Diva's Eighth Inch Scrambler Townie

Simply put, this is the best project we've done so far.

Nope. It may not have all the bells and whistles of high-tech or period-correct retro build. This bicycle is a birthday present from a father to his daughter, that we almost fail to deliver.

You might know the name Josh Estey from the series of videos we posted a couple times back. But one thing for sure, he's an avid cyclist. And he managed to spread the love of bicycle to his family, especially his three children. A couple months before his first daughter Diva's birthday Josh conceived an idea of converting an Eighth Inch Scrambler that's been in the family for a while into a townie, and we're up to the task.

First, the wheels. We want to retain the 36-holed H+Son SL42 rims, but with added safety. At first Josh come up with an idea of using coaster brakes, but when we come up with an idea of using Sturmey Archer S2C 2-speed kickback coaster hub (phew. What a long name), he agreed.

Kickback hubs gives you gearing option without messing around with cables and such. To shift between the two gears, all you have to do is, well, kick back the pedal slightly. Since the S2C is the coaster brake equipped version, kicking back the pedal and holding it will activate the brake.
Townies usually equipped with upright handlebars to provide relaxed riding position, so we replaced the low and short riser bar with Nitto handlebar. We also made custom wicker basket so Diva could put stuffs on it. Other details includes MKS Stream pedals to put her pedal stroke down to polished Eighth Inch crankset. Finally, we put her name on the toptube, ambigram-style.

The catch was her birthday was on July. Too bad we didn't made it on time, the bicycle was delivered to her earlier this week. Fortunately she loved it, so everyone's happy! Expect Diva riding along her father every Sunday morning. If you saw this bike alongside an Xtracycle-equipped Surly LHT or a carbon Specialized Allez, make sure you said hi.