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Internal gearhubs are drastically more reliable than derailleur gears and require almost no maintenance. They use an epicyclic gear train in a sealed oil bath,
by jdietrich 9y ago
Internal gearhubs are drastically more reliable than derailleur gears and require almost no maintenance. They use an epicyclic gear train in a sealed oil bath, so most of the mechanical parts are protected from moisture and foreign objects. The use of a gearhub also facilitates the use of an enclosed chaincase, or a belt or shaft drive.
The Sturmey Archer 3-speed gearhub has existed largely unchanged since 1938 and is faultlessly reliable, even when horribly neglected. As long as they're rebuilt every 10,000 miles or so, they'll last a lifetime. They're the standard gearing option on Dutch utility bikes and were once the most popular of all bicycle gearing systems. The only real downside of the Sturmey Archer gearhub is that it offers a narrower range of ratios than a derailleur system, although it's more than adequate for utility cycling in moderately hilly areas.
Newer gearhubs offer eight, eleven or fourteen ratios, matching the gear range of a mountain bike derailleur system. They're less popular than derailleur gears because of the higher cost and marginally higher weight, but I think that they're a vastly superior choice for utility cycling. One great advantage for casual cyclists is that gearhubs change smoothly and instantly, even under heavy pedal load or at a complete stop. Changing gears on a derailleur system requires a degree of finesse to avoid jerky changes and dropped chains.
Rohloff manufacture the most sophisticated of all gearhubs, which have been successfully used on several round-the-world tours.
- analog31 9y agoYup, I have 2 Sturmey-Archer 3-speeds in regular use, that are both 50+ years old and both have been virtually maintenance free. Of course my legs aren't as strong as an electric motor, but an e-bike could have a beefed up gearhub.
- mindB 9y agoCan you buy bikes that come with internal gearhubs on the consumer market, or is this always an aftermarket thing nowadays?
- jdietrich 9y agoYes, although they can be somewhat hard to find in some markets. Any Dutch or German bike shop will have a wide selection of bikes with gearhubs, but in the US you might need to speak to a dealer that specialises in urban utility bikes. Some department store cruiser and hybrid bikes have Sturmey Archer 3-speed gearhubs, although the rest of the bike may be mediocre. Dahon and Tern are both manufacturers of folding bicycles and both offer a good range of bikes with gearhubs. Folding bikes can be a very practical choice even if you don't use the folding feature very often - they're compact, agile and easy to ride.
- sbierwagen 9y agoI commute on a bike with a Shimano Nexus, and I feel I should push back a little on the greatness of internal hubs. You have to change the oil in the hub once a year or every five thousand km. The OEM oil costs seventy dollars a quart, but some people say ATF works fine. A bike shop will do it for you for forty or fifty dollars. If you use chain drive, the chain will stretch. This is largely invisible on a derailleur bike, since it has an automatic chain tensioner, but on a gear hub bike it has to be done manually, by moving the wheel backwards a couple millimetres in the frame. This takes two wrenches and ten minutes, and must be done monthly or biweekly, or else the chain will fall off when you hit a bump. (Ask me how I know) Belt drive and shaft drive bikes do exist but I have never seen them in person. For the first year of my bike's life I used a Hebie Chainglider: a plastic slimline chaincase that rides directly on the chain. It didn't seem to do anything at all, after twelve months the chain passed 0.75% stretch, so both the chain and the chaincase went in the trash. A conventional Dutch-style chaincase might work better, but I'm not confident.