I'm still considering my next bike purchase and am weighing up the pros/cons of hub gears. I keep reading they involve much lower maintenance than deraileur which I really like the sound of, but I'm trying to quantify it.
I do approx 3000 miles per year on roads that can get very muddy/gritty in winter. On my last bike with a deraileur I changed the chain and sprockets every 2000 miles or so and fairly regularly cleaned the chain to keep it running smooth - probably once per month in winter. I also had to fiddle with the cable adjuster from time to time as the cables stretched to keep the gears properly aligned.
The nice thing about the deraileur was that it was obvious how it all worked so I could easily service it myself. What will be required with a hub? Will it need to ever be stripped down for example to keep it going or will it just run for thousands of miles and then just break? If so, what's the expected number of miles for something like an Alfine8?
By the way I would use the recommended pause pedaling when changing gear approach to maximise life...
I do approx 3000 miles per year on roads that can get very muddy/gritty in winter. On my last bike with a deraileur I changed the chain and sprockets every 2000 miles or so and fairly regularly cleaned the chain to keep it running smooth - probably once per month in winter. I also had to fiddle with the cable adjuster from time to time as the cables stretched to keep the gears properly aligned.
The nice thing about the deraileur was that it was obvious how it all worked so I could easily service it myself. What will be required with a hub? Will it need to ever be stripped down for example to keep it going or will it just run for thousands of miles and then just break? If so, what's the expected number of miles for something like an Alfine8?
By the way I would use the recommended pause pedaling when changing gear approach to maximise life...