So, I know winter's pretty much over, but I'm allready thinking about what I can do better next winter. I know this post might belong in the mechanics forum, but I know some (or at least one person
) here used this for winter and I'd like their input specificaly.
Now I got my eyes on this thing.
http://tinyurl.com/syede
But I got a couple questions for people who used them already.
-Can a rear gear hub be used with a front derailleur (3 * 8 = 24)?
-If not, do you find you have enough gears with only 8? (is the 1st speed low enough for the deep wet snow?, Is the 8th speed high enough for riding with a strong tail wind?)
-Did you ever need maintenance on it? I like to do all my winter maintenance myself, I wouldn't like to create one of those situations where I buy a complex part I can't deal with. I imagine the enclosed gears make them maintenance free for years to come?
-Does cold temperature affect it?
Installation:
-It looks like this would change the spoke length needed, correct?
-compared to installing a "standard" derailleur (which I've done), did you find it more complicated to install.