3 speed Sturmey Archer or 5/6 speed derailleur?

[jamiebae]

I'm hoping someone can advise on the best option here, my wife wants a bike for riding around town, and her main requirements are 'pretty' and 'upright', while mine are 'cheap' and 'lighter than a Boris Bike if possible' so we're looking at something like these two...

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/bobbin-birdie/

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/bobbin-womens-metropole-pa...

The first one has 3 speed hub gears, the second is fitted with Shimano's cheapest 6 speed derailleur system and that appears to be the only significant difference (other than the rear rack).

I was leaning towards the rear mech as I expect it'll give a wider range but then realised I'm not basing that on fact, just guessing, and that hub gears will mean lower maintenance which is a bonus.

We live in the city at the moment, and will be moving out of town in a couple of months but I can't imagine she'll be taking on any Alpine climbs on either one, just riding to the shops with a baby seat attached so I'm sure either will do the job, as long as they come in the right colour....

[MajorProblem]

Hub gears. Will be zero maintenance (just about) and the chain is less likely to get mangled in the rear wheel.

[ndg]

If this is in budget it has a nexus 8 speed rear hub. Looks pretty.....

http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/avanti-ubo-2-2...

[jamiebae]

Looks great, but we live in Switzerland, so the options are limited in terms of who will deliver from the UK to here and not charge us VAT and Wiggle seems to be the only option (I've tried Halfords and Evans too).

If anyone can suggest a site which will deliver overseas then I'm open to ideas.

[J4CKO]

Sturmey Archers all have four gears, low, medium, high and "Slip", which engages itself when at maximum effort and usually involves veering off and crashing into a parked car. Particularly well implemented on Grifters as it went well with the riding position and wide bars.

[richardxjr]

Nip over to France? Shimano Nexus hub gears again.

http://www.decathlon.fr/elops-5-id_8202827.html

[Rob_T]

i'm convinced if it wasn't for the weight issue, hubs would be ubiquitous. they just make so much more sense. and they don't sound french.

[upsidedownmark]

For the OP's purpose, I'm inclined to agree that a hub is the way forwards.

However, as to why hubs aren't ubiquitous, I'd suggest that a properly tuned and set up 'french' system eats up a lot less of your power. Certainly my 'commuter' with a 7 speed nexus is a *lot* more draggy than my other bikes.

[Engineer1]

Rob_T said:

i'm convinced if it wasn't for the weight issue, hubs would be ubiquitous. they just make so much more sense. and they don't sound french.

You would have thought mountain biking would have been all over hub gears if they where any good as there is no mechanism hanging down begging to get hit on any rock or tree stump in the area.

[Mr Will]

Hub every time. Zero maintenance, allows proper chain cover, shifts while stationary - it's the way to go for a town bike. If she struggles with the hills you can always change the sprockets to move the whole range down a bit. She might end up spinning out down hill but that's not the end of the world.

[Rob_T]

Engineer1 said:

You would have thought mountain biking would have been all over hub gears if they where any good as there is no mechanism hanging down begging to get hit on any rock or tree stump in the area.

interesting post. a friend of mine who had a mountain bike built up his santa cruz with a hub gear. can't remember how many gears he had on the back but it it really made a lot of sense on the mtb - as you say no rear mech to get mashed on something! clearly there was added weight but it didn't stop him being the fastest and most capable mtb'er out of all of us!