Misconceptions
 

It is a mistake to think that the internal gear hub needs as much regular maintenance as a derailer, despite the claims by Interested.

The derailer bike needs regular adjustments to the derailer screws to keep all gears active and going smoothly. Also, it requires regular chain cleaning, since it is exposed and it works better when the gunk it removed.

The internal gear hub bike needs no such adjustments and its chain doesn't have to be cleaned nearly as often. Of course the cables still need cleaning just like the derailer bike.

Also, it is just ridiculous to argue that you don't have to look at the chain on a derailer bike when shifting. I watch others and ride a lot (I still ride my derailer bike). No way do I switch gears in my big sprocket without looking. Most all look down to watch gears engage.

Obviously, derailer bikes have their place. Big hills are one and long rides (20 plus miles) another. Yet, for commuting in most communities I think the internal gear hub is a better way to go. They are definitely the way to go for the casual cyclist and the person seeking something reliable and simple.

A very good point. It should be noted that the legendary "long distance" commuter (for argument sakes let's say over 10 miles) with the need for long distance specialized equipment is an extremely small slice of the commuter cycling (or any cycling) population. In the US or anywhere else. Yes enthusiasts do it, I know, I am one of them (24 miles R/T daily) but few members of the public are ever going to consider cycling as a practical means to commute "long distances". Either an auto, car pool, public transportation or moving job or residence locations are far more likely scenarios. And if extreme hills must be negotiated, again, relatively few people will consider the bicycle (no matter how it is equipped) as anything but the last choice in commuting mode.

IMO, the Cycling commuter population (to include youth and students and low income "invisible cyclists") is mostly made up of people who are not concerned with daily cycling any distance that they would consider "long".

I’m a big vintage internal hub fan and ride bikes with S-A AW hubs frequently but this point has been mentioned a couple of times and I have to disagree when it is applied to modern derailleurs with indexed shifting. I will agree that when I ride the bike that I bought in 1972 with Huret derailleurs, I always look at the chain when I shift chainrings, though I rarely look when I shift the rear. But, this is absolutely not true of my 2005 bike with low-end Campy (triple chainring) components or my Shimano equipped 1989 mountain bike. I do not feel the need to watch these bikes shift. They both shift reliably.

This being said, I truly believe that most commuters and recreational riders would be much happier with internal hubs than derailleurs.

Regards,
Alan

The reason for the new thread was to ask people who had used the Nexus over say 20 miles a day all weather, all year would it be up to it. The answer seems to be NO.
As regards looking at chains while you change gear - I would have to say that is rubbish, I have a Deore setup on my bike and it is now 4 years old, almost 15k miles done and shifters and derailleur work like new, no problems.
I was and am still interested in a hub gear bike if I can be told that it is up to the kind of use I make of the bike. I agree I am not typical of the mileage etc. being slightly above average but that is what I asked of a hub gear.

If you've got the cash then get a Rohloff. If you want something that'll cost about the same as the Nexus, get an SRAM S7. In the UK the SRAM S7 hub is becoming incresaingly popular as it proves itself to be much more reliable and durable than the Shimano hub gears.

Thank you that is what I am looking to hear. I have done a lot of research on this on the web as these things are not very common over here and have not been able to get real feedback on performance.
A lot of people who have the Sram S7 are complaining about the weight.

I doubt if those "lot of people" either have a SRAM7 and commute or either. Just more Weight weenie BS from the roadie OCP clan. Probably the same people who need titanium seat rails and areo dynamic spokes for commuting purposes. Pay no dang attention to the anal retentive weight weenies if the issue is cycle commuting.

Well, I do believe I mentioned that I have almost 20,000 miles on my Sachs Spectro 7 over about the last 4 years and no dang problems. But if you want to believe those who have never ridden such hubs or have a phobia against them, do what you intended to do all along.

Am I reading you right, 4 years-15k? 4 years-15,000 mikes? If so, any internal gearhub should have no problem with that. Sram, Old sturmey archer, shimano any of them will work fine. Choose how many speeds you want and then select your model. Your concerns about the nexus 8 being unproven should be calmed a bit by realizing that it is merely an updated version of a nexus 7 which has been in sevice for many years serving cyclists worldwide. All internal gear hubs work off the same concept. A main gear called a sun gear surrounded by smaller gears called planetary gears. When the shifter cable moves it causes the sun gear to slide over to the next set of planetary gears thus changing the ratio or gear. Most all heavy industrial equipment in the world uses a form of planetary gears in operation. Automatic transmissions in autos use a form of sun gear. All old technology and well proven. If you are not aware of it there are two versions of the nexus 8. the standard and the premium. They share the same ratios but the premium has ultagra quaility bearings and seals. It is also lighter in weight and would be my choice. Check out Sheldon somewhat eccentric, fix most anything, been around a while, gearhub Brown's website. Browse around read his many articles on all kinds of gearhubs,and mechanical tips, Official shimano disassembly of Nexus 8(vidio). Don't overlook his article on how to make your chain and sprockets last longer. Here is a link to his latest 8speed bike for starters.http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/bianc...os8/index.html Here is a direct link to his internal gearhub article. http://sheldonbrown.com/internal-gears.html

thanks

:beer:

Thanks for pointing out this bike. I look at Sheldon's site pretty often but hadn't come across this bike yet. I've been tossing around the idea of building a bike based on this concept for a while now, using a modern frame (with horizontal dropouts) and a Nexus or Sram hub. I would add fenders. To my mind, this is a modernization of the '30's / '40's English Clubman type of bike. Versitale and Practical.

Regards,
Alan

In case you haven't found it yet here is the link to chain maintenance by Sheldon " Reformed Chain Smoker" Brown. http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html Link on article on how to extend your chain and sprocket life on a single speed or gearhub bike (will not work on derailleur system). By Sheldon" Even Numbers" Brown. http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chain-life.html

You're welcome. I feel many thanks should go to Sheldon Brown also. I like your build concept. You may have already seen this. If not, enjoy. http://www.sheldonbrown.org/raleigh-international/

Yes, I had seen the International. Great bike! I agree, Sheldon’s site is a great resource and I’ve thanked him, by email, more than once.

As mentioned, the build concept was inspired by English Clubman type bikes and over the winter, I put together a vintage version using a late ‘40’s Schwinn frame (chrome moly) and a S-A 3 speed. I’m having a lot of fun riding it this spring but think it would be great to have less weight (it’s around 30lbs) and more gears (I live in the Adirondacks). I’m thinking that the Gary Fisher Triton would also be a good starting point. The frame geometry seems a bit more relaxed than some of the other “track” bikes out there and it has fender mounts.

Anyway, this is all way off thread. Maybe I should start another one.

Regards,
Alan

I couldn't order a bike from Harris Cyclery because they can't ship anything bigger than a built up wheel to Canada. I had this cutom bike put together from a local bike shop: http://www3.sympatico.ca/nkpatel/urbanite.jpg
Perhaps it has some features you have in mind for your own bike. It has a light steel horizontal dropout frame, with a Shimano Nexus 8. The store uses these frames to build single speed courier bikes and hub-geared commuters like mine.
I don't have many miles on it yet, but it sure makes quick, fast seamless shifts. The store recommended yearly service on the hub regardless of milage and to always try and downshift at the bottom of the leg stroke. Power-on downshifting puts a lot of stress on the hub (instantly multiplying the torque) and repeated stress will reduce it's life. If I stick to these rules, the hub will last no matter how much milage is put on it.
Regards,
Nim

Looking Good Nim.:beer:

It is interesting that the "expert" is willing to pontificate on a subject he has no first hand knowledge of. Somebody that smart should confine himself to working on world peace.

I ride the beach bike trail every day-Im up to 40 miles on my longer rides.My Ultegra bike only lasted 1,000 miles here because you pick up tons of sand riding here.I built a track bike with the nexus premium 8 and it is getting close to 3000 miles-no maitenace except a bi-weekly hose off and chainlube its great,I love it.Also love my Bianchi Milano w/nexus and my 42 Schwinn replica w/nexus 7.You can buy the nexus premium 8 for 166 from Mr. Bike online.It is not "lighter than any group but dura ace" The hub weighs 3.41 lbs.-its probably heavier than Sora. But I dont think anything else could hold up under the tough conditions I ride.I have changed the tube on my track bike on the road and it took 40 min. but just because it was the first time,and the 175 psi tires took 15 min to pry off-my bike was 24 1/2 as built,stealing light parts from my other bikes brought it down to 24,a cheapo c.f. fork have it down to 23. As good as these hubs are,newer better stuff is on the way-sram has a new 9 speed coming and Shimano a new version of the 8 called ALFINE.I'm hoping to get one later this year and build a LeMond track bike that weighs 20 or 21.

I can see why you would love the internal gear hub because you don't know how to properly operate a regular derailer system! I only adjust mine when they they need it and that about once a year-maybe, and I ride an average of 5,000 miles a year! And I never have to: "see if the chain "caught" when shifting", and I have both friction and index shifters on my bikes; thats just a plain and simple problem of not knowing how to shift. The derailer system, especially the older friction units are extremily reliable and trouble free and easy to repair even on the road should a problem occur-try that with a internal gear hub!!

I'm just on page one, but the nuance is lots of people have had great experience with the Nexus 7. Interested has a lot of 2nd hand info to poopoo the Nexus 8, which is surprising the happy owners of different hubs. There's fairly little direct expericen with the N8.

There, you're caught up :P

I have heard many times of a catastrophic or at least serious derailer failure on the road, requiring maintenance. And yes, derailers are fairly easy to adjust and maintain in such an event. But I have never heard of a single catastrophic failure of an epicyclic hub on the road. That doesn't mean that it never happens, but it is extremely rare. This argument is brought up a lot by people who don't like internal hubs, but it's really no argument at all. It's a complete non-issue with any decent internal gear hub. I have not had a single problem, ever, from my S-A AW hub on the road. I haven't heard from users of other, newer hubs who've had problems. On the other hand, I can recall a few occasions where I've had to get off the bicycle and get my fingers dirty putting a thrown chain back on, or fixing a bent derailer hanger, or correcting any number of problems. Commuters on this board have mentioned having to make their derailer bikes into singlespeeds just to get home or to work. Seems to me that this dog doesn't hunt.

I have the Nexus four speed hub on my "rainy day/tropical storm/hurricane" bike. That's the bike I use when the weather turns bad, or I need to go through streets covered in a foot of water.

After both tropical storm Allison and hurricane Rita, my "storm" bike took me into areas that were closed to motor vehicles. Last year, I was visiting a friend whose low-lying neighborhood was so flooded that even the bridges out of the neighborhood were under water, and the Nexus hub was underwater for several blocks.

The combination of a Nexus hub, wide fenders, and coaster brakes enable the bike to work well when the water is up to the wheel hubs.

But, on a sunny day, with dry roads, I would rather be on a lighter bike with a few more gear choices. The Rohloff hub on a light frame would be my "ultimate" choice for an all-around urban utility bike, if the day came I had lot of extra money laying around. The Rohloff has enough gears to climb Mt. Everest, and is tough enough to last longer than I will.

You forgot the front der and 2 extra chainrings.

How far is your commute per trip, what is the quality of the streets in the city you commute on, and what is the average rainfall there?