BicycleCrazy

I am considering a new commuter bike with either a 3 or 7-speed internal gear hub. I like the idea of low maint. and the area I ride is not too "hilly" so it sounds like a great low maint. option.

Looking for feedback...pros and cons.

Thanks!

lostarchitect 

From my perspective, pros are that it is low maintenance, you can shift gears at a stop light (that's major!), and it gives the bike a nice streamlined look. Cons are smaller gear range and/or bigger steps between gears. I commuted on a 3 speed IGH for a year or so in NYC and it was totally adequate for getting over the bridges and such. I did crave more gears and eventually got a 5 speed hub, but I never got to use that one much as it malfunctioned a lot--so by the time I got it fixed under warranty, I was not really riding that bike much and ended up selling it.

Anyway, are they adequate? Totally. Will you crave more gears? Only you know. I would think a 7 speed IGH would be a sweet spot for commuting.

Matariki

I have a 5 sp IGH in my moderately hilly area. I rarely use Low and High unless I want to see if they still work. I wish I would have just gotten a 3 speed and so that is what I would recommend for you.

erg79

The big "what if?" that people like to throw out as a deterrent to an IGH is changing a flat. Make sure you have some nice puncture-resistant tires and/or practice taking the rear wheel off. You'll still want to figure out how to do that--it will give you a good idea of how the IGH works once you figure out how to remove the cable and to put it back together again.

hubcap

I agree that practice makes perfect. I also think this fear is overblown and probably perpetuated by people who don't own IGH bikes. Anyone that can change a flat on a derailleur equipped bike should have the capability to remove the wheel with an IGH. Once you have done it a couple times it really isn't significantly more time consuming or involved than any other bike.

Mumonkan

ive been on a 3 speed fixed IGH hub for a few months now, i basically love it

my commute has some decent hills and i find it perfectly fine. i previously i used a single speed fixed gear and i like the gears cuz it mostly keeps me from sweating and keeps my avg speed up

ive changed flats with it and i really dont find it any more annoying than changing a flat with a single speed bike, theres only one other thing to disconnect/reconnect

lostarchitect 

This is actually super easy once you have done it one time. Just practice at home. I actually find it easier than with a derailleur bike, and my hands get less dirty because I touch the chain less.

lostarchitect 

That was the case with my 5 speed as well. However something with more narrowly spaced gears might lead to using more than the middle 3 gears.

I-Like-To-Bike

100% correct, except that I KNOW this fear of fixing flats is way overblown and definitely perpetuated by people who don't own either Sachs/SRAM or S-A IGH bikes.

alan s 

IGH = UGH

for lots of reasons, all of which wil be covered in great detail, no doubt.

tjspiel

For commuting I use a derailleur bike most of the year and an IGH equipped bike for winter. I wouldn't want to the use the IGH for summer group rides but for commuting it works well.

From a maintenance standpoint, an IGH is probably better if you ride in crappy weather a lot, otherwise I'm not sure it really is. They do require some periodic maintenance.

I-Like-To-Bike

No doubt. Excruciating detail to include cryptic "efficiency" measurements, Anal-R weight wienie lamentations, and OCD need for gears to climb mountain peaks and compete in the TdF.

mikhalit

I like my Shimano Alfine 8 very much, mainly for the low maintenance it requires (it requires some though), silence and the smoothness of shifting. I like how quickly I can shift to the lowest gear when encountering a hill or sand, etc. I really don't like its weight when I need to carry my bike and I don't like when my chain stretches.

On a derailleur equipped bike you can shift in the rear at the stop light almost as well. Shift the shifter, lock your front brake, lean a bit on the handlebars to raise the rear wheel and push on the pedal to rotate rear wheel and to let the chain move to the right sprocket. Pretty simple: shift, lock, lean, pedal. Not possible to shift to the lowest gear like with IGH, but that's ok, normally I need only a couple of gears lower to start from the intersection.

Monster Pete

I ride a 3-speed as my primary bike (Sturmey-Archer AG). I converted my existing bike from a derailleur setup. It already had horizontal dropouts so chain tensioning isn't a problem, and I was able to route the shift cable under the bottom bracket as with the old RD. I have it set up so that 3rd gear is my level-ground gear, with 1st and 2nd used for hill climbing and acceleration. This gives a useful low gear in exchange for having to coast down steep hills, which to me is far better than the alternative of struggling up that steep hill on the way home. The steps between gears are fairly wide, but with practice you will find yourself with a wide enough 'power band' that this isn't really an issue.

megalowmatt

I have both. OP - not sure where you live, but given the area I'm in, I don't find the IGH to be any less maintenance free than those with a derailer. From my personal experience, the IGH has been a bit more temperamental than the others, as it developed a "skip" when shifting down from 5th to 4th. It took a while to troubleshoot and I finally just replaced the cable and housing and seems to have gone away. The drawback is if something happens, there's not a lot of user-servicable parts and if it needs to be worked on the whole wheel needs to be sent in.

Steely Dan

+1

i have a winter/foul weather IGH hybrid and a derailleur road bike that i use for commuting. when the weather allows, i'd much rather be on my road bike. when the weather doesn't allow, my IGH beast fits the bill.

horses for courses, as they say.

Rob_E

Well, my Nuvinci hub it a real pain to deal with when I get a flat, although I believe all my issues have been dealt with in the newer model. It looks like the new model has a fairly simple way to remove the cables when you need to remove the wheel, which puts it on par with other hubs.

That said, I love it, and whenever I think of replacing it, the thing the tempts me most is simply the newer model of this hub. Moreso than other hub gears, the Nuvinci does add significant weight, and I carry it up and down stairs daily and often load it on the front of the bus, but the weight doesn't bother me much. Even less-so when it's rolling.

I think an IGH is fine for a commuter if you're comfortable with it. My Nuvinci bike is my commuter, and my back up bike has a 3-speed hub. Even with the 3 speed, it gets the job done.

tjspiel

That's true. It seems the risk depends heavily on the make and the model. Sounds like old SA 3 speeds are pretty bomb proof and repairable. If my Alfine blows up it would suck. A derailleur is a much cheaper replacement and there's only so much that can go wrong.

BicycleCrazy

Thanks for the feedback! Several mentioned required maint. of the IGH. I assume this refers to periodic lube etc?
One of the models I'm considering is the Jamis commuter 3

fietsbob

The Nexus 3 seems OK 42:20 is a 2.1:1 ratio.


2 bikes with a Rohloff hub, a Bike Friday pocket Llama, and a Koga WTR..

And 1 with a Sturmey Archer 3 speed and a 2 speed Schlumpf mountain drive crankset,
also, planetary , reduction or direct, geared. its a special for Brompton, model.

here it Is hilly. the MD allows the low range to run through the 3 speed twice.. 6 distinct gears.


the AW3 I drip oil into it via the hollow axle end , after temporarily removing the shifting indicator chain.
The MD gets some light grease eventually , it was well filled when shipped , and so,
some excess came out, in the initial miles, so its still fine..

Rohloff has a Flush and re lubricate procedure, done about once a Year.
mech is needle bearings and ball bearings in abundance..

modernjess

in year 4 with the alfine 8 on my cross check commuter bike. I think it's a perfect solution for this bike. As a year round commute solution it's done everything I'd hoped it would do. I whole heartedly recommend them for this use.

Maintenance - I've had to readjust to cable due to stretch a few times and I had it overhauled last year for preventative sake. That's it. Chain stretch is not an issue as I have horizontal drop outs. Changing flats is not an issue at all with a little practice.

Con's - They're heavy.
Gaps between gears are a compromise if you are used to 20 or 30 combinations. But overall range is good. I feels like you lose something in the power transfer from the pedal to the road, Not sure why that is but it is.

DogBoy

Nexus 8sp here. The flat thing is bad if you default to tube removal, but most flats can be repaired easily enough and that doesn't require removing the wheel. Unhook one side, use cotton balls to find the snag, then use a tube patch and if needed a tire boot (paper dollars work really well for this). Reinstall tire, inflate and off you go. Worst I had was 3 repairs. I changed out tires between summer/winter. Now I'm using a derailleur setup, and keeping the chain clean is much more difficult.

For a commuter, I like the IGH, but I wished for lower gears sometimes in winter with nasty headwinds, snow on the ground, cold temps and hills.

dynaryder

This is highly dependent on the specific IGH. If you have a SRAM Dual-Drive,you just push the button down and pop the shifter box off,then it's just loosening 15mm nuts and pulling the wheel like a derailleur bike. If you have a newer Shimano 3spd,you use a 3mm hex to remove the shifter box,then it's just the 15mm nuts. If you have a Nexus 7 or 8 with integrated roller brake,then it's a whole different story. And if you have the Euro-spec roller brake,like the ones that came into my clinic last year,then I would suggest getting a new hub.

On my derailleur/disc bikes;flip bike upside-down,pop QR,remove wheel. No IGH hub is that simple.

weshigh

I've been riding my Shimano Nexus 8spd IGH for about 1 1/2 years now. I just moved it over to new All-City Spacehorse frame I built up. I'm a big fan. I've had some issues with skipping gears here and there, but took my minor cable tension tweeking to solve. I really like being able to change gears while stopped and its clean look. I've done 100mile rides on it, road it across Iowa and commute 30miles a day on it. You can feel there is some inefficiency in it, but I'm just riding and does not matter that much to me.

weshigh

Oh, also changing flats is slightly more annoying and need to make sure a axel bolt wrench is in your tool bag, but there are good videos on youtube that explain how to change it. I've found once you do it a few times its not that big of a deal.