Payton1221

How much less efficient does your IGH bike seem compared to your derailleur bike? I'm about 10% slower with my IGH, but it feels like it's much less efficient than that. My legs are somewhat sore the day after a ride with my IGH bike (Nexus 8), but that's rarely the case with my 1x10 (both bikes have a very similar range of gear inches).

fietsbob

always with the efficiency question .. it online somewhere look for it..

Science types with lab access, did a graph .. made of studying that , for each of the 14 gears in a Rohloff hub..
Double compound dual range 3 x 3 speeds, ... they are not all the same.. %



I have a Rohliff a Sram i9 , and a S-A 3 speed with a 2 gear crank , I just ride them,
oil the internals occasionally

and don't feel a need to gather data on the efficiency..



you may.. Perhaps do overhaul the nexus do an ATF dunk rather than leave the factory grease?

jump to an oiled internals Alfine 11.. maybe put drop bars on so you don't sit up and have extra air resistance


make the bikes as much the same as each other as possible.. then

you may be only judging the hub vs derailleur choice alone...




Me? is Seems to not matter,, I like my IGH bikes better these days ..







..

MikeyMK

With both on the same bike, I find myself shifting the hub most of the time, and only shifting a derailleur to change the final drive. The hub's shifts are so much quicker and smoother it has a positive effect on the whole ride over derailleurs.

Also, I use fully synthetic 5w-40 engine oil in the hub, so it's nice and slick.

I could do without the chain drag through derailleurs, tbh.

Reynolds 

I too have a Nexus 8 and only notice a difference in 4th gear, which is "rougher" than the others. In 5th and 6th, my most used gears, no difference. Not surprising, as 5th is direct.

Viich

I don't notice any difference in efficiency. I have my Sturmey Archer 3 speed set up so that most of the time on level ground I'm in 2nd (direct drive), and move to 3rd when I'm downhill, with a tailwind, or really pushing it, with 1st for riding slow, uphill starts, etc. Neither 1st nor 3rd seems any worse than even moderate cross-chaining.

Payton1221

That's interesting. I had thought 4th gear was direct but I've just confirmed what you wrote.

My 4th gear sounds a little different from the others so maybe there's a lack of grease. Not sure.

And thanks for all of the replies. I wasn't looking for anything quantitative, as this is available online, but as I originally wrote, I was looking for how much less efficient it "seems." It is, of course, less efficient, but since I rotate what bike I ride somewhat frequently, I might be able to sense the difference during the first few minutes of my IGH ride (I notice the effect is ~non-existent for the second half of my ride) and that I wouldn't notice it at all if it was my only bike.

joelcool

My IGH bike is less efficient than my road bike, but most of that is due to seating position, weight, tires, etc. They are very different bikes.

Gresp15C

It would be hard for me to tell because of so many other differences, including tires, overall weight, and the number of speeds. My IGH's (old sturmey archer AW's) don't feel like they're dragging at all.

dedhed

considering my IGH bike is 50 years old and 50#, yeah, it's slower than my road bikes. It's a different horse for a different course.

Kovkov

Same here, except that i have the impression that as well 1st and 3rd are more efficient than crosschaining. And they are quieter for sure.

GamblerGORD53

My bikes were seldom less than 40 lbs. Speed was never my calling.
I have been getting cramps for years also. My defailleurs were so bad, shifting was just a total bother.

I was SO glad when I used a SA XL-RD5w wheel on 2 frames.
This for sure was my most efficient and fast drive. With it I did my 5 longest day rides and 6 best downhill speeds, up to 45.8 mph, wizzed out 120 GI. LOL. It takes me 14 hours to do those 125 miles. I had it 46T / 17 or 18T. Who else would do this not on a CF bike??
I also have a RD3 on 584 rims, it is slower for some reason, maybe the short cranks. But 1st gear is soooo easy pedaling, 50 GI now.

Funny thing with the SA, after I upshifted to 3rd gear the natural cadence would just build speed till I'm wizzing 18 mph again. Any 1% slope I would likely be going 23 mph. Never happened like that with defailleurs rattling along. Chainline is most crooked when you want efficiency, 16 to 24 mph. With them I would clean the chain before every long ride, and often would be squeaking when I got home. WTF. My Def bikes are history now, never again.

Then I had to put a Rohloff14 on my tour bike for hills. I have no problem going 80 miles at 80 lb, that's at home.
It gets BETTER with age. I did 3,900 miles last summer pushing 290 lbs GVW, past Bob's house on the way. The second last day I was on the freeway with a tailwind, I was cruising at 27 mph. The car guys were IMPRESSED. LOL