Originally Posted by
chucky
The most important difference between IGH and derailleur is the shifting technique...derailleurs don't shift well in traffic (although they fit like a glove for "le tour"). Since I always ride in traffic I would never consider a derailleur, even in San Diego or bone dry Phoenix.
...this is pretty silly. Obviously deraillers don't shift differently in traffic as they do in a race.
Originally Posted by
chucky
Only the upfront cost is more expensive. In the long run IGHs are way cheaper because they don't wear out like cassettes do (or all the new chains you have to buy to prevent damaging your cassette). Chains and chainrings are also cheaper because you can use whatever is on sale.
An IGH with a chain requires replacing the cog on the back just like a derailler requires replacing the rear cassette. Assumably a single cog does cost less than a whole cassette. Though how often is a single cog on sale? I would hardly call it "way cheaper".
Originally Posted by
chucky
Derailleurs are cheap crap which cost you more in the long run like all other cheap crap.
I can see where this is going. A lot of lies and hyperbole about the thing you've decided is "below you", deraillers in this case.
Originally Posted by
chucky
A common misconception is that all chains require the same maintenance. This isn't so. The way a derailleur treats a chain is completely different from the way an IGH treats a chain. With an IGH you can "maintain" your chain just as you would a belt (ie not at all) and it will still be more efficient and longer wearing than a belt.
The idea that a chain would ever outlast a belt seems pretty ridiculous. Belts last a lot longer than chains, and chains last quite a long time themselves (as long as you aren't riding in a Minnesota winter). To be fair, the belt really should last longer as it certainly costs more.
Originally Posted by
chucky
The only thing overrated about the maintenance advantage of IGHs are that some people don't know how to get out of the derailleur mindset and stop obsessing about maintenance.
If you obsess with maintenance you'll need to maintain the chain on a derailler or igh. If you don't obsess with maintenance (and most people do not), you won't.
Originally Posted by
chucky
Also the same things applies to efficiency. Hub gears are more efficient derailleurs, but since 99% of people don't know how to set them up correctly they lose out on this benefit and are left with the misconception that derailleurs are more efficient.
Now that's just hilarious. They're "more efficient" than deraillers. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight. The "I love my IGH" crowd doesn't even usually try to make that claim.
Originally Posted by
chucky
That's the nice thing about an IGH: I never find myself in too high a gear because I always shift to bottom gear when stopping. So it's not possible for me to "realize I'm in too high a gear until I start moving". Besides, you quickly get used to shifting at the dead spot of your stroke (or when getting out of saddle...which is a very effective technique while accelerating: light turns green, spin through the intersection while watching for red light runners, then upshift while standing up to hammer).
That sounds like a lot of work, a lot more work than with a derailler if you're shifting to your bottom gear when stopping anyways. And I don't have a dead spot in my pedal stroke, not since I saw a bike fitter about my pedalling technique.
However, since I'm not on an agenda to bash one over the other, I will say that if you end up to high of a gear at a light I don't find that any better or worse on either my IGH bike or my derailler bike. It's also a pain to get out of it with a derailler as you need to keep enough momentum up to keep the bike upright, while you're trying to keep your head up to look around the intersection, which is tough if the gearing is way to high. If anything an IGH might be easier because you need to keep pedalling to shift, whereas on an IGH you can let up for half a second to shift.
Originally Posted by
chucky
This is typical of derailleur users...they criticize problems that simply don't exist with hub gears. What you think is a problem is only a problem because you have poor derailleur specific riding technique.
(rolls eyes)
Originally Posted by
chucky
You can't?
http://www.niagaracycle.com/product_...oducts_id=2444
Once again a false comparison because unless you're using a lower spoke count your IGH wheel will be much stronger than your derailleur wheel. A fair comparison would be to weigh your bike with a 36 spoke derailleur wheel vs a 32 spoke IGH wheel or a 32 spoke derailleur wheel vs a 28 spoke IGH wheel.
lol - what? Now adding an IGH hub to a wheel with the same spoke count magically makes the wheel stronger?
Originally Posted by
chucky
Also before you go measuring your heart rate make sure you use the largest rear cog possible for maximum drivetrain efficiency. Most riders don't know about this because it's not possible to fix it with a derailleur, but using a small (vs large) external cog actually causes twice as much friction as the hub internals.