Hub Geared Bike?

Gav2000

I'm looking for a winter bike / hybrid that I can use with the kids which will be used in addition to my best/road bike. I'm quite keen to keep winter maintenance to a minimum so can see the attraction of a Nexus hub geared bike. I have found 2 suitable example; the Edinburgh Bike Co-op Revolution Nexus and the Giant Escape R8.

My questions are firstly does anyone have any experience of these bike? Will they handle 6 mile rides with the kids and 20-25 mile winter rides in the rain?

Secondly, if I know the size of the chainset and the supplied rear sprocket can I work out the gearing for these bikes? I'm keen to know if these bikes with Nexus gearing cover the range of my road bike with a 50/34 chainset and 13-29 sprockets.

Cheers for any advice,

Gav.

sharm1969ca

i have a subway carrera 2 and can recomend it, good bike considering its from halfords, now i know there is a hub geared bike in this stable (carrera subway) 8 gears i think it is so should be ample for what you describe mate.

emdeef

I have a Carrera Subway 8. It's a vey good town bike. It has the premium version of the Nexus 8-speed hub. I replaced the 44 tooth chainring with a 36 as it was a bit overgeared for my location (Winchester - very hilly). I used it for my commute for a time (7 miles each way with some bridleway riding) which it coped with fine. I did this for a few months only, however, so not really any measure of likely longevity.

Might be worth checking your local Halfords in the Autumn. I bought mine at a big discount in September three years ago.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

A Nexus or Alfine hub gear with a 38T chainring and 17T sprocket would give you a very similar low gear (31.7 compared to 31.8 gear inches), while the high gear would be slightly weaker (103.8 compared to 97.5 gear inches)... using nominal 27 inch wheels and 172.5mm cranks.

Here is a calculator for you to play with (link to hub gear calc on that page)...
http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/index.html

jinnan_tonnix

I don't want to put you off, but.....

I bought a Saracen Pylon 2 with a 3 speed Nexus, the main reason for doing so would be the simple chainline and lower maintenance.

However, the Nexus 3 speed is not well sealed, and the bearings failed within months. It's also very difficult to service (and I'm not a bad mechanic) and after a while the gears were pretty rough.

Mind you, I did use it in pretty rough conditions, lots of water, mud and stonedust.

Just sayin'......

markybhoy67

I have a ridgeback nemesis which has an eight speed alfine gub.

I use it for commuting ten miles each way and take it for weekend runs, usually between twenty and thirty miles but I sometimes do a 60 mile cycle.

The bike handles the hills fine, infact I am changing the sprocket from a 20t to an 18t to give me a harder workout.

Gav2000

Thanks for the responses and the mention of a couple of extra bikes to consider.

I hadn't thought of changing the rear sprocket to tune the gear range if needed, I'll be wanting to match my road bikes low gear (as I'm hopeless on hills) do the highest gear isn't so vital.

Gav.

bomberesque

I have a cotic road rat fitted with an Alfine (19/44) and I have put about 2000 km into commuting on that in the last 6 months perhaps oiling the chain once a month if i'm feeling especially generous. It's been faultless so far

I was thinking I'd upgrade to a rollhoff if I got on with hubgears, but actually I can't see the point. The gear spread is enough (just been touring on it in Sweden) and if it goes bang then 250 euros for a whole new wheel/hub shifter, probably cheaper if I look around.

plus it runs soooooooo quiet that the scalps don't even know I'm coming :twisted:

secretsam

Just out of interest - where would one get such a thing as a hub-geared rear wheel? It sounds attractive for the City mobile...

bomberesque

SecretSam wrote:

Just out of interest - where would one get such a thing as a hub-geared rear wheel? It sounds attractive for the City mobile...

I got mine here price includes twist shifter and cable. you can do better but this one is pretty light for the build and has helt up under my fat @rse and fully loaded touring well so far. You also need the correct bolts to match your frame dropout type and if you don't have a sliding dropout or EBB you'll need a chain tensioner aswell.

secretsam

bomberesque wrote:

SecretSam wrote:

Just out of interest - where would one get such a thing as a hub-geared rear wheel? It sounds attractive for the City mobile...

I got mine here price includes twist shifter and cable. you can do better but this one is pretty light for the build and has helt up under my fat @rse and fully loaded touring well so far. You also need the correct bolts to match your frame dropout type and if you don't have a sliding dropout or EBB you'll need a chain tensioner aswell.

Hmmm...£230ish is not cheap...especially given recent investment in rear mech, chainset, new (well, new to me) wheels...curses, foiled again :evil: ...or maybe I should get another bike :twisted:

bomberesque

SecretSam wrote:

...or maybe I should get another bike :twisted:

n=b+1 8)

Jay dubbleU

Anyone tried the Charge Tap?

jedster

bomberesque,

have a cotic road rat fitted with an Alfine

Now I like the idea of that. Did you build it yourself or do cotic to a custom build service? I don't see an alfine option on their web site.

J

bomberesque

Built it myself

Some pictures here

secretsam

Jay dubbleU wrote:

Anyone tried the Charge Tap?

Didn't someone on here say that all Charge bikes are made with gas pipe? Too selfconsciously design for my tastes.

But then, I'm a bad tempered old g1t with all the style of a creosoted fence.

ride_whenever

As nice as the alfine's are, i'd rather have a sturmey or a rohloff.

One of the guys at the lbs where i work has about 5 rohloffs and they're just amazing, so smooth on the changes...

I really want one of the custom welded bromptons with a rohloff rear wheel 8)

secretsam

bomberesque wrote:

SecretSam wrote:

...or maybe I should get another bike :twisted:

n=b+1 8)

Que?

N0bodyOfTheGoat

number of bikes you want= current number +1

fury21

Jay dubbleU wrote:

Anyone tried the Charge Tap?

I have the Mixer, which is basically the same bike but upgraded to the Alfine and with disc brakes. So far, its been a great bike for my 4 mile each way commute.

The hub gears make it noticeably heavy towards the back end but its only something I notice when lifting the bike (into/out of the shed). On the road, its all smooth silent gear changing, apart from the odd clunk heading up or down to 5th (which is the 1:1 gear, I believe).

hydro disc brakes are nice but probably overkill and are certainly a barrier/hurdle to switching to most other handlebar types if you fancy a change. The Tap wouldn't have this problem.

Gav2000

ride_whenever wrote:

As nice as the alfine's are, i'd rather have a sturmey or a rohloff.

One of the guys at the lbs where i work has about 5 rohloffs and they're just amazing, so smooth on the changes...

I really want one of the custom welded bromptons with a rohloff rear wheel 8)

But what bikes are available with a Sturmey 8 speed? I had a 3 speed Sturmey when I was 8 but I think I've only found 1 flat bar bike with it now!

Gav.

ride_whenever

the sturmey 8-speed is pretty new, i know some of the pashleys have the 7spd and i think some of the dawes have it too, but tbh the only sturmey i actually want is the 3 speed fixed gear one.