Anyone commuting with hub gears?

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Edgy Dee

Cranky Old Guy
Location
Scotland
I'm defining light as light compared with the sort of weight you'd expect on an all-steel utility bike - which may be around 36-37 lbs. depending on size. 23 lbs is already ultra light to begin with - that's what I consider a "one finger" weight bike, meaning I can pick it up off the ground and carry it using only the strength in one finger . Thing is, how robust & durable are the wheels & mechanicals going to be at that weight? A commuter machine needs to be tough enough to take regular punishment without things breaking and wheels going out of true every five minutes. With a pro set-up there will be mechanics on hand to keep the things in good shape along with spare bikes, so they will make that trade-off between weight and durability. You as an unsupported commuter are not going to want to spend half your free time on bike maintenance as well as riding to and from work. I'd be very surprised if it was actually possible to get sub-20 lb on a steel frame, even if you ran super-skinny racing tyres and the lightest possible set of mechanicals. i doubt it would be at all comfortable on real-life crappy road surfaces.
There's a compromise in here somewhere (isn't there always with bike curation!) Anyway, project definitely on the list... after a couple of others... but I hope to get back to you sometime... :thumbsup:
 

Crankarm

Guru
Location
Nr Cambridge
Rohloff since 2008 or so. No idea how many miles that is 30k+ easily. Mostly commuting but a couple of longer tours too. It's started slipping a little, occasionally in one gear, now. Suspect it needed a few more oil changes than the one a year I've given it. Only other service is replacing the change cable, which I've done twice. It's a little fiddly, but not hard.

Very very easy to ride and robust ideal commuting.

Gear range is superb, spacing slightly wider than a dedicated racer, but no overlap. I do use all 14, and would feel very restricted with just 8.
I would recommend getting disc brakes though (I don't), as having to have the wheel rebuilt when the rim wears out is a pain, but otherwise no issues (apart from cost!)

I'm riding the Raven Sports Tour ~ 12kg with mudguards, rack etc. At the time the shifter didn't fit on drops, so I have short flat bars, with drop bar ends that works very well, and hard;y notice it isn't actually 'proper' drop bars.

If you return the hub, or wheel, to Rohloff they will service the hub and fix it if indeed there is a problem with it.
 

chriscross1966

Über Member
Location
Swindon
Average 15km a day on weekdays on a Brompton extensively modified to accept an Alfine 11... way more fun to commute than when it was a three speed ... hub needs a careful initial setup and a yearly oil change. Would recommend the Alfine happily and have bought another for the sunny days Brompton... also Spyre disc brakes go well with it. Only main bugbear is the shifter choice, the Versa brifter is a bit odd, the Jtek thumbshifter is lovely but expensive and the stock speedshifter is the single ugliest bicycle component ever.
 

humboldt

Well-Known Member
After using a Nexus hub for a while now I think I prefer it for commuting and general urban riding simply because stop-start journeys due to roadworks/traffic lights/selfish drivers feel a lot less frustrating if I can drop to a low gear at a standstill and easily set off again. Less maintenance and a lack of delicate exposed parts are also huge bonuses obviously although finding a LBS who will do a good job when the time comes may be a problem. My wife has had the same hub for quite some time and it's been having problems slipping through gears, or the opposite and is getting stuck near the top; the guys down the road who were perfectly competent with a derailleur will take it for a service but the problems keep coming back so I'm not convinced they know what they're doing (to be fair the inside of the hub might as well be powered by witchcraft to me).
 

chriscross1966

Über Member
Location
Swindon
All the Nexus/Inter/Alfine hubs are very sensitive to setup, even more than the 5speed Sturmey ones. Because oc that you really want to fit high quality gear cables and expect to redo the setup a couple of times a year.
 

glasgowcyclist

Charming but somewhat feckless
Location
Scotland
All the Nexus/Inter/Alfine hubs are very sensitive to setup, even more than the 5speed Sturmey ones. Because oc that you really want to fit high quality gear cables and expect to redo the setup a couple of times a year.

I've covered over 13,000 miles in three years on my Alfine hub with no need for adjustment in all that time. I did recently suffer a broken shifter but have never needed to redo the setup or perform an oil change.
 
IMG_20180819_172211~2.jpg
but have never needed to redo the setup or perform an oil change.

Oil change is to remove small metal chips and particles which come from the gear cogs. The first oil change is the most important one, after the cogs have bedded into each other.

Photo of oil bath I did today after 2 years hard use of an old Alfine that has done 40,000 odd miles over the last 10 years.
Some of the specks are metallic.
 
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glasgowcyclist

Charming but somewhat feckless
Location
Scotland
What ever IHG you have, you have to keep up with the oil changes if this is what is lubricating the hub.

I did split it open recently to check the inside and the original grease was still pristine white, with no signs of contamination.
 

Denis99

Über Member
Location
South Wales
I have a NuVinci IGH on my Trek Super Commuter ebike.

Hub has been ridden for 1,800 miles in the last 10 months.

Heavier than the Rohloff and drag giver as well, gear range is less also.

On the positive side, no maintenance required, very smooth as it is a continuous variable gear and exceptionally quiet.

On ebike I think it works really well, maybe not so much of a first choice compared to the Rohloff on a normal human powered bike.
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next

Edgy Dee

Cranky Old Guy
Location
Scotland
I've covered over 13,000 miles in three years on my Alfine hub with no need for adjustment in all that time. I did recently suffer a broken shifter but have never needed to redo the setup or perform an oil change.
Similar experience. I have a Nexus 8 in my Bike Friday. It's over 10 years old now, and I've had it serviced (oil-bath) by the LBS once in that time. It feels well run in, if a bit hefty weight-wise. I'm not sure what set up is needed. You put it into 4th and use a barrel adjuster to line up an indicator. Folding the Friday can put it out, but it's pretty easy to re-align. The only thing is that it can slip if that adjustment is out.
 
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