I am not 100% sure, but would think it would make sense. If I had to guess they buy chains at one length from whoever their chain company of choice is. It would make sense that if say they have 1000 x 114 link chains sitting around that they would not want to cut 1000 chains. Even if it takes an extra 30 seconds that means they have to pay 500 minutes worth of time to cut chains down. That is one persons job for the whole day basically, instead of fixing a real issue that may be happening with the thousands of bikes that they have rotating in and out of service.

I know that isn't much, but another factor is that they don't have much room in the dropouts or with the chain guards. So they can't get too crazy, at most maybe one tooth difference so I would assume that it should be close to the same chainring and cog.

Makes sense. But I don't know what the reality is.

Hi, I rode a NuVinci equipped 3rd Gen Citi Bike two days ago, It was great !
3rd Generation Citi Bike by AviationMetalSmith, on Flickr

3rd Generation Citi Bike by AviationMetalSmith, on Flickr

Seems like the high gear is quite high, and the low gear is quite low. The seat was an improvement too.

The front rack/basket was painted black on mine, frame number 33158
Bike_Lane_Protected_9thave_221b by AviationMetalSmith, on Flickr

Start
8 Ave & W 33 St
November 8th, 2017 11:15 AM
End
8 Ave & W 31 St
November 8th, 2017 12:49 PM
Trip time 1 hours 34 minutes 0 seconds

I try to stay away from the NuVinci bikes, given that I don't want to end up with a bike without a high gear.

The last few times that I did use it, I noticed if you turn the shifter to its highest gear, and there is a vague dented feel at the end, then it is likely engaging the overdrive gear. If it doesn't seem to have that feel, then it likely is adjusted incorrectly and you will be stuck pedaling away and going nowhere.

That does sound odd, judging by all the website feedback and my own experience it is supposed to be smooth transition throughout. I know that I've flagged bikes, when I used them last winter, for not shifting correctly. I took a picture of the bike number and tweeted them as well. They said the problem was resolved maybe try that if you do ride a NuVinci and it doesn't seem to hit the highest gearing.

As I said, I had a positive experience with frame number 33158.
I don't know if they are all continuously numbered , but I assume there are now over
+3158 new bikes with the NuVinci Gear Hub...

I'd like to ask everyone to tell us the frame number of any bike you have a problem with, so maybe we can confine it to a specific group of bikes.

Shifting in the direction of the red arrow will make shifting EASIER on the NuVinci ...

re: NuVinci shifting issues, in the midst of a ride today on a NuVinci-equipped bike that started out shifting normally / as expected, after I stopped at a red light (!), I resumed in the lowest setting and attempted to upshift. Instead of what I’m accustomed to, the pedals spun in the lowest setting while what I felt as I rotated the hand grip was similar to a conventional shifting cable when the nut-and-bolt that secure the cable to the derailleur loosens. The hand grip rotated through the full range to no effect. Once or twice before, I’ve found myself on a NuVinci-equipped bike that didn’t deliver the full shifting range to which I’ve become accustomed. In contrast, today, when the shifter failed, the hub defaulted to the lowest setting and stayed there. I was pedaling a fixie.

Dunno whether this description adds anything to what others have experienced. Further – this speaks to Motivate’s continued opacity – I haven’t a clue how frequent or rare this behavior is.

Spoiler alert!










"CITIBIKES" is the answer to 1A of today's NTY crossword puzzle. The clue is something like "New York City rentals". Tossed the paper in recycling when I was done.

Quite sad. It appears they should have kept the Nexus 3 speeds or at least move to Sturmey Archer 3. We don't have major hills in New York City and you can climb the bridges with a low geared 3 speed. I had a feeling the NuVinci would have issues on a bike share since the hub was not designed to be left on the streets 24/7 365 days a year.

I even heard the 3 speed was having issues so maybe they should make them all single speed bikes.

I've ridden dozens of NuVinci bikes by this point (and I was the first to report on coming across one, back when there wasn't even a hint of them, lo those many pages ago). So far I've come across two with notable problems. Once had a low high gear, and another had a very stiff shifter that was hard to turn. Otherwise, the "new, new" bikes have pretty much been fine. Sometimes it feels like there's some variation in the gearing from bike to bike, but I can't be sure, as there are other variables, and any differences are minor. Nothing is perfect, but in my experience, I've only had two problems bad enough to be worth pushing the "wrench" button, and I'm happy to ride a NuVinci bike when they're available.

There was a period when you could pretty much count on the gear hubs on the "new" bikes having a problem, almost ever time. Gears would skip, or the high gear would disappear altogether. Whatever occasional problems there are now is nothing like that situation.

And I most most certainly don't want them to go to single speed. On whichever bike, I pretty much always ride in high gear. If they were to go single speed, they would choose some compromise middle gear, which for me would mean spinning like a madman. It would be like riding one of the "old" bikes, which are geared pretty low, except worse.

Yeah, single speed would be a bad idea for Citi Bike, and I don't think it's necessary at all. 3 speeds were a good compromise, but if they can keep the NuVincis, even better.

[MENTION=314122]wilfried[/MENTION] – I agree: my preference is for Nuvinci-equipped bikes too, when / where they’re available.

My experience: the original Shimano hub remains rock-solid-reliable though the shifting range is relative limited (low, lower, lowest); the Sturmey-Archer hub is nice, but its reliability seems – anecdotally – to be the poorest of the three; the NuVinci hub gets my vote – except when it (rarely) fails.

I have an internally-geared rear hub (SRAM DualDrive) on a personal bike. When I bought it, I asked the seller about the failure mode. Obviously, there could be a bunch of failure modes, but I was told that if the shifting mechanism failed, the hub would default to 1:1. I’m clueless about the Citibike Shimano hub failure mode because I haven’t encountered it and I haven’t read about anyone else’s experience. Apparently, the Sturmey-Archer and NuVinci hubs have a bunch of alternative failure modes. I haven’t experienced all of ‘em. The Sturmey-Archers fail most frequently, but overall, the failures are rare. And by “failure”, I mean “nuisance”. The wheels keep spinning.

BTW, I was recently in Toronto. Their bikeshare system relies entirely on frames like Citibike v1.0 and the Shimano hubs. Folks with whom I chatted seemed pleased with the system, but what I observed was most of the folks on the streets were riding personal bikes, even in areas well-served with docks. I don’t know what conclusions to draw.

My comment about the NuVinci-turned-fixie wasn’t to dump on the NuVinci hub; merely an effort to continue crowd-sourcing information. What we hear from Motivate is merely cheerleading, not informational, so thanks for the continued contributions.

Interesting about Toronto. I wonder, will they get the newer bikes as they replace them? Has the system expanded at all? That's when we start to see new model bikes in large numbers. What about Boston, or DC, or other Motivate run cities? Do they have the newer bikes?

https://www.fordgobike.com/ These guys are completely 100% NuVinci hubs and the newest frames. From what all the press releases have said.

I just discovered I can ride without my key, which I’ve misplaced. Stick in my credit card, confirm my identity, get an access code, enter the code into a dock, and pull the bike.

Jersey City have been getting bikes with the NuVinci hubs. The few that I have ridden, they seem to have adjusted so that I can engage overdrive.

When I take out bikes from docks and I see bikes with NuVinci hubs, I try to twist the knob to see if I feel the indentation at the end of the turn. Today, a couple did not have that feel, and a third one seems like it did. But once I started riding, the feel was not there, and I had to ride the whole way at a middling pace.

I will have to get some reference feel of the shifters on the Jersey City bikes w/NuVici hubs.

What I’ve consistently experienced with a Citibike with the NuVinci hub: the full shifting range is NEVER available when the bike isn't rolling, but if the rear wheel is rotating – even walking the bike – I can adjust the hub through the full range. Except when I can't, in the admittedly rare instances when there’s a maintenance or setup problem.

I only tried that technique 4 or 5 times, with mixed result. So I will keep trying to feel if I can feel the shift to overdrive while still in the docks. But I don't know where you get your bikes, my chance of getting one w/o overdrive is 50% or more. That's compared to 0% in the few times I tried them in JC.

And they don't charge your card? That's good to know. But if I lose my key, I've also lot of all my other keys, so I'd have bigger problems.

It was ON my key ring! I took it off temporarily and lost it immediately. In my bedroom. So strange.

My “Founding Member” key died early. While I waited for the replacement, using the credit card linked to my Citibike account was the alternative. Worth noting: I was only offered this alternative after I raised a bit of a ruckus. At that time (original software / original kiosks), whenever I wanted a bike, I had to read through “War and Peace” (or bumph about that long) on the kiosk’s tiny screen, and additional charges kicked in after 30 minutes. I’m glad the arrangement has been streamlined.

I'm back to riding the citibike after a couple of weeks hiatus due to snow and WFH, missing out on the coldest weather. During the last few morning rides, the pedals feel real slippery, causing my foot to slip off a few times, including almost falling off while pedaling while out of the saddle, and a bunch of scabs on my shin. I eventually ended up pedaling with the arch or heel of my foot on the pedal and not being able to push the big gear (this is one time I don't really care if the NuVinci hubs doesn't go into overdrive...actually I still do, today's NuVicinci's overdrive was extremely low). On my ride back in the early evenings, I have no such issue.

I have been wearing some old Raichle boot of mine, granted the lugs are not as deep as my newer boot, but they still grip fine in snow and the thin film of ice that were on the sidewalk this morning. I was wondering if the cold weather are causing the pedals' rubber base to become non-pliable and losing its traction. I might have to bring one of those ice grippers slip on for shoes with me.

I hadn't ridden any bike in a while, and last night, I decided to ride to my choral rehearsal, 4.8 miles each way. I took Citi Bike and brought my ski helmet for warmth. My route has snow, ice, and slush on it, and the bike handles those extremely well. Now I see what you mean about the NuVinci not providing the highest ratios, though I can never be sure I'm missing out. My first bike offered a very high highest ratio, so that must be working. Today, I took a 6.7 mile joy ride on Citi Bike, and I'm pretty sure I wasn't getting the highest ratio. But it was OK. Does anyone know what goes wrong inside the hub?

I ride with my seat low on Citi Bike. It works for me. My knees do straighten out, but I try to pedal with my arches. It turns out to be better than I thought. I've injured my feet permanently pedaling with the balls of my feet.

I have posted earlier, it seems that the hub has to be installed in full overdrive position:

Citibikes have started!


As for the slipping pedals, I rode another citibike this morning again, with the ice grippers on hand in case I needed it. I did not encounter any slip w/o the ice grippers, even though the weather was pretty cold.

Suspecting it was due to me not walking over snow before mounting onto the bike, thus having a layer of snow on my sole, allowing some slippery film to form, I smeared my feet in some pile of snow but there were no slip. I also stepped in some puddle (albeit salted) and it was still the same. I did notice the surface of the pedals were a bit worn, maybe the plasticky surface that has such low coefficient of friction when cold has worn off?