What can realistically be expected from a 3 speed hub?

Postie John

I'm not too sure where to put this, so I'll start here.

A friend has asked for help.
He's after a budget 'about town/village' for his good lady.

He's swaying his decision between form and function.

A Charge Decanter or a Halcyon Aquilla, both attractively discounted.

One major sticking point, even though I'm pro Charge, is it only has 3 gears, compared to the Halcyon's 8.

Which leaves us with the question of the title.

What sort of incline can todays rural lady about town/village be expected to comfortably ride with 'only' 3 gears at her disposal?

richh

Isn't a better question "what sort of inclines is she having to ride up?" and then seeing what bike would be suitable?

To answer your question directly though, it would depend on what the three gears were and what her fitness is like. It's a bit hard to tell without a bit more info.

Edited to add that form the spec of the charge bike it look like she's got three gears ranging that with those wheels gives a gear inch value ranging from 44.6-79.3 which is roughly the equivalent of my compact BMC in 34-21 and 50-17. That suggests that she would ok on gradients up to perhaps 5-7%(perhaps a touch steeper) and would spin out quite quickly on descents - once again I have no idea of her fitness so maybe those numbers are way out!

Postie John

richh wrote:

Isn't a better question "what sort of inclines is she having to ride up?" and then seeing what bike would be suitable?

To answer your question directly though, it would depend on what the three gears were and what her fitness is like. It's a bit hard to tell without a bit more info.

You are quite right it is all a little vague.

The hub on the Charge is a Sturmey Archer AW-3 internal, Steel.

I guess I'm/he just after some reassurance that a 3 speed can propel 'a lady' over anything other than pan flat or downhill.

AchillesLeftKnee

Postie John wrote:

What sort of incline can todays rural lady about town/village be expected to comfortably ride with 'only' 3 gears at her disposal?

Whilst this clearly isn't even vaguely related to the answer you're looking for, the most awesome bit of climbing action I've witnessed recently took place on this...

http://app.strava.com/segments/649101

I was returning from a ride with some friends and, approaching said hill from the opposite direction, saw a woman in her 20s pop over the crest at what was a damn good pace considering how steep the end of the climb is. She was, however, utterly trumped a couple of seconds later by the woman of pension age riding up the 10%+ section on a classic "ladies shopper" with a grin on her face wide enough to stop the traffic and the air of one who's just popped out for a gentle potter in the country!

So, the short, profoundly unscientific answer is "about 15%".

Postie John

AchillesLeftKnee wrote:

Postie John wrote:

I was returning from a ride with some friends and, approaching said hill from the opposite direction, saw a woman in her 20s pop over the crest at what was a damn good pace considering how steep the end of the climb is. She was, however, utterly trumped a couple of seconds later by the woman of pension age riding up the 10%+ section on a classic "ladies shopper" with a grin on her face wide enough to stop the traffic and the air of one who's just popped out for a gentle potter in the country!

So, the short, profoundly unscientific answer is "about 15%".

I'll tell him he can expect his wife to ride a Charge Decanter over Ditchling Beacon on Christmas day, with a turkey in the basket

Postie John

richh wrote:

Isn't a better question "what sort of inclines is she having to ride up?" and then seeing what bike would be suitable?

To answer your question directly though, it would depend on what the three gears were and what her fitness is like. It's a bit hard to tell without a bit more info.

Edited to add that form the spec of the charge bike it look like she's got three gears ranging that with those wheels gives a gear inch value ranging from 44.6-79.3 which is roughly the equivalent of my compact BMC in 34-21 and 50-17. That suggests that she would ok on gradients up to perhaps 5-7%(perhaps a touch steeper) and would spin out quite quickly on descents - once again I have no idea of her fitness so maybe those numbers are way out!

Fabulous, uber geek and I'm very proud, I knew you guys would make up for my shortfall in knowledge, thanks.
She's early 50's but in good shape ... she doesn't work out or anything but she's not overweight or anything and likes her walking etc. It's typical Sussex terrain.

I think if it were 5 gears we wouldn't be having the conversation, I just don't have any knowledge of 3 speed hubs.
Even our postie bikes were 5 speed, even though I only ever used 1!

richh

No problem.

Having more gears may not make any difference though. the extra two gears might be between the upper and lower gears making the progression/gaps between them smaller, as opposed to giving a higher or lower gear than the 3-speed set up. You might find a 5 speed version that does though. You'd just have to look around.

AchillesLeftKnee

Postie John wrote:

I'll tell him he can expect his wife to ride a Charge Decanter over Ditchling Beacon on Christmas day, with a turkey in the basket

Oh, come on. That's just daft. The turkey should be in the oven on Xmas Day, not half way up the South Downs!

Postie John

I did have to fess the only reason the Charge Decanter came into the equation was because I'd listened to The Bike Show podcast, where the owner came across really well.

Postie John

What the frick does this mean:-

• Overall Range - 177%
• Gear 1 - 75% (-)25%
• Gear 2 - 100% Direct Drive (Gear 1 + 33%)
• Gear 3 - 133% (+)33.3% (Gear 2 + 33%)

Verses

Gear Ratio Total Difference 3.07
Gear Ratio 1 0.527
Gear Ratio 2 0.644
Gear Ratio 3 0.748
Gear Ratio 4 0.851
Gear Ratio 5 1.0
Gear Ratio 6 1.223
Gear Ratio 7 1.419
Gear Ratio 8 1.615

The 8 speed is a 38T front ring v 40T for the 3 speed.

Postie John

Just a quick bounce, in case anyone else what's to chip in over the weekend.

Mr Will

Let's be realistic here - she's unlikely to be worried about spinning out downhill, or maintaining an ideal cadence, so the three gears can be set up for Flat > Hill > Big Hill by changing the chainring as required.

For comparison purposes though, the stock gears are (roughly) as follows:
8 Speed: 0.53, 0.64, 0.75, 0.85, 1.0, 1.22, 1.42, 1.62
3 Speed: 0.75, 1.0, 1.33

As you can see, the 8 speed does go significantly higher and lower than the 3 speed but for the reasons above I wouldn't let it worry you. She should go for the bike she likes best, it'll make more difference than the number of gears

Paul 8v

I used to ride all over the place on a three speed, no problems and they're low maintenance no mechs to fiddle about with. If she's anything like my missus you'll spend ages sorting it all out and she'll never ride the thing anyway... :-)

trekvet

Although no one else has mentioned this yet, You can get different sprockets for 3-speed - http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/hub-gear-spr ... -prod2825/ - you just unclip the circlip and swap them over, about 5mins. once the wheel is out.

The 3/32inch will fit her 1/8th chain no problem. I fitted a different one on the wife's BSA Compact (folding 16inch) when I started cycling again a few years ago, but I found the frame flexed when pulling up hills. Also that my mate was always "busy" until I got a proper bike.