Anyone commuting with hub gears?

[mustang1]

I am interested in your experiences using Rohloff, Nexus, Alfine, Sturmey.

What distance have you traveled? How often do you service it? What do you dis/like about it? What made you choose one brand over another?

 

[mjr]

I've travelled thousands of miles on Sturmey Archer SRF3 which replaced a Nexus Inter 3 coaster braked hub. I've another bike with an SA AW which I bought to test the idea of hub gears out again after a long break.

Servicing consists of a top up of Landrover front swivel grease every month or two and occasional dismantling and inspection if anything feels wrong. That's one of the benefits. Another is the simplicity of operation and availability of standstill gearshifts.

I switched from Shimano to Sturmey because of the better parts availability (the ring bearings are rare in the UK and Shimano expect you to buy a new hub if anything breaks) and excessive driver slop in the Inter 3.

 

[A1kc]

Not a commuter - retired. Two hub gear bikes, Raleigh pub bike with Alfine 8, Moulton tsr with Rohloff speed hub.
Overall over 1000 miles a year each bike, longer rides and more miles on Moulton.
Rohloff is great - works very well with cinq5 shifter. Coming up to its first oil change.
Couldn't put a £1000 hub on a pub bike - but very satisfied with Alfine 8. One service - dunked the innards in Shimano's own brand gloop. Alfine skipped a few changes when new, nothing serious. Virtually no problems after I serviced it.
Very happy with both hubs/bikes.

 

[biggs682]

I use a 1950's Raleigh that now has a 3 speed sturmey archer hub and often does 20+ mile rides as well as daily commutes

 

[ren531]

I use a 29 Beinn Islabike that had originally 8 speed derailier gears with a frame ready to covert to hub gear , tried a 8 speed nexus 1st it felt very inefficient so I built up into a wheel a 7 speed sram spectro that is a much better hub no wasted energy issues , I commute 13 miles a day pull it apart once a year to clean and regrease it its much less messy and easier to maintain than the derailier set up , to me it is the perfect commuter bike , I believe that this hub is now out of production , I bought mine NOS from ebay .

 

[John_S]

Hi mustang1,

I commute all year round in all weathers doing at least 12 miles each way using a Genesis Day One Alfine 8 which has the Shimano Alfine 8 IGH.

Things I like:-
The fact that I have a single chainring and sprocket I think makes cleaning quicker & easier which is something that I definitely appreciate in the winter.
There are less parts exposed to the elements which again I think is a good thing especially during winter use.
I think that bar end shifters might be a little bit marmite in that you either love or hate them but I really like mine for shifting.

Things that I don't like:-
I have had a repeating problem with gears slipping which some different LBS have looked at and solved temporarily but eventually it has always resurfaced. Perhaps I've just been unlucky but I'm currently in the process of taking this bike apart to service it and when rebuilding I'm going to replace the shifting cable with a Jagwire one and also follow some other tips that I've had to hopefully try and solve this problem once and for all.

Things that just don't worry me
When commuting there are factors other than weight which are more important to me such as convenience and practicality which means that for me I'm not bothered about the weight of the IGH however for some if they are weight obsessive then an IGH might not be for them.
Gear range/ratio - I live in Norfolk and although I do go up and down some slightly undulating terrain I'm not cycling up & down any Alps and so the range is fine for my commuting use and the fact that there are perhaps larger jumps in the ratios between each gear compared to say a 10 or 11 speed cassette on a derailleur set up again this does not worry me on my bike for commuting.

I didn't research one hub gear versus another but when buying a bike I wanted something that I could get via the Cyclescheme from a LBS and also something with drop bars and that very much narrowed my options of off the shelf bikes to what I think may have only been the Genesis and nothing else so that's why I ended up with the Alfine hub and not something else.

For commuting use I'd definitely have another IGH equipped bike.

Hope that this helps.

John

 

[Venod]

No commuting experiences with hub gears but I ran a Orange P7 mtb with a Rohloff hub for a couple of years, very good range of gearing, a quality piece of kit, it was just a bit heavy at the rear to chuck about on technical tracks, but would be my choice for a hub geared commuter, I sold it to MTB guide leader who lead groups in North Wales.
I should have kept it and built it into a road wheel.
Highly recommended but a bit expensive.

 

[mickle]

I've commuted on 3 and 4 speed Shi**no, 3 and 7 speed Sachs/SRAM, a Fallbrook NuVinci continuously variable and currently on a (sadly no longer made) SRAM Automatix 2 speed.

Not particularly high daily mileage but I had the NuVinci hub the longest and loved it. I'm enjoying the Automatix very much for its simplicity and badassness. But then I live on a flat surface.

 

[Moodyman]

Alfine 8. Do about 3k commuting miles per year on it. Great in Autumn and Winter.

Pros: Reliable, low maintenance, durable and long mileage per chain.

Cons: must be set up right to work flawlessly, needs annual service or every 3k miles (whichever sooner), you must be prepared to work on it as not many bike shops understand them and changing tube is a bit more hassle as there are a couple of extra steps.

Ohhh...as there's only 8 gears, they're spaced out so you're either in too low a gear or too high.

They're great for commuting/utility use and encourage a more relaxed riding style.

 

[Edgy Dee]

Nexus 8 on a Bike Friday: The BF is not a compact folder, but it unfolds into a pretty great bike. I take it on buses and trains and have never been challenged. My current commute is 8 miles each way. The Nexus is completely reliable in all weather conditions, and almost maintenance-free (dunked in oil once in 12 years). It's good for the stop-start of urban riding, and I find the range and gaps adaquate - you young 'uns have it easy! I was raised on the ol' Sturmey AW. Back in the day that was viewed as the tourers option. Real cyclists used the narrow range version. Speaking of which, I also have a Dawes Kingpin with an AW that I have ridden a century on, including a section of the Ayrshire Alps. Downside of hubs tends to be weight, but they have their place. Not for the sportive though...

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I was raised on the ol' Sturmey AW. Back in the day that was viewed as the tourers option. Real cyclists used the narrow range version. Speaking of which, I also have a Dawes Kingpin with an AW that I have ridden a century on, including a section of the Ayrshire Alps. Downside of hubs tends to be weight, but they have their place. Not for the sportive though...

Before I had a car I went everywhere, including 8 mile work commutes, on a 3-speed Sturmey AW equipped roadster, and never had any problem with it whatsoever. So long as you oil them and adjust the selector rod correctly for 2nd gear the things are totally reliable, idiot proof, and there's no derailleur mechanism bits hanging down near the road to damage. The only downside to the AW hub is the ratio gaps are big, and the overall gearing is a bit OTT, although you can improve them a lot with a 20T rear cog instead of the standard 18T. I'm a big fan of hub gears, and I don't even see that much weight penalty when you consider you can do away with two derailleur mechs and a freewheel cluster, plus a hub gear chain is shorter.

 

[Edgy Dee]

Before I had a car I went everywhere, including 8 mile work commutes, on a 3-speed Sturmey AW equipped roadster, and never had any problem with it whatsoever. So long as you oil them and adjust the selector rod correctly for 2nd gear the things are totally reliable, idiot proof, and there's no derailleur mechanism bits hanging down near the road to damage. The only downside to the AW hub is the ratio gaps are big, and the overall gearing is a bit OTT, although you can improve them a lot with a 20T rear cog instead of the standard 18T. I'm a big fan of hub gears, and I don't even see that much weight penalty when you consider you can do away with two derailleur mechs and a freewheel cluster, plus a hub gear chain is shorter.

Just checked: AW is 1095g; Shimano Claris 2 x derailleurs plus cassette = 680g; Nexus 8 is 1550g. Looks like we both have a point! I've always fancied putting an AW into a really lightweight setup he he.

 

[mjr]

Just checked: AW is 1095g; Shimano Claris 2 x derailleurs plus cassette = 680g; Nexus 8 is 1550g. Looks like we both have a point! I've always fancied putting an AW into a really lightweight setup he he.

You need to deduct the weight of the Claris freehub too. I can't find it listed but an Ultegra is 342g and I'd be surprised if it's lighter.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I've always fancied putting an AW into a really lightweight setup he he.

This idea also appeals to me; Reynolds lugged frame, alloy crankset, alloy 700c's, alloy stem & seatpost, lightweight mudguards. Should be possible to build a sub-30 lb bomb-proof and totally reliable sports roadster. You could even go for drops and have a copycat old-school weekend clubman's type bike from the pre-derailleur era. Other than possibly the occasional puncture, you could go anywhere in complete confidence that you would never have a journey-stopping mechanical.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

I've covered ~13,000 miles on my Alfine 8, using it as my daily commuter. It's been extremely reliable and, aside from one shifting problem that was traced to a fault in the shifter, it's been no problem.

It was mentioned up thread that this needs a service every year/3,000 km but I've not found that necessary. While trying to identify the shifting problem, I was worried that it might be because I'd gone 10,000 miles without touching the hub, or even the gear cable adjustment, so I scoured YouTube for all I could find about checking and servicing the hub. There were all sorts of scare stories and talk of specialist Shimano service kits at nearly £100 (every 2,000 miles?!) so I found one channel where the guy seemed very knowledgeable and had decent videos.

I bought the things I needed and removed the hub and carefully split it open. I was ready for the horror of orange coloured sludge from the reported water ingress problem but was delighted to see that there was absolutely no evidence of this at all. The grease was still beautifully milky white, with everything looking like it had just come off the assembly line. So, despite having got that far and having bought the stuff for doing a lube bath, I decided to leave well alone. If it works, don't fix it!

I like the simplicity of it, not having to regularly fettle with it as I did when using derailleur gears, and that fact that it's all enclosed. Which reminds me, I must see if I can find a chain enclosure to get even more life out of my chain.

My reason for choosing Alfine-equipped bike was a compromise between reliability and cost. I couldn't afford a Rohloff and the reviews of the Nexus were off-putting.