Early Rider Seeker 14: Inter-3 Conversion Study

One of the best pedal bikes for young kids is from the Early Rider series, which has bikes that are well designed, with quality components used throughout the whole bike. The Early Rider Seeker 14 is a 14 inch fat tire bike for young kids, and it can be used as a balance bike as well.

Recently, I decided to see if it was possible to convert the Seeker 14 from a single speed bike to a multi-speed bike. This would teach my kid how to shift gears, and also provide different gearing for different terrain.

For young kids, they don't have enough finger strength to operate Rapidfire shifters, so Revoshifters are more suitable. Even so, some still require too much strength for easy shifting. What I know is that for Nexus 3 speed internal hub systems, the Revoshifter has a very light operating force, which allows kids to operate them without much difficulty.

Therefore, I explored the option of putting a Nexus 3 speed internal hub drivetrain on the Seeker 14, and to use a 3 speed Nexus Revoshifter to operate the gears. I had already found a source for a 14 inch rear wheel with Nexus 3 speed hub, so technically it is feasible. There is also another option of using slightly larger 16 inch 305 wheels, but with slimmer tires.

However, the Seeker 14 is a belt drive bike, so that would introduce some complication. I would need to find a compatible rear belt sprocket to fit the 3 speed internal hub, or change the whole drivetrain to chain drive instead. In any case, I need to check the compatibility of other components as well.

Stock drivetrain of the Seeker 14, with belt drive.

With a 90 mm crank arm length, this is the clearance of the pedal from the ground. This is crucial if you get a third party crankarm of a different length.

Outer tire diameter is 360 mm, with those fat 14x2.25 inch wide tires.

If I want to put a Revoshifter on the handlebar, the brake levers need to move inwards, as well as cutting short the rubber grip.

One crucial detail that will determine whether a 3 speed internal hub will fit this bike or not is the rear OLD. Upon measurement, it is 120 mm, which is OK since 3 speed hubs are available in 120 mm OLD. The actual hub width can be adjusted through the use of spacers as well.

I borrowed a 3 speed Nexus SG-3R40, just to fit it onto the bike to check compatibility.

After adding a lock nut on the non-drive side, the hub OLD is now 120 mm!

This 3 speed internal hub fits well onto the bike. Hub axle goes into the dropouts with no problem.

The roller brake splines are not needed, while a lock nut was added to adjust the width of the hub.

The yellow non-turn washer is too long to match this dropout. However, there are other non-turn washers available which should fit.

Up to this point, everything seems like they should fit. However, the 3 speed Nexus drivetrain requires a bell crank to be attached to the hub axle. The function of the bell crank is to push the pushrod, which activates the gear changing inside the hub.

The bell crank needs to be tightened onto the hub axle, and rests against the outside of the frame. For standard frames this is not an issue, but on this frame, I found that it was not possible.

Due to the sliding dropout design, the bell crank will interfere with the frame, since the dropout is recessed relative to the frame.

There was no way to fit the bell crank onto this bike frame, due to the interference with the frame. It might be possible to fit it if the bell crank or frame is modified to remove the interference, but I did not want to mess with that.

At the same time, I realized that my kid was already outgrowing this bike! The seat post had already been extended to the maximum limit without me realizing it.

This means it is time to get a new larger bike instead of trying to modify this bike further. I am very glad we had this Early Rider Seeker 14, as it is a really good quality kids bike. However, it is time to let it go, once I build up a new larger bike for my kid.

Final look at the Early Rider Seeker 14! Added some Infinity Stones to the chain ring bolts and valve caps, following what I have on my own bikes as well.

In the end, I found that it was not feasible to convert this bike to use a Nexus 3 speed setup, but it is OK as I just have to find another bike frame instead.