Originally Posted by
mdilthey
It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's a worse situation than if your derailleur breaks, because a remote bike shop in South America has fifty derailleurs in stock.
More importantly for most of us since we probably won't find ourselves in South America is that you can find an equally remote bike shop that has derailers in the US. Or Canada. Or Europe. Or etc. Trust me, Lewiston, Id and Beckley, WV are off the beaten bicycle track.
Originally Posted by
Jaywalk3r
Once a year is too often for my tastes. And I seriously doubt it would hold up unscathed to a year of spending 40-60 hours each week in overcrowded bike racks. That's a pretty abusive environment.
According to
these guys "Even with oiling, IGH hubs should still be overhauled once a year with heavy or extreme use." That's more often than I overhaul my derailer system. Frankly, if you are adjusting you derailer system every week or even once a year, you have done something wrong. Once the cables set in, you shouldn't have to make any kind of adjustment to keep the shifting nice and crisp.
Originally Posted by
Jaywalk3r
Yep. They've been around almost as long as internal-geared hubs. But more popular in the US (where any bike rider is an outlier of the general population) doesn't imply more reliable. There are some old IGHs that are still in use. And finicky is a perfect descriptor for derailers.
Most peoples' experience with IGH have been with awful 3 speed hubs. That puts most people off to their use. A Rohloff or NuVinci or Shimano hub may work better than the old 3 speeds but most people have figured out how to make derailers work and don't find them finicky at all.
I do have to say that a Rohloff had better work forever. For the price, it should do a whole lot more than just propel a bike down the road. I have no problem spending money on bicycles but Holy Cow!