Commuting - Internal Hub

I am looking to buy a new or used commuter/comfort bicycle, and i really like the internal hub design. I was wondering if anyone on here has any bikes like this and what they think, also and more importantly, what are the different brands and models that have bikes like this. so far i have found,
Electra - townie, etc.
Bianchi - milano
Cadillac - AV8.0i, L3
Kettler - various

can anybody help me find a bike???

numerous companies in germany - check the links page
http://www.rohloff.de/en/info/bikesearch/index.html
http://www.rohloff.de/en/info/links/index.html

also cannondale
http://www.google.com/search?svnum=100&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=cannondale%20bad%20boy%20rohloff%20&sa=N&tab=iw

sjs cycles
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/cid/EPTEWAB3MHDU8Q6JNX1DJQT1BL9D15BL/category-Bikes-and-Frames-757.htm

also kona now offer sliding drop outs on some of their frames
http://www.konaworld.com/bikes/2k7/KULA29/index.html
http://www.konaworld.com/bikes/2k7/UNIT/index.html
etc

the jamis commuter 3.0 (http://www.jamisbikes.com)
some by koga-miyata (http://www.koga.com)
cannondale's street (http://www.cannondale.com) -- i think there are more choices in the UK.
novara transfer (http://www.rei.com) -- the transfer comes with lights and other commuter stuff included.

Totally ridiculous these machines aren't far more common.


Trek L200 Navigator Commuter (http://www.eskimo.com/~bfarwick/my_bike.html)
"Broadway Bike" Master Model (http://broadwaybicycleschool.com/mastermodel.html) by Broadway Bicycle School
ANT (http://www.antbikemike.com/images/Bikes/Demo/winterbike2big.jpg) Commuter
Cannondale Street Premium (http://willybikes.com/itemdetails.cfm?catalogId=1&id=10247) "King of Commuter Bikes"
Breezer. (http://www.breezerbikes.com/bike_details.cfm?bikeType=town&frame=d&bike=villager) Great bike, if you can ever find 'em! (http://www.breezerbikes.com/bikes.cfm)
Koga Miata (http://www.kogausa.com/Town&Country.htm)
Jamis Commuter 3.0 (http://www.jamisbikes.com/usa/bikes/07_bikes/commuter3.html)

One more "commuter" built here, but not sold here: (http://gb.cannondale.com/bikes/07/ce/urban/vintage/model-7VR8.html)

http://www.ornery.net/images/Vintage_8_Ultra.jpg

Just plain irritating, and I blame our consumers more than the manufacturers. I know the Street Premium (http://www.cannondale.com/bikes/07/cusa/urban/street/model-7SS8.html) is close, but why can't we have this one? This is what most bikes sold in this country should look like, kick stand and all!

If you have an REI near you, they have internal hubs on their Novarra line.

http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&productId=48075197&parent_category_rn=4500775

I haven't tried it though. I built up an internal hub on a Surly Crosscheck. But after just seeing that link on the Jamis Commuter 3.0, I might have gone with that one. I would have save half... ouch!

I like the Electra Townies, but they aren't cheap for what you get. They do, however, hold their resale value better than any other bike on the market, IMHO. If you buy one and then decide to sell it, you won't lose much.

Totally ridiculous these machines aren't far more common.
...

One more "commuter" built here, but not sold here: (http://gb.cannondale.com/bikes/07/ce/urban/vintage/model-7VR8.html)

http://www.ornery.net/images/Vintage_8_Ultra.jpg

Just plain irritating, and I blame our consumers more than the manufacturers. I know the Street Premium (http://www.cannondale.com/bikes/07/cusa/urban/street/model-7SS8.html) is close, but why can't we have this one? This is what most bikes sold in this country should look like, kick stand and all!
I like it. I like the adaptation of the traditional European style chaincase and the internal cabling and the internal hub and the brake and the saddle and the look of the bike. The frame material is "Rigid Ecc." What is that?

edit: I wonder if a customer could have one drop-shipped from Canondale in Pennsylvania(?) if s/he orders from a dealer in a place where they're for sale. BTW, where are they for sale?

Nope, you can't have one. Only for the Limeys! :)

I like it. I like the adaptation of the traditional European style chaincase and the internal cabling and the internal hub and the brake and the saddle and the look of the bike. The frame material is "Rigid Ecc." What is that?

edit: I wonder if a customer could have one drop-shipped from Canondale in Pennsylvania(?) if s/he orders from a dealer in a place where they're for sale. BTW, where are they for sale?

you could get one mail order from the UK
try cycle surgery and other cannondale dealers

NB: avoid evanscycles at all possible cost - it's like buying a car from honest john and then expecting nothing to go wrong with it or for it to work for that matter

In this country you have to build your own.

In this country you have to build your own.
Find a used Raleigh or other English made 3 speed, or a Schwinn or Columbia model. It will have everything you need for commuting with a reliable 3 speed hub bike with fenders, chainguard, etc. and without all the latest gee-gaws found on the latest things seen on the Internet. If you are not mechanically inclined get it checked out/tuned up by someone reliable. It will still be a fraction of the cost of all the high priced options suggested so far on this thread. Garage sales, Craigslist, eBay, etc, whatever. Age of bike makes no difference if it appears in reasonable shape, the quality built into those bikes lasts forever.

I still have the Raleigh Sports I purchased in the late '60s. Only recently did I decide to replace it with "the latest & greatest". This Jamis bike (http://www.jamisbikes.com/usa/bikes/07_bikes/commuter3.html) may not be the same quality, but I doubt I could build one for $500.00. Add a generator hub, lights & rack, and the higher end bikes aren't priced too bad. If you're going to own & use the thing for a few decades, a few hundred bucks is chicken feed in the long run. The lighter frame alone is worth that. The extra gears are icing on the cake.

I still have the Raleigh Sports I purchased in the late '60s.
Perhaps you can sell it to the OP; or better yet, give it to me. My daughter left my '72 Sports in Freiburg, Germany when returning to the US in 2002. And in 1997 I backed out of my garage over my '69 Sprite with an S5 internal hub.

It's a smaller frame, the saddle (http://www.ornery.net/images/DSC01380a.jpg) is spent, rims are pitted & rusted, as are the handlebars. Cables are all original, fenders and chainguard were removed and lost when it was merely a year old. Its only value now is sentimental, since it was my first decent bicycle purchase. I think it was about $135.00, and took me months of selling newspapers to pay for it.

I'm not too attached to my wife's 1980's vintage Puch, though! :)

I need to replace the back wheel on my Raleigh Sports. At the same time, I'm going to replace the hub, as the one I'm using slips too much--after adjustment by mechanic and attempted remedial work by yours truly.

I'd like to get something with a bigger range from low to high. Sturmey Archer's XRF8 (http:/www.sturmey-archer.com/hubs_8spd_XRF8.php) with the 155mm axle will fit between my rear brackets but it has only 28 spoke holes. I don't want to trust my bulk to 28 spokes. They still have their 2005 catalogue up, so maybe they've improved the choices for this year. (I could write to ask but based on my experience with such enquiries with other companies I'm very close to apathy on the subject.)

I'm going to gear the bike lower for the hills in this region, so I'll need to use a larger sprocket too.

Maybe I'm limited to finding one of the older Sturmey Archer hubs with a broader range than the 3-speed and a couple more gears if I'm going to work with what can be obtained on the market. I plan to keep using the Raleigh but even when I don't wind up walking some hills, the rather high gearing, even in low, is taking its toll on my knees.

Has anyone experience or knowledge of other options?

Has anyone experience or knowledge of other options?
The S-A S5 hub with 5 speeds and a large sprocket like 22T should help. I never had a bit of troube with it in 25 years of use. Currently and for the last 5 years I have been commuting daily on a Sachs (SRAM) 7 speed hub and it is very reliable. If you put the right sprockets on it you can get a pretty good hill climber for commuting.

It's a smaller frame, the saddle (http://www.ornery.net/images/DSC01380a.jpg) is spent, rims are pitted & rusted, as are the handlebars. Cables are all original, fenders and chainguard were removed and lost when it was merely a year old. Its only value now is sentimental, since it was my first decent bicycle purchase. I think it was about $135.00, and took me months of selling newspapers to pay for it.

I'm not too attached to my wife's 1980's vintage Puch, though! :)
My 1972 Sports cost $82 new and was still in great shape when abandoned in Germany in 2002.

The frame material is "Rigid Ecc." What is that?




I believe that that means rigid frame, eccentric bottom bracket to tension the chain.

I vote for the Raleigh's...if you can find them. They are very scarce in this part of the country. Also for some reason the thrift shops and yard sales are real proud of their bikes all of a sudden. I was in a thrift shop on Thursday and they had Next bikes in poor condtion priced at $45+. There was one old Free Spirit 3speed for $18 and it was in very poor shape. If I were going new I would probably go for a Breezer. They seem to be a pretty decent value for the money. The Raleighs were expensive in their day but I think back then people were a bit more apt to spend money for a quality product. Today all they want is the cheapest thing they can get. I did manage to pick up a Huffy BayPointe ladies frame 3 speed for $10 in pretty decent conditon. I need to swap a couple of parts on it then it will passed on to a lady at work that wants a bike to try riding the 4 miles to work and around the neighborhood. It has the Shimano 3sp on it, but for her needs it should be fine.

Aaron:)

In this country you have to build your own.

+1 Please see the attached link on converting an old road bike to intenal hub.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=237685

I have a Cannondale 50/50 nexus 8 internal hub designated city/commuter bike. They work well but if the commute is a longer one, I found the bike to be uncomfortable, even with a stem riser and various types of hanlde bars. My commute is 30 mi. + round trip. If the commute is shorter, say 10 miles each way, I think a bike of this type works great. I just used the Cannondale yesterday for 20 mi ride towing my son and his trailer bike and it worked great! I am a big fan of the internal hubs in general and feel that (Nexus, Rolhoff, Sturmey Archer, (Old or New) help inrease my enjoyment of cycling. Easy to use, easy to maintain great for all around cycling.

Cannondale it seems,does not want or can't sell commuting bikes in the US. I bought the above mentioned bike and had a very difficult time getting it (had to drive from Philadelphia to NYC ) and now the bike has been dropped by Cannondale in less than two years.

Perhaps you can sell it to the OP; or better yet, give it to me. My daughter left my '72 Sports in Freiburg, Germany when returning to the US in 2002. And in 1997 I backed out of my garage over my '69 Sprite with an S5 internal hub.


There was a 72/73 5spd mens sports on Philadelphia Craigslist the other day. I don't know if it is still there but I have dealt with the seller prevoiusly. If you were to buy and pay, I would happily pack & ship for you.

I have a Milano. It's a great bike,handles like a rigid MTB with slicks. I'd have no probs doing medium commutes after swapping the handlebar and maybe the seat. I'd also like a disc brake on the front,but that's me.

I've never been to Craig's List, but poked around Ebay on & off for a few years to see if I could snag a Raliegh Sports. Man, those things sell for top dollar there. When I finally got serious about it, I ended up with Breezers (http://www.ornery.net/2006-10-05/pages/DSC08927.htm). One used and one new. Hard as hell to get hold of one, I'll tell you that! (http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=222531)

I would have settled for a couple others mentioned, but I liked Joe Breeze' new commuter philosophy (http://www.breezerbikes.com/about.cfm), so I concentrated on his offerings. Helluva lot more than I ever wanted to spend for bikes, but in the long run (decades) the memory of the steep purchase price fades away. As long as they perform as expected over that time, I'll be quite satisfied.

There was a 72/73 5spd mens sports on Philadelphia Craigslist the other day. I don't know if it is still there but I have dealt with the seller prevoiusly. If you were to buy and pay, I would happily pack & ship for you.
Fender I took a look at the Phila Craigslist and couldn't find it. Thanks for the offer. Maybe in the future we can work a deal of some sort as both my nephew and sister live in Glenside and one of my daughters works in Phila. I'll be there in June for a visit.

I will keep my eyes open.

I don't want to trust my bulk to 28 spokes.

Has anyone experience or knowledge?
One of my bikes has the Sturmy Archer hub you refer to. It has 28 spokes and seems to handle my 220lb bulk pretty well.