So I've been bicycle commuting for about a year now, and on a decent hybrid for about six of those, and with my cycle scheme due for renewal in six months or so I'm thinking about my next bike.
I'm thinking of having some oddball custom bike made up for me by a local shop (assuming this would still qualify for the cycle scheme) based on my gradually increasing experience of riding certain types of bike and vague things I've learned (which may well be wrong!) about bicycle components.
Be good to get some clarification on my thoughts if anyone minds?
The big one is that as my commute is relatively flat, I only use about three or four gears out of the available 24 on my bike (pretty much always in the outer ring on the pedal gears if that's the right terminology) so was wondering about the practicality of hub gears. Now I understand they are a lot lower maintainance than regular gears , and they seem quite elegant a system, but do they give much of a range compared to regular gears? As my needs are fairly limited, might having a bike fitted with such a gearing system be a good idea, or have I got the wrong end of the stick here?
I'm thinking of having some oddball custom bike made up for me by a local shop (assuming this would still qualify for the cycle scheme) based on my gradually increasing experience of riding certain types of bike and vague things I've learned (which may well be wrong!) about bicycle components.
Be good to get some clarification on my thoughts if anyone minds?
The big one is that as my commute is relatively flat, I only use about three or four gears out of the available 24 on my bike (pretty much always in the outer ring on the pedal gears if that's the right terminology) so was wondering about the practicality of hub gears. Now I understand they are a lot lower maintainance than regular gears , and they seem quite elegant a system, but do they give much of a range compared to regular gears? As my needs are fairly limited, might having a bike fitted with such a gearing system be a good idea, or have I got the wrong end of the stick here?