Here are some upgrades I have done on the NWT. It took me a while to gather required components and it was speedily assembled by the very competent folks at TR bikes.

Porn first, story follows:

SRAM dual drive II rear hub: I got this from the local Dahon dealer. I have been thinking about getting a bike with dual drive for a long while now (since a couple of years back when I first saw the Dahon speed TR). My brother wanted to setup a similar drivetrain on his tikit but to keep things even simpler, opted for the Alfine 8 speed instead.  I had a nice ride around and I should say the Dual drive is pretty cool. The gear range is awesome, very very low gearing and a very reasonable top end too. I am not too fond of high speed riding and the current gearing seems spot on.

I hunted around on the internet for a 32 hole dual drive but did not find a suitable hub. But as it happens, we search for things all over without realizing things are probably right under our noses. When I eventually enquired with the friendly fellers at speed matrix, I found that they had a built 20″ wheel with the hub ready to be used. I pounced on it and am glad I did. The ride is smooth, the gear shift within the hub is very smooth and silent. And though it does not sound to be a big deal, the ability to switch gears while stationery is really nice to have.

A+ for the hubs (until I get a puncture I suppose). Actually removing the click box is easy, I just need to carry a spanner / wrench to remove the wheels. Not a big deal at all.

Nitto B825 multi position bar: Flat bars are nice and minimalist and good for zipping around town. A folding bike is primarily designed for that and I respect the choice made by manufacturers. The nice thing about the NWT is the fact that they do not restrict you to stick with one type of bar. Since they take standard stems, I have a choice of any bar I want. I was thinking about getting a Moustache bar or my favorite Midge bar. It just happened that TR bikes decided to put their trekking bars on sale (and they were Nitto too). Well it was a bar I have been thinking of checking out and figured this is as good an opportunity as any to swap my bars. So on they went. The only trouble with the multi position bars is that they have multiple comfortable positions (doh) for your hand. This means that there are numerous choices on where to install brake and shift levers.

The configuration above shows what I decided for a first design. Brake levers go on the sides (pretty comfy hand position) and the shift levers are going on the ends, away from the brake but not a bad place for them. On the left is the shifter for the Dual Drive hub and on the right is the sunrace friction shifter for the 8-speed cassette. The sunrace shifters are a bit twitchy but I got used to them in under 3 minutes. After a 10 km ride, I think I would push the brakelevers a bit further up and once I am comfortable, will put on the bartapes etc..

MKS Grip King pedals: I picked them up at clever cycles when I was visiting portland a couple of months back. What can I say, they offer good grip even with sandals on and a large surface to rest the foot. I have no complaints.

Bike Friday Folding rear rack: I picked these up while taking delivery of my NWT and they definitely look very well made. The finish is nice and dare I say you can mistake them for a tubus. The nice thing about the rack is that the joints are supported by screws. This allows for folding the rack and add on some roller blade wheels for pushing the bike when folded. But I am also afraid after a while of carrying load, the threads may strip. Not an immediate concern but it is at the back of my mind anyway.

I bought a bunch of cheap skating wheels and put them up (I could not find the wheels in black). The wheels with bearings etc cost less than 20 sgd. They roll smoothly but is a solution to push the bike to a corner without damaging the rack and not for pushing around town.

So that’s the upgrade till now. There is a one more thing and I will update once it is complete . As it is the bike is all ready to rock and roll.