Anyone riding a bike with those Internal geared hubs??

martylaa

As above looking at the Scott Sub 10 which has the rear geared hub, its quite hilly where i am and just wondering if those 8 gears will be enough to tackle the big stuff, someone who has one has just replied his is fine, anyone know of any issues with them and what to look out for?
Cheers

asquithea

I ride a Charge Mixer 2010, which has an 8 gear Alfine hub (like the Scott).

The gears don't overlap, so I'd say I have 90% of the range on my MTB -- less bottom end, but a bit more high gear.

You might have issues if need to tackle a hill that you'd normally spin up in the lowest gear on an MTB, but otherwise I think you'd be OK. I live in Guildford, and I didn't have a problem pulling myself up the North downs -- such as the climb from Merrow to Newlands Corner. Not sure I'd want to tackle the Mount, though.

4th gear is appropriate for pulling away from lights on the flat. Since you can change whilst stationary, you'll beat most roadies away from the lights, and probably stay ahead.

The highest gear will give you ~25 mph before you spin out -- so not quite as much top end speed as you might always want, but pretty reasonable.

You should be able to change silently at all times, even when putting the power down, but I do find my hub hesitates a bit when changing up from 4th / 5th when I'm pulling hard from the lights. YMMV.

shouldbeinbed

Got and Alfine 8 and potter up and down the side of the pennines quite happily. +1 you lose the mega granny gear of an average MTB, but Alfine gear 1 is still ridiculously easy and far too spinny for riding on the flat.

at the top end I run out of gears at about 35mph but that's whizzing steep downhill and hanging on with my eyes shut - I get up the same hill in gear 2 usually, 3 on a good day and comfortably in 1 on a bad day.

martylaa

I don't live in the alps lol, but there are some steepish stuff near me starting to like the sounds of these alfina gear set-up's, hopefully my LBS has some in stock to ride tomorrow then.
Liking the look of those Scott's and Trek's now

Roastie

I'be been commuting Bath to Swindon with an Alfine - with some pretty big hills in between - the Alfine has (just) enough range. That said, I don't really need a gear as long as the top so for hillier territory (or touring) I'd swap the front ring for something smaller to lower the overall range.

fiftyacorns

i noticed you can get a commuter with the alfine and discs for £350 at halfords - seems a great deal for general riding

ps i dont have any affiliation to halfords just thought it was a good deal

geordiefella

I've got a Rohloff. Daily 30 miles on it. Good, perhaps the biggest thing is the gearing differences of that compared to road rings. I'd be happy to choose a double or compact and a road bike over a hybrid with a Rohloff if i were buying again. Roadies are still a lot faster I'd say.

vorsprung

martylaa wrote:

As above looking at the Scott Sub 10 which has the rear geared hub, its quite hilly where i am and just wondering if those 8 gears will be enough to tackle the big stuff, someone who has one has just replied his is fine, anyone know of any issues with them and what to look out for?
Cheers

To address your points

1) "its quite hilly where i am and just wondering if those 8 gears will be enough to tackle the big stuff" I live in Devon and used to commute on single speed. So "yes". Use a gear calculator to work out the ratios on the Scott and compare it with a bike you already have

2) "anyone know of any issues"..not with the Scott specifically but cheaper bikes of that type that don't have a chain tensioner or horizontal dropouts tend to have an eccentric bottom bracket. The Cannondale EBB has a bad reputation for adjusting and using, dunno about the Scott