Cheap low maintenance work horse (with hub gears)

willardx

Hi,
Ive been bike commuting for 10 years now and my globe vienna 2 , after 2 transmission changes and a freshly snapped off derailleur needs replacing. My commute is only 3 miles each way , half on road, half off. I am looking to replace with a similar flat bar hybrid and am looking at a bottom end sirrus for £300 ish. I would really like to switch to hub gears for ease of maintenance but don't want to spend much more than £350. I have seen the foffa urban but there seems to be a lot of neggy reviews. Are there any half decent hub gear options ( i don't mind a 3 gear hub as am in Essex and not too many hills) at this price level. I can transfer pedals, saddle, stand, rack etc from old bike so don't need them included.
Cheers
Will

supersonic

Not much about (at any price level), but to get the ball rolling, this is a possibility:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/cube ... lsrc=aw.ds

willardx

Ideal but only in mini frame! I need an xl or 22" really Cheers. Good bargains on there

The Rookie

Any frame (such as your Globe) and use a chain tensioner?

graeme_s-2

If you'd be happy with a 3 speed hub gear, have you considered a single speed instead? Might give you some more options?

andy9964

£150 more than your limit, but an old mate of mine (60+ years cycling and a collection of at least 10 bikes) loves this. 9 speed hub, belt drive
http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/product ... -sc2-ig-16

willardx

Thanks all,
What's a chain tensioner??
Don't really want a fixed as have some gradients to cover. Like the look of the Marin. May shop around on that. Thank for the input. Any idea of the cost of retrofitting a shimano nexus to my Globe???? Probably more expensive than its worth???

Poitr

willardx wrote:

Thanks all,
What's a chain tensioner??
Don't really want a fixed as have some gradients to cover. Like the look of the Marin. May shop around on that. Thank for the input. Any idea of the cost of retrofitting a shimano nexus to my Globe???? Probably more expensive than its worth???

Chain tensioner screws into the dérailleur hanger on a bike with vertical dropouts to allow the use of hub gears or single speed.

As you can't move the wheel back to tension the chain a tensioner like the one in the pic can do it to allow hub gears to be used on your current frame.

willardx

That sounds interesting will have to have a look on ebay. Many thanks

The Rookie

Planet X sell a decent single sped tensioner. You can use a standard rear mech either as is or with the cage cut down to a single jockey but it doesn't look to pretty!