Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Hub gearing for town riding.

Hi Chaps,
Just a quick question – I haven’t ridden for years, not since I was a teenager. I come from a group of towns in Kent county UK called the Medway Towns, and which hardly has a flat road anywhere. I now live some miles away and the roads are far less hilly just small inclines here and there.

Anyway, in those days I got by with the old fashioned 3 speed gearing – well everyone did then, and not knowing too much about modern gearing, I was slightly amazed to discover that the new hub gears have extended to 7, 8, and even 9 gears. I obviously new about derailleurs but not that much that I offer any knowledge on them.

Late last year I was on holiday in Spain and decided to hire a bike to have a look round the local town. Being a clyde – about 310, I was a little apprehensive that it wouldn’t take my weight. What turned up was a Trek mtb and my apprehension was soon squashed. It was absolutely bomb proof and not having ridden in years, I straight away got the bug back to ride again when I got home.

My questions though is how can I get a mtb with hub gears? If this is not feasible would a hybrid with hub gearing be equally adequate to take my weight? And is there a disadvantage in having hub gears, something I haven’t thought of?

It is for local riding only, no expeditions, no off road, and definitely not racing:lol:

Thanks guys.

Price would probably be the largest deterrent but you can absolutely get a hybrid tyoe bike with an internal gear hub. You may even want to ask this in the commuting forum as well, a lot of people use igh for commuter and all weather bikes.

I've yet to see a MTB with hub gearing.The only advantage that I know of is less maintence with hub gearing. Once you learn a little about deraileur systems you'll see why the vast majority of bike have this system. My favorite recomendation for beginning clydes is a Trek 7.3 http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/bike_path/fx/73fx/ This is the US site however. Why this bike? First it has heavy enough wheels to support your weight. Second it has an 8 speed rear system and the chain is stronger than 9,10,11 speed systems that use narrower gearing. It's drivetrain is based off of mountain bike componets.The frame will allow fairly wide tires.

Internal Gear Hub (IGH) seem to work just fine, but it may be cost prohibative. For me, locally, I can find one brand with a Rohloff speedhub, this is a 14 speed hub with 526% increase from 1-14 gear.

I don't see them on mountain bike but you do find them on touring bikes.

My questions though is how can I get a mtb with hub gears? If this is not feasible would a hybrid with hub gearing be equally adequate to take my weight? And is there a disadvantage in having hub gears, something I haven’t thought of?

Internal Gear Hubs (IGHs) are popular with a small, but vocal, set of mountain bikers. I'm not aware of any manufacturers that sell complete bikes with an IGH; they seem to be more popular on commuter bikes. If you want a mountain bike with an IGH, you'd likely have to buy a complete bike (perhaps used?) and convert it to using the IGH. You could also buy a frame and all the components necessary to turn it into a complete bike, then pay a shop to assemble it. In all likelihood, this will cost considerably more than buying a complete, derailleur equipped bike.

The downsides to an IGH are: 1) cost, 2) weight, 3) possibly a slight loss of power due to inefficiencies in the hub itself, and 4) the difficulty of finding a mechanic qualified to service/repair the hub. Personally, I don't think that any of these are big problems and they wouldn't keep me from buying an IGH.

Hi Chaps,
Just a quick question – I haven’t ridden for years, not since I was a teenager. I come from a group of towns in Kent county UK called the Medway Towns, and which hardly has a flat road anywhere. I now live some miles away and the roads are far less hilly just small inclines here and there.

Anyway, in those days I got by with the old fashioned 3 speed gearing – well everyone did then, and not knowing too much about modern gearing, I was slightly amazed to discover that the new hub gears have extended to 7, 8, and even 9 gears. I obviously new about derailleurs but not that much that I offer any knowledge on them.

Late last year I was on holiday in Spain and decided to hire a bike to have a look round the local town. Being a clyde – about 310, I was a little apprehensive that it wouldn’t take my weight. What turned up was a Trek mtb and my apprehension was soon squashed. It was absolutely bomb proof and not having ridden in years, I straight away got the bug back to ride again when I got home.

My questions though is how can I get a mtb with hub gears? If this is not feasible would a hybrid with hub gearing be equally adequate to take my weight? And is there a disadvantage in having hub gears, something I haven’t thought of?

It is for local riding only, no expeditions, no off road, and definitely not racing:lol:

Thanks guys.

You don't actually want a mountain bike, with hub gears. Mountain bikes are made for climbing when the terrain has not been modified by the roads department and a 20% grade is considered flat and they often have wide knobby tyres which you don't want on paved roads or hard packed dirt roads either. Heck having ridden a road bike with a 25mm wide tire on a gravel road (not something I want to do on a regular basis), I think knobbies are more intended for mud or snow. Actually the highest number of hub gears is the 14 speed Rohloff, but getting one for less then £750 for the hub alone, may prove difficult. The disadvantages to hub gears are the lack of granularity, weight and most dealers don't know how to service them. Let me explain those:

Lack of granularity, is the fact that while 7-8-9 speeds may seem like a lot, derailleur gearing now offers up to 33, which cover about the same gear range, this means that each gear is not as wide, so it's easier to keep your pedalling rate in the power band. Weight, most frames are made for derailleur gearing, so you either need a custom frame (expensive) or a tensioner, and this makes the whole mechanism a lot heavier then it would be otherwise. At 310lbs that weight difference isn't much, but when your trying to haul up a hill, it's that much more.... The biggest issue, in the 1960's and 1970's hub gears were common and shop mechanics could tear one down and rebuild it in an hour or two, now most have no idea how to service one let alone rebuild it, that means if it fails (which they don't do often) you may need to replace the wheel.

My questions though is how can I get a mtb with hub gears? If this is not feasible would a hybrid with hub gearing be equally adequate to take my weight? And is there a disadvantage in having hub gears, something I haven’t thought of?

It is for local riding only, no expeditions, no off road, and definitely not racing:lol:

Thanks guys.

In place of a MTB look for a good old American Cruiser with a 3 speed for the type of riding you would like to do.

This example is sold in the UK.........
http://www.discountbicycles.co.uk/biz/product.php/6246/0/schwinn_gents_3_speed_cruiser

Ride on, mate. Ride on. :thumb::thumb:

Thanks for the replies guys.
The reason I mentioned a mtb was because of a few things.
1/. I had never ridden a mtb before and was taken back by the sheer tank like way they make them these days, and I also felt comfortable on the machine with those big tyres and solid frame.
2/. I did look at tourers but absolutely hate drops. I never liked them as a boy at all and much prefer a higher position.
I understand that big noble tyres would not be very good on the road, but I would still like a fairly big slick because the roads where I live are full of pot holes etc. Something a lot of us have to put up with I’m sure.
I mentioned hubs because I don’t need a vast amount of gears and I just thought they were better in terms of reliability. Perhaps I shouldn’t have mentioned those because its not a must have.
The reason I said Trek was because it was the name on the frame and nothing else. It could have said Giant etc but I doubt it was a highly expensive one, well not to hire out anyway.
I rode around the town and along the beach path with no problems and very confident that the bike would take the weight. In short it was a pleasure to ride and got my enthusiasm going again to get one when I got home.

http://www.pashley.co.uk/lists/contemporary-bicycles.html

also, don't fear the drop bar. most people don't spend a tremendous amount of time in them anyways and the setup of the frame geometry will play a far larger role in position and "uprightness" than just a simple drop bar or flatbar will

Thanks for the replies guys.
The reason I mentioned a mtb was because of a few things.
1/. I had never ridden a mtb before and was taken back by the sheer tank like way they make them these days, and I also felt comfortable on the machine with those big tyres and solid frame.
2/. I did look at tourers but absolutely hate drops. I never liked them as a boy at all and much prefer a higher position.
I understand that big noble tyres would not be very good on the road, but I would still like a fairly big slick because the roads where I live are full of pot holes etc. Something a lot of us have to put up with I’m sure.
I mentioned hubs because I don’t need a vast amount of gears and I just thought they were better in terms of reliability. Perhaps I shouldn’t have mentioned those because its not a must have.
The reason I said Trek was because it was the name on the frame and nothing else. It could have said Giant etc but I doubt it was a highly expensive one, well not to hire out anyway.
I rode around the town and along the beach path with no problems and very confident that the bike would take the weight. In short it was a pleasure to ride and got my enthusiasm going again to get one when I got home.


The issue with drops being too low, is that bicycle dealers set the bars as low as possible on the steerer and then cut it off, this is not only done with drops, so I sometimes wonder if it's because the dealer doesn't want to spend £1.50 on a spacer kit for each bicycle. If you ask, the dealer they can leave the steerer longer, you really want the spacer kit. Adjust the saddle to the proper height, then put in enough spacers that the bars are 5cm HIGHER then the saddle, put on the stem fill the remaining space if there is any with spacers, then put on the top cap and tighten it down. This is a unique position, the tops of the bars are an upright position, the hoods are where a flat bar would be, and the drops are the aero position.

Shimano makes a Nexus Inter 8 hub. It is an 8 spd internally geared hub.
I have a Nexus Inter 7. I have not had to take it apart and service it yet [ though I do not look forwrd to that day ]. I began using it when I was a bike messenger as I wanted an alternative to my geared bike and I had a single speed frame which the hub would fit in. Nice gear range. Reliable. Hub is heavy but it's a lot more affordable than a Rohloff.
If you wanted something like that you could go w/ a Surly 1 x 1 or Karate Monkey Frame and equip the bike as you want.
If you are looking at things from a fitness and comfort angle I would recommend a 29er mountain bike w/canle actuated disc brakes. You'll have a sturdy sure stopping bike and as 29er's use 700 cc wheels you will be able to use tires as narrow as 700 x 35.
I know that Specialized and Trek/Gary Fisher do 29ers.

Sorry can you explain something?
If a 29er is the same as a 700 cc why do they call it a 29er?

Also, I thought it was an advantage for big guys to ride on 26 inch wheels, (ie mtb) because they are stronger?

http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html This is a good site for many bike questions. I'm not saying asking questions here is discouraged. I just thought you would like to read a primer.

A 26 inch wheel is stiffer than a 700cc/29er wheel [ a 20inch wheel is stiffer than either of those sizes ].
As far as knobby tires go, there is a greater selection of tires for 26 inch wheels.
When it comes to road/street tires, 700cc/29ers have a greater selction.
A 26 inch wheel is stiffer and accelerates faster than a 700cc/29er. A 700cc/29er rolls over obstacles easier and travels further per revolution than a 26 inch tire.
The difference between a 700 x 20 tire and a 29 x 2.3 tires is the width of a tire and it's profile/height. This is due to the fact that as tires get wider, their profile/height increases. Where either of the tires mount to the rim, the diameter is the same [ 622mm, which is the ERD [ effective rim diameter ].
So if you took 4 700cc wheels with the following tires on them the wider tires would actually be taller or have a greater profile than the narrowist. Compare a 700 x 20 [ narrow road ], a 700 x 32 [ touring, cyclocross or hybrid ], a 700 x 42, which is sometimes referred to as a 28 inch tire [ hybrid, dual purpose ] and a 29er or 700 x 52mm or wider tire [ knobbies and in some cases balloon slick tires ].
With regards to getting an idea of gearing there is a section on the Sheldon Brown website that another person here recommended you look at, which will explain quite a bit about gearing. There is also a online gear calculator that will allow you to compare different gearing set ups.

If you choose a bike with 26" wheels (any bike really) take care to use a street tire if your riding is mostly on the street since knobby tires don't have the same traction on the street that they do in the dirt. There are a lot of tires designs that will do OK in both dirt and street but they seldom come on new a new bike.

In rain knobby's will dump you on the street if not careful.

If you really want IGH, you can have a wheel built for one. There's quite a bit of argument over Shimano vs. Sturmey Archer (maker of the AW hub in 99% of the old 3-speeds,) but the general consensus seems to be that the SA 5 speed hub has better spaced gearing than the Shimano, but the 7+gear Shimanos are less finicky. IGH never completely went out of style in the UK, so you should find a pre-built bike or someone to do the conversion fairly easily. "Commuter" bikes are really streetified hardtail mountain bikes: Same strong components, but with street tires and more suitable gearing.

Out in Germany, "The Hun" is prone to ride MTB's with Rolhoff IGH's, as they are less prone to damage and misalignment. In the US, we have Beach Cruisers with five speed hubs, complete with chrome fenders, dancing hula-girls, two-tone paint and white walls. In "Old Blighty" what you need to do is find a Pashley Roadster. Stuka dive bombers in The War would sooner attack a Sherman tank than a Pashley, as they had a better chance of damaging the tank with a direct hit. Comes with modern IGH's, and only eating kedgeree for brekkers everyday would make you more British.

Since you've tried and liked a Trek, the Soho model might suit you:
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/urban/soho/soho/
Many manufacturers now have at least one urban model with the older Nexus 7 or 8 speed hub, or the newer Alfine 8. (The Alfine even comes in 11 speeds now!) The main difference is that the Alfine can be used with a disc brake, although I believe the internals have also been changed a little.
Hub gears are very good for stop-and-go city riding. I haven't found my Rocky Mountain Metropolis (Alfine 8) quite so good for long rides in the country, but then on the Canadian prairies a country road is a bit different to a U.K. country road.