giant lafree gears upgrade question

[subevo]

hi im sure that my 4 speed nexus hub is on its way out. firstly in top gear chain appears to jump.now 3rd gear is doing the same.ive changed all the sprockets and chain.to no avail.(ive been using 3rd gear for a year now)

can you give me info on how to upgrade to 8 speed shimano. or repair. or is it a bike shop job.any idea of costs etc. or if i can get another rear wheel off another bike.

 

[flecc]

The 4 speed was discontinued after quite a few failures on Lafree bikes and had little benefit over the three speed since it had less gear range. Nonetheless, it's worth having dealer check it's adjustment first.

A new 8 speed will have to be built into a wheel, but a dealer supplying the hub can do that for you at reasonable cost, the hub being the big cost of course. If you use your nearest Giant Bikes e-bike dealer he will be able to sort out the gear cable routing through the motor casings etc. To find your nearest dealer, use this link and check the Hybrid option.

I doubt you'd want to do the job yourself, but if you are inclined to, my webpage on fitting a 5 speed SRAM P5 gear hub to a lafree Twist Lite may assist you:

Fitting a P5 Hub
.

 

[tangent]

I had a nexus 8 fitted to my Twist Lite about 5 years ago. Well worth the upgrade. Mine was done by Condor Cycles in Holborn. Alternatively you could order the hub spoked into a 26" wheel from sjs.co.uk, together with the other parts and fit it yourself.

If I was doing this now though I would use the Alfine 8 (or the new Alfine 11) over the Nexus 8. There is not a huge difference in price and the Alfine 8 is much smoother.

 

[subevo]

thanks for your help guys.