feasibility of hub-gears
 

Hey there. I have a couple old schwinns that I ride, but I want to put together a more "modern" lighter road bike for longer trips around town, including some pretty good hills. I think I want to put a hub gear system on it in lieu of a derailler, etc. I kind of like the hub gear (3-spd) on my traveler, and I've heard of newer ones that have 7 or 12 speeds or something like that. I was just wondering if anyone has used these much... just trying to get feedback on your experiences with these

thanks

Not a problem, they work well. Since you are in Cincy, I do recommend getting a hub with more than 3 gears. Do a search for Nexus and you will find lots of examples.
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=295583

my wifes been using a bianchi milano with 8-speed shimano nexus hub since late last summer and we've nothing but good things to say of it so far.It still won't cover as broad a gearing range as is possible with conventional derailleurs but for commuting & general schlepping around on the flats and up moderately steep hills, it seems ideal. I esp like that you can change gears at a stop. The twist grip shifter is also about as intuitive as you could ask for and its drum brake has good stopping power for the application it's given. All-in-all it's an amazing mechanism and hopefully will turn out to be as trouble-free as all the reports seem to indicate.
best,
k

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s...bianchi001.jpghttp://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s...bianchi002.jpg

I recently outfitted a Raleigh International with a Shimano Nexus 8 hub built into a 700c wheel (which I won on eBay). Overall, I'm liking the hub a lot though I haven't quite adjusted it right and have a problem with it slipping in low gears. It's really quiet and offers a good range of gears. I don't have experience with other modern IG hubs, but I've read good things about the SRAM S7 hub.

Neal

The Shimano 8-speed with a 23T cog works fantastic for my wife, also. You do have to adjust the cable every couple months or so, but it is really easy to do - you don't even have to bend down!

Internal gearing is very popular with the commuter crowd. If you're using the search function looking for info on IG, you should probably be certain to include the commuting forum on the list of forums for the search. You'll find a lot by searching for "internal" and/or "Nexus." You should also check out Sheldon Brown's article on Internal Gear Hubs.

I don't "like" IGH...I LOVE THEM:love::love:

I currently own and ride 4 on a regular basis and 2-3 of my project bikes are planned as IGH. FWIW all I have are the old Sturmey Archer and one old Shimano 3 speed hub. The project bikes include a Sturmey Archer 4 speed from the 50's and a most likely a brand new Sturmey Archer 5 speed with drum brake.

Aaron:)

Whenever I take out my old Ladies Hercules roadster for a ride it's a real joy. Why? - because it's got the sweetest SA 3 speed hub and it never gives me a troublesome moment. The now out of production Sachs 2 speed kickback hub is another hub I'm very fond of too. Being only two speed it is a wee bit limited, but it's largely flat around town and my bikes with a Sachs hub are used for 'go-and-fetch-it' type shopping runs and the like so two speeds aren't a problem.
I do own a 1980s 10 speed bicycle with derailleur gears which is very nicely setup with Vx SunTour components and while it's a good and trouble free ride I never feel quite so confident about shifting gears as when I'm riding a hub geared bike.

I'm having trouble finding a new SA 5 speed hub. Got a source?

All kinds of hub gears on the market at present--some costing $1000s ---German made 21 gear hub and also a 2 speed BB internal gear so you can match just about anything done by derailers.At a cost!Harris cycle has hub gears.

Try www.biketoolsetc.com

I've no idea if they actually have any or not, but permaco may still have some of the UK made hubs left.

Awesome. thanks for the info. One of the reasons I asked is because on my traveler with the 3sp Sturmey, it seems that i have to stop pedaling for just a second for the gear to change. I don't know if that is common or what. What say you?

Well you need to step on the clutch to change gears in a car. If you keep pedaling with the Sturmey you have the internal gears all loadad up & unable to move untill you unload them when you stop pedaling.

Nobody would get far trying a clutchless gear change in a car with the pedal still floored, [trans still loaded] you would never get it out of gear [forget the disaster that awaits if the next gear is actually selected]

So yes, you should always change to another Gear in a Sturmey Archer with either the wheel rolling forward, or if stationary, with the pedals rotated backwards during the actual shift.

Ah. That makes perfect sense. I was comparing that to a derailer system in which you have to keep pedaling to change gears. But alas, there is still that moment of "clutch" action, sort of.

Try Old Bike Trader in the UK. I have ordered some bits and pieces from them with good results.

Aaron:)

5's are available on the link below, both some older steel British built ones (the Sprinter, not the old S5) and the newer alloy ones:

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/category-...r-Hubs-104.htm

Thanks for the help with the five speeds. I'm only interested in the new and improved ones. I've got one of the new three speeds and I'm sold on the new Taiwan-made stuff. (I never thought I'd say that.)