Cycling UK Forum

got to love the hub gear.

My dream bike of the future will certainly be hub geared. The nexus does the worst rep for maintenance and efficiency, but is the easiest for wheel changing and adjustment.

I have nexus on my 18th month old daily commuter birdy and never had a problem with the changing. Cant speak for the efficiency as the birdys not very efficient anyway.

Well I'm another victim of poor Nexus sealing ('premium' 8S25). Almost seemed programmed to self destruct as the warranty expired. Regular but light use, covered standing . It seems the case 6 monthly re greasing is required - but that pretty much defeats the low maintenance object.

So whether to reward Shimano for their duff product by overpaying at component prices for a replacement ? Go single speed ? Or don't throw good money after bad and get a Thorn ?

I've been commuting and leisure riding for 12 years on a non suspended trek aluminium 7000 MTB with 1.5" slicks and touring front rings. Apart from chains + sprockets and tyres every couple of years, not much else has worn out, gear indexing is always spot on and even the wheels are still good. It gets ridden hard as I am quite fit and fast and it's not cleaned nearly as often as it should be.
Indestructable machine and still a joy to ride.
Only thing I'd change is putting on a front disc, I may have to keep an eye on the rims in the future.

Paul M wrote:Well I'm another victim of poor Nexus sealing ('premium' 8S25).So whether to reward Shimano for their duff product by overpaying at component prices for a replacement ? Go single speed ? Or don't throw good money after bad and get a Thorn ?

Or try a SRAM, my 5 speed was second hand, I've no idea of the mileage, it's a few years old, looks like it's had a hard life and works faultlessly. The Thorn is a great bike, but in my opinion it needs more than light use to warrent the cost.

Georgezippybungle, I still do use conventional geared bikes but I was stranded communiting with broken chains twice in a year, and seemed to be forever tweaking for better indexing. I guess the narrower 8+ sets are more prone to this. Plus it's great to shift down standing at lights.

If you can get your car serviced once a year (plus air pressure/oil levels checks) it shouldn't be out of the question for a bike.

PH You're right about justification. I could move further from work I've been looking at the idea of a spare set of wheels for off-road use (had a Whyte nicked by local Yoofs), but can't see it's a realistic option. Equivalent SRAM is £150 plus wheel. Still greased not oiled. I think I'll go fixie, if those despatch riders can hack it all day I should be fine.

Might be a bit of a bugger with the Bob Yak come shopping day.... there's always the car I suppose.

Paul M wrote:Georgezippybungle, I still do use conventional geared bikes but I was stranded communiting with broken chains twice in a year, and seemed to be forever tweaking for better indexing. I guess the narrower 8+ sets are more prone to this. Plus it's great to shift down standing at lights.

If you can get your car serviced once a year (plus air pressure/oil levels checks) it shouldn't be out of the question for a bike.

.

Wow you're unlucky with broken chains, maybe I am too weedy to do that, I do tend to break the little round bits in the links after a while but the chain still hangs together albeit with lots of crunching.
I have never had more than 7 cogs on the back of anything so cannot vouch for indexing on those. Was impressed with some of the new 8 speed hubs I saw at the bike show, would be interested to try one for a while. Some say there is a slight loss of efficiency in some gears...?

I would seriously consider a fixed or singlespeed for commuting. Simple, efficient and virtually maintenance free.

Georgezippybungle. Unlucky wth chains.Maybe that's what the shop said since it ws relatively recent - but action speak louder than words and they wouldn't give me a free replacement for faulty goods. On Sunday a teenage girl asked me where the nearest bike shop was - because she had a broken chain. Didn't look like a sprinter, but did have a rusty chain. That's the non cycling public for you. Listen to their bikes as you go pass. Half of 'em are 'between gears'.

Richard. Judging by the despatch riders you're right. Who would have thought gear technology ws given up on by such serious cyclist in the C21 ? We can have 30 gears but they find 1 more practical. Says a lot

I keep an old hack for commuting. It is kept in good enough condition for the 30 mile round trip but the weather and conditions at work take their toll. So I accept that every couple of years or so I will have to scan the newspapers for old bikes up for sale. Can usually pick something up for £30 or so and don't mind thrashing it to death. Currently I am using an old Raleigh Pioneer, built from scaffold tubes with the weight of a small tank but this is into its third winter now and is still going.I would certainly never consider using my tourer or beloved Cannondale for the commute.

D

Diogenes, I have tried that approach and it can work pretty well. I've found that it's best to get an old unfashionable but decent quality model. Keeping cheap hacks in a reasonable state is just too much effort. The brakes on one would stop returning properly overnight in wet weather. So the point of the Subway 8 wasn't too save money (far cheaper than the alternatives anyway), just to save my time in the garage. Jump om and go. And once I get a fixie on the back hopefully I can return to that goal. At least the roller brakes are doing well so far.