Hub Gear maintenance

[Pedalo]

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...

 

[tillson]

I have the Alfine 8 speed hub gear on my Pro Connect. To be honest, I never think about it, I just keep going and have never carried out any maintenance at all. I am still using the original chain, and sprockets front and rear. I suppose the chain has an easier life because it isn't constantly climbing over an array of different size sprockets. It is now approaching 7000 miles of use. I think this is what they are designed to do as the hub is pre-packed with grease and shouldn't require cleaning out and re-packing.They are easy to clean too, just wipe the shell case with a splash of GT85 and it's like new.

The only down side that I have found is that it can be a bit slow to change and can stick in seriously low temperatures. I've never heard anyone else comment about this, so mine may be just a one off.

Hub gears can also be less efficient than a deraileur, but I look at it with a view that a motor is doing a good chunk of the work, so the effects on my legs are insignificant.

From a personal point of view, I think that hub gears ideally suit an electric bike, particularly a commuting work horse where you just want to get on it and ride day in day out without fannying around setting up temperamental gears.

 

[jerrysimon]

I am also completely sold on hub gears. I only need two or three gears living and commuting in Cambridge.

I have recently been playing around with the new S/A S2C a remake of the old Fichtel & Sachs Torpedo Duomatic (two speed) which has a kick back gear changer and coaster brake.

This means no rear cables and is about as simple as it gets (unless you go fixie) for flat Cambridge commuting

Regards

Jerry

 

[flecc]

I'm also a fan of not maintaining them. The official schedules are ridiculous, I think the interval for servicing is 2000 miles, but I just prefer to run a hub gear indefinitely.

My last hub gear was an SRAM 5 speed which I used on a Lafree for heavy trailer hauling. It lasted four years of that abuse in the hilly North Downs with both Panasonic motor and my pedal force driving through it, after which I popped a new core into the hubshell for £88 when it failed.

I'm sure that if it had only been used for normal cycling rather than hauling big loads it would have lasted many more years.

The Alfine 8 is grease packed, the new Alfine 11 speed uses oil instead which has to be changed, flushing out any debris at that time. I think that's either yearly or two yearly. This is similar to the Rohloff hub lubrication.
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[jerrysimon]

Damn Flecc that is some trailer load

Regards

Jerry

 

[flecc]

Damn Flecc that is some trailer load

Regards

Jerry

Indeed! Three more examples:

Load 1

Load 2

Doubled up

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[jerrysimon]

I have seen the last one before

Looks like it should be on tracks with a station guard.

Regards

Jerry

 

[Biged]

Hub geared bikes are usually more expensive than the deraileur equipped ones but it was still one of the main reasons i chose my bike with its latest
Nexus 8.
I have hated deraileurs with a passion for years, they always seem to jump sprocket at the most inopportune moment, as if they know!

 

[jerrysimon]

Since learning how to build wheels after joining this site, the cost difference has not really been as issue for me and great fun to boot

Regards

Jerry

 

[indalo]

Owning three bikes with derailleur gearing and one with the Nexus 8 hub gear, I'm firmly in the hub gear fan club.

My preference is for the same reasons as others have expressed. It doesn't seem to matter how carefully and gently I change gear on the derailleur bikes, at some point a gearchange is spoiled or simply doesn't occur, requiring that bit of fiddling we've all experienced before things are right again....till the next time.

Anything which aids easy riding and keeps maintenance to a minimum is good news on an ebike as far as I'm concerned.

Indalo

 

[Scottyf]

When all said and done bicycles hardly require that much knowledge or expertise to setup and maintain correctly.

An parts in comparision to running a car are a fraction. I alays look at the bike in comparison to other more modes of transport and the bike wins every time.

Cheap deraillers and chains and sprockets are rubbish and require alot of fiddling and all the time. Get some decent components and they are very very good.

 

[flecc]

Cheap deraillers and chains and sprockets are rubbish and require alot of fiddling and all the time. Get some decent components and they are very very good.

Very true, trouble is that probably over 90% of the derailleurs on the road are the cheap ones. Of course the other side of the coin is the scary prices of some high-end derailleur parts. Some examples:

Rear mechanism

Front derailleur

Changer

Cassette

£837 the set! Thankfully there's pretty good stuff at in-between prices as well.
.

 

[banbury frank]

Hi we recently supplied a customer with a Raleigh pioneer

with our 48 volt commuter conversion fitted he is 20 stone he is very pleased it pulls up hill like a train

this bike has Nexus 7 speed hub gears 700 c rims for comfort

Raleigh Pioneer Elite 1 Gents 2009 £499.99 Free Delivery

frank

 

[Scottyf]

The Deore range is good though and well priced in my eyes. Its a part on my list to upgrade on my bike once the acera 7 has worn.

But your right the top end really is expensive. But you wouldn't really use it on an ebike as these bikes are mainly used for commuting.

I've never really tried a bike with Hub gears apart from my dad's very very old bike when I was about 7 and I suppose in some ways it feels like old tech to younger eyes.

However if its lower maintenance for all weathers then its a win all round as you don't need to change so often on an ebike anyway.
Currently I only really use 3 gears...



Thanks for the above Frank, good on spamming and hardly relavant.

 

[flecc]

I grew up with hub gears over 60 years ago since derailleurs didn't exist in the consumer market then, so very familiar with them.

Though I'm happy with either, my favourite is hub for the reliability, lack of maintenance and ability to lubricate the chain with anything from oil to congealed pig fat.
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[Barry Heaven]

I'm also a fan of not maintaining them. The official schedules are ridiculous, I think the interval for servicing is 2000 miles, but I just prefer to run a hub gear indefinitely.

That's good to know. When I bought my Pro Connect with the Alfine 8-speed I was concerned about having to maintain such a complex mechanism. Even the informative Shimano ALFINE « Hubstripping.com site only served to make it look too complicated.

 

[lemmy]

I prefer the gear spread and slickness of derailleurs for pleasure riding and I've always had good reliabilty from them.

However for electric bikes and commuters, I think hub gears are best for the reasons that Flecc gives but especially for the abilty to change gear at rest in town riding.

For my Kalkhoff Tasman what I'd like is a 5 speed Alfine with the same gear spread as my 8 speed since I find myself starting in 3 and then going 5 7 8.

I'd keep the low 1st for riding unpowered on what is quite a heavy machine.

 

[flecc]

For my Kalkhoff Tasman what I'd like is a 5 speed Alfine with the same gear spread as my 8 speed since I find myself starting in 3 and then going 5 7 8.

The nearest to that was the venerable SRAM P5 hub, since it had a 252% gear range, not far off the 300% of 8 speed hubs. Trouble was that although very tough, it has a slow gearchange and is currently being discontinued, only existing retail stocks left.

One way to get a wide range is the new 2 speed control-less hub from one of the makers, Sunrace-Sturmey I think. For those who don't need lots of gears it has one for the flat and one for hills, operated by a momentary back pedal flick.
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