469}

Thoughts?
Ideas?


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## orange_bikes

Great idea. I'd buy one for my commuter.


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## GeoKrpan

It's a great idea, Mike.
It would work on any of the BD singlespeeds.
Is it a click shifter?
I love my UNO.


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## FatTireFred

fantastics idea... please post again when the boats leave from China so we can all be ready to buy


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## jjbird

You betcha i would pick up one for a commuter bike. nice stuff


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## midlife_xs's

- you might need cable hangers.

questions for Mike:

-what kind of maintenance do those SA hub require?
-what happens if something goes wrong with the SA hub? warranty? service?
-how much will be the added weight?


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## dismal

This is awesome!


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## Alaska Mike

What's the gearing like (crank, hub)?


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## bikesdirect

GeoKrpan said:


> It's a great idea, Mike.
> It would work on any of the BD singlespeeds.
> Is it a click shifter?
> I love my UNO.


YES
a click shifter

Thanks
and my wife loves her UNO too


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## bikesdirect

midlife_xs's said:


> - you might need cable hangers.
> 
> questions for Mike:
> 
> -what kind of maintenance do those SA hub require?
> -what happens if something goes wrong with the SA hub? warranty? service?
> -how much will be the added weight?



SA hub adds about a lb to bike weight
and SA is making a big push in USA and has local warranty support

my experience is - internal hubs need almost zero maintenance; one of the big advantages


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## Alaska Mike

I gotta say, the more I look at the concept, the more it really works for me as a city/campus commuter. It has an almost fixie look to it (hipster street cred), with clean lines and stealth paint. The high spoke count wheels look durable (for curb-hopping), and the wider tires would make for a comfortable/stable ride. I'm not sure what the clearances are for things like fenders or racks, but overall this concept has a lot of promise.

Just clean up the cable routing.


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## bikesdirect

Alaska Mike said:


> I gotta say, the more I look at the concept, the more it really works for me as a city/campus commuter. It has an almost fixie look to it (hipster street cred), with clean lines and stealth paint. The high spoke count wheels look durable (for curb-hopping), and the wider tires would make for a comfortable/stable ride. I'm not sure what the clearances are for things like fenders or racks, but overall this concept has a lot of promise.
> 
> Just clean up the cable routing.



Thanks

The more I look at this bike the more I like it too

I really think it makes sense and can meet a lot of peoples needs

You can put fenders and/or racks
plus you can run from 23c to 45c tires!! Stock tires are 32c and I think those make sense

Still testing gearing and will spec with best combo; but may include second rear cog
like spec with 18T rear and include 20T as spare


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## 20sMotoSpirit

Hey Mike,


Since you are looking into new bikes, are you by any chance looking into possibly a Windsor - "The Hour" Coaster brake? An example of this might be the OSObike.
Its actually a nice duo between the clean looking lines of a fixie and not having a locked gear for those of us who don't want to ride fixed.

Chris


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## BlueGrassBlazer

Ok...newbie question here but why the bar-end shifters? It seems that you'd want your hands on the brakes at all times and would want the shifters there too. It looks like you have to take a hand off the handlebars to shift with the bar shifters. 
I never have understood that concept. 

thanks.


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## aaronis31337

Mike, 

This will be a TOP SELLER! Love the idea. A perfect commuter bike!


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## microphage

how about 28c for the tires? It is still a road bike afterall


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## that guy again

This is a very good idea.


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## JamesLipton

Hi Mike,

I joined this forum just to make this post. I live in Seattle and need a bike to commute about 15 miles round trip every day while battling Queen Anne hill for every errand or outing I take the bike on. This is absolute perfection. This is exactly what people in Seattle need to get around. Plus that color is beautiful. You have one guaranteed sale right here.


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## Peanya

Is that a steel frame? Looks nice. Too bad Texas gets too hot to commute.


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## My Own Private Idaho

Delete


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## knufaj

Does the 5 speed hub change the OLD? Do you have to cold set the frame?


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## usclassic

I would really like this bike for my daily commuter. Would it be possible to get a mustache, or bull horn bars instead of the drop bars? It would also be helpful to list the weight of the complete bike. Thanks,

Regards,
Larry


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## usclassic

Two other items I forgot to mention. Some type of chain guard and I prefer Schrader valves.

Great direction for bikes.

regards,
Larry


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## TwoHeadsBrewing

Great idea, but sell one with a "commuter kit" as well. This could be an after-market bundle of fenders, rear rack, and maybe even a rear pack. They're going to add that stuff if this is a wet-weather bike anyways, so you might as well grab some of those purchases too. 

If it were me, I'd have two different kits. One with low end plastic fenders and cheap but sturdy rack. The other with SKS chromoplastics or some other decent brand, and a rack that matches the color of the fenders and bike frame.


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## covenant

usclassic said:


> Two other items I forgot to mention. Some type of chain guard and I prefer Schrader valves.
> 
> Great direction for bikes.
> 
> regards,
> Larry


aashta:

"If you want to convert a rim drilled for Presta valves to accept Schrader valves, drill it out with a 21/64" drill bit."

By Sheldon "Tires" Brown


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## Solearas

Straight bars and that bikes FTW


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## chocostove

I've been a long time lurker (don't have much to say) and I saw this thread and thought i'd give a one week review of the bike.

I picked this up as an all weather commuter. I spent the last winter in the snow and rain and I wanted something I could even put studded tires on if I wanted too, and the front and rear rack options were obvious selling points too, but we'll get to that later.

Let's start with the pros
Bike was packed pretty well, and the wheels were actually true and tensioned out of the box. I've assembled a lot of BD bikes for friends and that usually isn't the case. Turing out of the box is the norm.. 

Everything was tight and properly torqued. Also nice.

The kenda kwick roller sports roll fast and take up whatever the road has to dish out.
It's been a real pleasure. I'm in Las Vegas now which has nice roads but road crews have a bad habit to tearing up patches of road and repairing them poorly. Good tires and wheels are a must.

The paint is beautiful! Thought it will probably be moot if the paint job holds up like any of the other BD bikes I've assembled. 

The Handling of the bike has been competent and solid. It tracks straight and true with no hands. I expected it to be more twitchy since I got the 53cm and the wheel base at 996mm. 

Now the cons
The SA hub? The verdict is still out on this one. So far I really like the idea of having a single chainline and multiple speeds. Buuuut, the stock gearing is a bit too wide. Fifth is Damn near unusable, and first is hella grindy. (yeah I know that's not uncommon for IGH's to be grindy in low gears) Also it's given me some shifting issues, going from second to third(direct) Sometimes the gears don't want to engage properly. Though I've also noticed this corresponds with me coming out of turns with lots of lean in...

Someone had mentioned using one in Seattle, in Queen Anne. I wouldn't want to. Not at the stock gearing. maybe at 46x18 or even 46x20. Sure that would lower the overall gain but it would allow better spin for gaining momentum up Seattle's gnarly hills.

Toe overlap. It's there, and you can't just ignore it. If you were to primarily use this bike as a light commuter with 28's and fenders set in real nice and just hovering over the tires, it won't be so bad. 

Fully loaded with groceries and 32's and fenders, this could be a problem. 
Absolutely no leaning at lights, or you'd be likely to knock yourself over when you straighten out if you clip a toe.

I haven't had a chance to mount a rear rack yet but just from the looks there could be some pedal strike issues.

Overall I'm very happy with this bike as a good all around commuter. Depending on your needs you might have to do some tinkering. The hardcore commuters might find it weak in a few spots. I haven't had a chance to test the bike fully loaded but it looks like it would start to get twitchy the more you loaded it up.

I'll try and post a long term report once I've gotten in more miles and racks.


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## NoideKites

*Love it!*

Just stumbled on this thread...

This his is exactly what people need! Granted, usually the price is a hard sell on internal hubs, but in this case...  It's also going head to head in price point with the Torker Graduate

I would love to see Bikes Direct put out something with even more relaxed handling (closer to a touring bike, although maybe not "full on"), in steel, with an internal hub, and drum brakes (?). 

Slap some flat bars on it along with Ergon grips, fenders, a Wald basket and that would pretty much be my ideal bike 

I would definitely consider getting something like this from you guys even if it was only sold as a "single speed" or frameset and modifying it later.

There just really isn't too much out there that has horizontal and/or track ends with a more touring/ slower-than- Surly Cross Check handling. 
The Kogsell counts, but just can't see buying into a wheel size that isn't standard.

This is the wish list:
Taiwan made
Steel
Relaxed touring/ slower than cross check handling
700c or 26 inch
Horizontal or track ends
Lots of taps and braze ons
Nice tire clearance with fenders
Canti/ V brake mounts ideally removable.
Standard sizing 1 1/8, 27.2, english bb etc.
External seatpost clamp

The bike you guys posted is totally on the right track and for someone who isn't carrying a lot, is already "as is" great!


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## chocostove

Ok It's been about a month and half now, and I really like this bike! The ride is good not mind blowing. It's swift enough, but yet sluggish if that makes any sense. But the bike always feels nice and stable. Reminds me of a lot of the low end "sport touring" bikes I rode as a kid.

So after tackling the dreaded Decatur hill heading west on the Downtown to Red Rock bike route, twice I've had my hub slip gear right before the peak of the hill, each time in first gear. I'm not sure if it was stress on the hub from too much torque or frame flex but it's a very dramatic and unpleasant thing :-0 I felt like if only I could have spun a little more it wouldn't have slipped. I'm thinking in a town like Seattle if you could get the gearing down to say 44x18 to maybe even 42x20 this would work pretty good for only 5 speeds, otherwise there's gonna be some walking...

So far I've only added some Velo Orange fenders to the bike. I got the satin finish ones, which kinda work with the bike, but look kinda funny. But they were on sale. Anyways, my point. I wang those damn fenders all the time! I like to think I did a pretty good mounting them but it's really hard not to hit them on modest slow turns sometimes. I feel like the toeclip loves to slide along the fender stay and mess me up! Because of the toe overlap, I'd say plastic fenders would be the better route in this case.

Still no rack, But I'll update when I finally get one, and maybe pics too!


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## asad137

Hi all -- I bought one of these a week or so ago and have posted my impressions here:

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=210902

Asad


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## el_gato1

I'm looking into one of these, but was curious: are there mounts for both a fender and a rack in the rear or do you have to double up? Hard to tell from the photos.


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## aaronis31337

No...nothing like that is part of the frame. 

There are options if you look around that will allow you to attach them to the quick release


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## asad137

el_gato1 said:


> I'm looking into one of these, but was curious: are there mounts for both a fender and a rack in the rear or do you have to double up? Hard to tell from the photos.


Nope, only one set of threaded holes at the back. Check out this image from the gallery on the bikesdirect site:
https://bikesdirect.com/products/mercier/images/kilo_wt5_gallery/images/IMG_1966.jpg

The rack I use has some extra holes on it so I use those for attaching the fender stays.

Asad


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## el_gato1

Ah okay. Thanks for the info. I'm sure I can work around it somehow.


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