Originally Posted by
interested
A lot of people think that IGH's are zero or low maintenance. They are not, they just change the maintenance pattern somewhat. But inside every IGH there is a normal hub, and that hub needs caring for; if it is cup-and-cone, you need to regrease and inspect at intervals according to your riding style, just like any other hub. You also need to make sure that the cone system isn't overly tight. If you don't do that you risk pitting the cups and that will often mean a new hub or wheel. Pitted cups are one of the most likely failure modes of IGH's I know of.
I'm well aware of this - my interest in an IGH is mostly based on hoping to avoid the hassle and cost of overhauling a drivetrain. An IGH can also be combined with a belt drive, greatly reducing required maintenance (I'm not much of a cyclist, but riding around severely damaged city streets while it's raining throws enough crud into the drivetrain that I need to brush off the sprockets remove and clean the chain at least once a week.)
I'm curious, though - is there any chance we'll see a cartridge-based IGH in the future?
Originally Posted by
interested
Grease lubricated IGH's like Shimanos also tend to gum up and freeze when it is too cold. Quality sealed cable systems also reduce the risk of ice in the cables hampering gear shifting (the return spring are weak in most IGH's).
Are the SRAMs any better in this respect?