sygyzy

Thinking about picking up a dedicated commuter. I feel silly riding to work and around town on errands on my road bike. Am very interested in an internal hub. Both similarly priced.

Which would you pick and why?

Edit: oops, Civia, not Cyvia.

NormanF

You should also look into the Electra Amsterdam - the Royal 8i which combines a Shimano Nexus 8 speed IGH with Electra's CF technology and the timeless styling of a Dutch utility bike.

sygyzy

NormanF, thanks for the suggestion. I have never heard of this bike before!

Lot's Knife

Are you determined to get a belt-driven bike? Both look awesome.

sygyzy

It's not 100% essential but I want to move away from bikes that look like my road bike because it's that aggressive aero position that makes me not want to use it for commuting. I want to ride casually, not "race". I know that bikes with comfortable geometries don't need belt drives or IGH but they seem great for low maintenance.

Kimmitt 

Also consider an xtracycle radish, outside the box.

hubcap

Those two bikes are nothing alike geometry wise. I think you should decide what style of bike you want before choosing the components.

Lot's Knife

The Raleigh Alley Way seems to be in the same class as the Globe and the Civia. I want 'em all.

sygyzy

hubcap - You're right. They are different. I guess the Hyland might be better. I want IGH, belt drive if possible not not necessary, fenders, the ability to mount front and rear racks. I want a classy looking bike. I don't want to go fast. The Novara Fusion actually looks really cool but I can't bring myself to getting a REI bike. Alley Way definitely looks pretty cool.

Joe Dog

I would also look at Breezer. My wife has one with a Nexus internal hub. It came with racks (good ones), a generator hub, front and rear lights, and a chain guard. Not belt driven, but a good bike for what you are looking for.

hubcap

Based on what I am hearing, it sounds like you want a more upright-style bike than the Bryant. The Globe Live 3 looks like an excellent bike.

If you will consider a chain instead of the belt, then there are a lot of bikes out there that will meet your requirements. The Breezer's are nice - I like the Finesse and the Uptown 8. I also like Swobo's Baxter a lot as well as Civia's Loring. But it is tough to beat the REI's Novara brand Fusion cost-wise. If you bought it with a 20% off member coupon, you got it for $720. No one can come close to those features for that price.

hot_damn

I'm personally trying to decide between the globe live 3 and the civia loring. Globe has the belt drive, but the loring has the i-motion 9 and I live in a hilly area. I'd love to hear what you eventually decide!

sygyzy

Dumb question but are there any performance (stiffness, flexibility, ride quality) differences between a straight tube in a traditional road bike versus the sloping tubes of the Glove Live 3 and Loring?

mikeybikes

Why not? I own a 1983 Novara... It's still going strong!

sygyzy

Thanks for the tips hubcap. I like the idea of swept back or straight bars but am concerned with the lack of hand positions. My commute is only 5 miles round trip and I don't intend on riding this bike more than 25 miles in any direction. More realistically < 15 miles each way. Will I get tired or bored of having only one hand position?

I am fine with not having a belt drive. I'd prefer it but it's not a dealbreaker.

How noticeable will it be to ride Loring or Globe Live 3 (similar looking bikes) and their 30 pound curbweights (estimate). That's 50% heavier than my road bike. I said I didn't want to go fast. What I mean is I am not trying to race or get a cardio workout bu I also don't want to ride 5mph, like a slug.

I like the looks of the Live 3 and similar bikes but that's a huge departure for me. They look almost like beach cruisers (large and hunk, not nimble) which I am against. But they are growing on me.

What other more traditional yet relaxed road bike commuters (like the Novara Fusion) are there? What about the Hyland?

Does the Swobo Baxter support racks and fenders?

hubcap

The Globe's Alfine IGH has a 307% range, while the I-9 has a 340% range. If you can't get up the hill with the Alfine, I'm not sure you will make it with the SRAM.

sygyzy

What does 340% range and 307% range mean? I have seen this before but don't know what it means in practical terms.

hubcap

It is the range of gearing that the hub provides. The actual gear inches would be dictated by your choice of chainring and cog sizes.

Maybe something visual would help.



It shows the relative range of various IGH in comparison to standard road doubles and mtn bike triples.

hubcap

You probably won't have a problem with a single hand position considering the distances you are talking about and the kind of bikes you are considering. I can get numb hands in less than 10 miles when riding my mountain bike with its aggressive posture, but the bikes you are considering typically place less weight on your hands/wrists.

If you want more get-up-and-go, you might gravitate towards the Civia Hyland, the Breezer Finesse, or the Swobo Baxter. I think all of them are great bikes. Frankly though, riding fast is more about the engine than anything else.

The Swobo should take fenders and a rear rack. It has a carbon fork though and doesn't look like it has brazons for a front rack.

hot_damn

Yeah, it's not a huge difference. But my bike is a car replacement for daily use, so even a little bit of a difference might be noticeable. I'm moving to IGH for the first time with this next purchase, so I'm trying to get the widest range I can afford.

The globe live might still win out in the end, though.

sygyzy

I think I am going Loring or Alley Way. I am having a very hard time finding the latter. I haven't even tried locating the former. Why does my town have such a big bike scene but suck so much when it comes to good bike shops. They'll help you here if you want Pinarello but not when you want a basket, fenders or commuter bike.

NormanF

The Kona Sutra is offered in my LBS with front and rear racks and fenders for $1200!!! A good price for a commuter bike package.

daredevil

I own a 08 Trek Soho with an Alfine hub. The original set up was 44X18 which gave some pretty tall gears, around 35-106 inches. Since I'm in the mountains, I switched it to 39X22 and now the gear range is much more manageable, equivalent to the middle ring of a mountain bike. If you have belt drive, you're stuck with the gears so make sure it's set up as you like.

The 08 Soho is very similar to the current Giant Seek. https://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/....0/3924/36627/

PaulRivers

I just had to say something - I own a Civia Hyland, which has an Alfine IGH and a chain. I bought it for winter riding. I'm on the fence about whether an IGH was necessary, or if just sticking with a derailler would have been easier. At least one commuter heavy bike shop near me went from recommending an IGH for winter riding to saying it doesn't matter. But - that's another topic.

In my experience, and in my opinion, the maintenance benefits for non-winter riding an IGH with a chain over a derailleur are vastly, vastly overblown (and I'm not saying they're great for winter, I'm just trying to avoid that issue). I had to adjust my IGH after the cables stretched, just like I did with a derailler.

You still have a chain, and that's where all the real maintenance and issues come in. You still have the chain to clean. You still have the chain to get your pants caught in or dirty. You still have to replace the chain, and replace the rear cog/cassette. It might be slightly less expensive to replace a single cog rather than the whole chain, but it's not a big ticket item. 2 different bike shops that sell lots of fixed gear bikes felt the change would last significantly less long on a fixed/igh bike, from their experience.

And in exchange, you get a IGH which is heavier, less efficient (at least I can say that my particular bike with an IGH is less efficient), you'll have fewer gears, the rear wheel is different/more difficult to get off and on in the case of a flat, and the bike is more expensive.

However - with a belt drive you eliminate the chain, and eliminate the majority of your regular maintenance. You never have to clean it. It doesn't get things dirty if you touch them with it (to be fair, your tires will probably still get stuff dirty if they touch anything after riding). They supposedly last longer before needing to be replaced. You get the idea.

As someone who owns an IGH bike, I would personally strongly recommend a belt drive igh over a chain one if you're buying something new and have a choice. I think with belt drive, you would actually get to experience the reduced maintenance benefits that IGH's were supposed to bring.

irclean

Just to throw in another belt-driven, IGH-equipped bike, consider the Norco Ceres.



Of course from Santa Barbara you'd have to do a little travelling to see one, but there are Norco dealers within two hours of you: Bicycle Trip in Santa Cruz and Mark's Baywood Cyclery in Los Osos.

From the choices you mentioned in your previous posts I would choose the Alley Way, hands down.