Originally Posted by
damnable
I'm looking at a bike to commute on. I already have a road bike, but I'm not sure if it's the best thing to be using. I'm certainly going to try it and have all the gear to do it. Maybe it's a bit of n+1 but I'm looking at a dedicated commuter.
My commute will be 33Km each way and I've ridden the route but unloaded. It's a combination of roads and bikeways. I plan on shortening it at first.
So I never really considered the internal gear systems so I don't know a lot about them. In general I was looking for a bike a little more upright than the road bike (so I can look around easier), with disc brakes for the wet and peace of mind, and probably a flat bar so I have more room to fit lights and other goodies. But I still want to travel relatively fast and efficiently as to me it's a long commute and I need some energy for other physical hobbies.
So someone suggested the IGHs, probably the Alfine as it's disc brake compatible. It sounds good, particularly the lack of required maintenance, so it will save me money in the longer run. My only concerns are the added weight - not a huge concern considering the amount of weight to be lost from the engine. The other concern and the major one is the decreased efficiency of the hub which I've read about. Is it really that bad and should I be worried about it?
I've been having trouble finding places that sell them around here, so test rides are hard to find, especially comparing it to the same bike with standard derailleurs rather than my road bike. I'll keep looking though.
Shimano IGH's works best for much shorter commutes than yours. To begin with Shimano IGH's are somewhat of a design failure, and earlier models where plagued by self destructing because of bad seals and over torquing by strong riders. On top of that, their grease based lubrication system is so horrible difficult and time consuming to service correctly, that Shimano gave up on it and now just recommend flushing the IGH in oil when it needs servicing. So after first service Shimano IGH's effectively becomes oil lubricated IGH's even though they where designed to be grease lubricated. The new Shimano 11 speed IGH simply scraps the entire mess and is designed to be a proper oil lubricated IGH.
The Alfine is one of the better Shimano IGH's with improved sealing, bearing races, and over-torquing limiter. But
AFAIK, the service interval is around 5000 km the first time, and then apparently every 3000 km thereafter, probably because of the use of oil instead of grease.
The point is that you reach 5000 km after only 76 commuting days, and then every 46 days thereafter.
So be prepared to experience some downtime at regular intervals when the IGH is being serviced by a mechanic (the oil based maintenance scheme should be easy to do by yourself though).
IGH's like the Alfine also contains regular hub bearings just like any other bicycle hub and these should be serviced and inspected at some regular intervals too, just like on any other bicycle hub. Failure to do so may result in pitted bearing races and since the these are an integral part of the hub shell, that again means one has to buy an entirely new IGH (usually this means a new rear wheel).
Such problems of course depends on how frequently the bike is ridden in wet weather, winter salted roads etc.
So to summon up, IGH's aren't maintenance free, they just require different maintenance than derailleur systems. Also, the potential running cost in the long run may be quite high if the IGH should fail from eg. pitted bearings. Because of the design and maintenance scheme of current Shimano IGH's, they may not be the best choice for high mileage commuters.
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Regards