vsnofjohana

I am thinking about building up a road bike with a internal hub. 5-8 speed's would be my choice(sorry not enough cash for Rollof 14). Looking for feedback from people who have used either Sturmey ,Sram or Shimano who all make what im looking for. I have been to Sheldons web site and done lots of reading up on them i just want to hear first hand some positives or negatives about each brand . I dont really want to get into a discussion about internal vs external gears, just want help in figuring out which one to buy.

ang1sgt

I've got a Nexus 7 Speed with the Roller Brake on a KHS Cruiser. Works well enough but I keep thinking that I can feel the internal drivetrain losses with this set-up. It works though and after many years (5+) there has not been a maintenance issue at all. Great looking hub by the way. Roller brake works better than I had expected too.

vsnofjohana

What about changing the cog? Is it specific to that hub? I would not use the rollerbrake model but the freehub design.

pluc

Also somewhere inbetween the Shimano 8 and the Rohloff 14 is the new SRAM I-Motion 9, the system is about 480 USD, that includes the shifter and the hub.

People in the Netherlands use these systems (no brand recommendation here) in a large proportion. It seems all brands are about the same, people I know there couldn't make a discernable difference.

I think it rather comes down to figuring out what ratios you will prefer and going with that. Availability might be an issue, but I'd say most shops have stuff on demand.

Sluggo

I have 6000 miles on a shimano 7 speed. No problems.

I did not like the roller brake, though. I took it off and reverted to rim brakes.

vsnofjohana

I dont really need 9 or 8 speeds for that mater 7 would do me fine.

CHenry

The gear range is different between the Shimano Nexus 7-speed and the 8-speed. The Nexus 7 is only 244% while the 8-speed is about 288%. By comparison, the Sturmey-Archer 8-speed is 305% and the SRAM 9-speed a little over 340%. While those are not as wide as the 525% of the Rohloff Speedhub, they are significantly cheaper (and if you added a Schlumpf to the chainwheel, you can nearly double your range.)

unkchunk

I've had a Nexus 8 for about a year and a half. I'm pleased with it so far. No maintenance issues and much easier to clean the drive train. I did remove the roller brake.

As far as cog interchangeable goes: I don't know about SRAM, but old Sturmey Archer cogs will fit on the Nexus. The incompatibility is that those cogs are wider. The Nexus had cogs for 3/32 nd chains (or what ever 8 speed is). I think if you go with an 1/8 th thick chain you'll have more cog options.

As an after thought for me, I wish I had done more research on the shifters. Each company may have different types, shifter/brake combo, shifter solo, tap type shifter, but whether they are available is another matter.

man of calibre

I have the 7 speed shimano for 2 years. I had the chain fall off once and replaced it by force and its not been quite the same since IMO.

The SRAM 7 hubs are considered much more durable than the Shimano equivalent. If my 7 speed broke for good I would put on 3-5 speed by either sturmey Archer or SRAM 'cos I don't need the gear range for the riding I do with this bike.

You say this is for a road bike. If you mean road racer, the mounting of almost any shift lever on the drops will be problematic. Hubs suit more utilitarian machines with straight bars at the moment.

pluc

You may be interested in a graph I made. It compares the ratios of most internal hubs available today.


Also available as a much higher resolution PDF, which contains the data table.
https://www.velourbain.qc.ca/document...comparatif.pdf

The text's in french but you will figure it out.

If you wonder... no the Sturmey-Archer 8 line's not a calculation error, its direct drive speed is the first one!

vsnofjohana

Great work on the graph. I am still a little confused with the ratios. 224% vs 525% ??

pluc

This big % number is the hardest ratio divided by the easiest ratio.

On the Rohloff it would be 1.467/0.279*100 = 526%

The way to work with the ratio is simple. You can use it to find equivalents in derailleur gears. You take the number of teeth the sprocket has on the hub and divide it with the ratio.

For example, on an Inter-8 with a 19 teeth sprocket it would give:
1. 19 / 0.527 = 36.05
2. 19 / 0.644 = 29.5
3. 19 / 0.748 = 25.4
4. 19 / 0.851 = 22.33
5. 19 / 1.000 = 19
6. 19 / 1.223 = 15.54
7. 19 / 1.419 = 13.39
8. 19 / 1.615 = 11.76

What I suggest is that you find out what speeds you like using on your bike and try to make them fit approximately.

CHenry

The percentage ratio just gives you an idea about the range, highest to lowest. The Rohloff has a wide range, the widest of any available internal hub, and its lowest gear is very low, which is why the Rohloff has been used so successfully on mountain bikes, heavy touring bikes and recumbents. The Rohloff also has relatively evenly spaced sequential ratios with no overlap (as with a conventional derailleur with front triple does.) That is also true of all internal hubs, with the exception being that the range of others is not as great, top to bottom. The closest application that approximates this is the use of a Schlumpf Mountain Drive with a multi-speed rear hub where the 1/2.5 front reduction can allow for a non-overlapping double range (regular for the hub then a reduced low range). Some modifiers of folding bikes like the Brompton have done this to get a wide range of gears for better hill climbing.

panoply

"As an after thought for me, I wish I had done more research on the shifters. Each company may have different types, shifter/brake combo, shifter solo, tap type shifter, but whether they are available is another matter."

I definitely second this. I had a wheel built up for my new Sturmey 8-spd only to realize that I hate the feel of their grip shifter. Does anyone know if it would be possible to use a Shimano tap shifter with the Sturmey hub? It seems like it is only a matter of how far the shifter pulls the cable on each shift.

Mike

larryfeltonj

Awesome. I'm about to embark on a project to convert a non-folding Raleigh Twenty into my main utility bike (I'd acquired a folder for that purpose, but it's in such pristine shape I'm keeping it original. My only museum bike). The table you've put together is good starting point info when I start looking at gear/hub selection.

cyqlist

I think that graph would be a lot more useful for making comparisons if it were plotted with the vertical scale logarithmic, so that equal percentages would look the same, and with the horizontal scale having equal distance per gear. Then the Rohloff would stand out as it should, showing its wider range and higher number of gears than the others. As it is the graph gives the false impression that the S-A 8 has the widest range, the Rohloff's range looks about the the same as the SRAM iM 9, and you can't even see the number of gears.

Here is what I'm talking about, plotted for the SA3, SA8 and Rohloff 14 (I stopped with those 3 because, not having the appropriate graphics software, this is a lot of work for me).