Originally Posted by
tjspiel
Great. After I'm halfway through my IGH conversion purchases you go and post this.
My derailleurs don't come through the winter very well and always require a really thorough cleaning in the spring. I also have periodic shifting problems that I know is partly due to cable freezing. I suppose an IGH doesn't necessarily cure that but I'm really hoping for fewer shifting issues and less cleaning with the IGH next winter.
A belt drive would be awesome. Maybe someday, but for now I am looking forward to being able to use my cache of KMC "Rust Buster" chains again. You can't get them for 8 speed or higher, - at least not in the U.S. as far as I can tell, but they do stay cleaner looking. They don't necessarily last any longer.
I have very limited experience with modern IGHes. The 3 speed Nexus Hubs on the local bike-share bikes definitely don't shift on a dime. I'm hoping for better with the Red Band.
As far as the OP goes I agree with you. If this was San Diego I wouldn't even be considering an IGH. I took my road bike out for the first time since mid November (it's been a loooooong winter). The shifting was great. No adjustment required and it's not like I baby that bike.
IGHes do have a loyal following though and part of the reason I'm getting one is curiosity. I'm going to weigh the bike before and after to figure out how much of a penalty there is after you get rid of the derailleurs and extra chainrings. I'm also going to do some tests with the computer and HRM to see if there's any real speed difference. It's not the bike I take when I want to go fast anyway, but like I said, I'm curious.
haha, well my main point was that since OP *isn't* biking through a Minnesota winter an IGH wasn't worth it. :-)
If the problem is that the bike isn't shifting, then an IGH might help. 'course the reason it might help is because you put some decent shifting cables on the bike - might make a big improvement no matter what you used.
If someone asked me if it was worth it to use an IGH + Chain in a Minnesota winter, the answer isn't quite as clear. While I think the maintenance benefits are overblown, and while the time to shift can become unpredictable, it's also true that the bike doesn't "not" shift or anything. It's never stopped shifting no matter how cold it's gotten, it just doesn't shift in a predictable amount of time (let's say it's a random amount of time somewhere between 2 seconds and 6 seconds). And it's never frozen up and refused to shift altogether - something I've heard sometimes happens with derailler's in the winter. And as other people have said, if you want to nudge the bike into shifting sooner you mostly just ease up on your pedalling for a second. And while the majority of the maintenance work seems to be with the chain, it sounds like there's some with the derailler that you might not have to worry about with an IGH. Biking through the salt, sand, and freezing temps really puts the bike through different conditions than biking through above-freezing conditions.