Hub gears - how many speeds?

[airbrakes]

Hi all,

what with the 2000+ mile saggy derailleur and sharktoothed rear gears on my commuting bike both in imminent need of replacement, I am seriously thinking about switching to a hub gear system. no outside shifters to get full of dust and grit and water, and a chain that will stay a helluva lot cleaner. Its not like I use every speed from 1:1 to 3:8 either,as I dont live in the pyrenees. However, I would definitely want more than the 5 speeds that most hub gears seem to come with. Is there someone that does a 15 speed or so hub gear?

[Jimbo.]

Shimano offer 8 and 11-speed Alfine hubs
Rohloff's Speedhub is, IIRC, 14 speed.

[Watchman]

Aren't there some other considerations too though? Like twist grip for one of them and don't you need a particular type of drop out for one or both?

I'd actually like to understand more myself because this is the direction I'm heading in.

[Jimbo.]

Watchman said:

Aren't there some other considerations too though? Like twist grip for one of them and don't you need a particular type of drop out for one or both?

I'd actually like to understand more myself because this is the direction I'm heading in.

IIRC you need clearance with The driveside chainstay (the hubs are quite chunky!) and cable routing along the stay to the hub. The hubs are also 135mm OLD, I believe.

Shimano only offer MTB-style shifters for mechanical Alfine. IIRC another manufacturer (Versa?) make STI shifters.

I can't speak for others.

If you really want to push the boat out, then go for Shimano Alfine 11 Di2 with STI shifters and hydraulic disc brakes. The PERFECT groupset for commuting!

[airbrakes]

I gather the hubs are rather large in diameter - but you;d have to have a fairly drastically tapering chainstay to start fouling it surely? However, the point about chain tensioning did get me thinking - how is it done on a bike with plain dropouts where the slack is normally taken up by the sprung idlers? Do hub gears therefore only work on bikes with sliding dropouts like a bmx/fixie?

That alfine setup does look rather tasty! But... the cost Hub gears dont come cheap do they?

[Jimbo.]

airbrakes said:

I gather the hubs are rather large in diameter - but you;d have to have a fairly drastically tapering chainstay to start fouling it surely? However, the point about chain tensioning did get me thinking - how is it done on a bike with plain dropouts where the slack is normally taken up by the sprung idlers? Do hub gears therefore only work on bikes with sliding dropouts like a bmx/fixie?

That alfine setup does look rather tasty! But... the cost Hub gears dont come cheap do they?

Ah yes, forgot the dropouts too: either (135mm) track-ends, or old-school horizontals. I 'spose you could bodge something with a singlespeed chain tensioner, but that somewhat counters the whole simplicity thing.

Hubs are expensive (and heavy) but then again you've no rear mech, front mech, cassette etc, chains are cheaper, and then there's the maintenance, or relative lack thereof.

[Gizmoish]

And the lack of a front derailleur means your left hand is free for your pipe or to salute fellow road users.

[SkinnyBoy]

What about a Nuvinci

http://www.fallbrooktech.com/cycling/n360

[BGarside]

SkinnyBoy said:

What about a Nuvinci

http://www.fallbrooktech.com/cycling/n360

Seems like a pretty cool idea. I wonder how it rides in practice though.

Incidentally, considering hub gears, how many of them are maintainable? Water and dirt is bound to find its way inside the hubs so I don't think they can realy be considered to be maintenance free.

I know its possible to carry out an oil change on the Rohloff, but not sure about the cheaper hubs. I believe there's an oil port in the 11-speed Shimano hub but have not seen one in the flesh. What about the hub axle bearing though - can they be re-greased?

[P-Jay]

A friend of mine has a Hardtail MTB based around an 8 Speed Alfine hub, it's very very impressive, tough too, not a moments bother in 5 years and it's gets given a lot of treatment both off and on road.

[SkinnyBoy]

BGarside said:

Seems like a pretty cool idea. I wonder how it rides

Surprisingly well. I rode a hardtail about a year ago with one fitted. Although it was pretty beefy regards to weight I'm sure they have lightened it since. The shift is seamless you just turn the twistgrip the faster you go and as you slow you turn the opposite way. It's a CVT for bikes basically. If they could make it weigh under 500-600gms I'd get one in a heartbeat.