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Long term aspirations - next years project...

(18 posts)
  • Started 10 years ago by Baldcyclist
  • Latest reply from Baldcyclist
  • This topic is not a support question

  1. Baldcyclist
    Member

    Still in search of the 'perfect' commuter, this year was the new frame, building my first wheel which was of the touring variety, and later this year I'll be building a dyno front wheel, and santa might bring me a Brooks for my birthday.

    So far, I seem to have managed to build a bike that weighs an absolute ton, but to be fair only 'costs' me 6 to 10 minutes in 22 miles, and it is so comfy the cost is actually worth it.

    I think I have persuaded myself that changing to hub gears will make that 'perfect' commuter a reality. Less maintenance will hopefully be the end result, and a cleaner look may just be an incidental bonus.

    I have no real experience of hub gears other than on my Pashley - 5sp Sturmey Archer which I don't particularly like, but interestingly hasn't yet put me off... I've heard that the Shimano Alfine hubs are pretty good, and reckon that's what I'll go with, so.

    There are 8 speed, and 11 speed versions available, does anyone have experience of both, and is the 11 speed worth the extra £100?

    And, what about Di2? The components seem to be similarly priced, but the cables, battery, and charger will set you back about £170. Is Di2 proven yet, would it stand up to 7000 miles a year in all weathers, and being left outside, not sure? Is it worth a £170 premium over mechanical Alfine?

    Am I just bonkers, should I stick to a derailleur system, easier to maintain, and put up with the need to replace something on the system every 3 months? Views....

    Posted 10 years ago #

  2. ARobComp
    Member

    I would suggest that Di2 might be overkill especially if you're going to be leaving it outside. I've heard things about them being affected by frost and ice quite badly. I also saw someone with di2 which froze up quite badly on a short winters day ride which was -something C.

    The alfine is meant to be really good though. My only experience with Shimano hugs (leaving that typo as it's pretty awesome) is really stripping and maintaining 30 or so 3 speed hubs for a year or so at Edinburgh Pedicabs. My only complaint was that Shimano have a tendancy to retire parts so it's not guarenteed future proof if you chose to buy an older model.

    Well done with your current project though!
    My next project is "earn enough money that my SO won't notice I bought some deep section carbon wheels" !

    Posted 10 years ago #

  3. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    @baldcyclist

    For what it's worth, I'm considering abandoning derailleur gears after quarter of a century commuting day in day out. They are a filthy, fettle-hungry pest. I was worried about the end-to-end range of ratios on hub gears, given that I tend to use one bike for all types of cycling, but of course with a chain tensioner you have the option of changing rear sprockets for road/trail.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  4. DaveC
    Member

    I've never had an infernal (yes.. ) geared hub, perhaps Dave can assist?

    I am happy changing my rear traditional gears when needed. And when cassettes come in at a tenner and similar for a chain from the online stores I can't see a problem with changing, though I usually leave it ~6 months when the thing starts to skip like an Ozzie Kangaroo before I change both cassette and chain together.

    Tiagra is cool for commuting and they are also cheap as chips every few years. Cabling done every couple of years? Whats to moan about? I like fettling with bikes in my mancave (TM) so I'm happy doing most of the work myself.

    On the weight issue (the bike!) I ride a Dawes Galaxy mainly and its fine - and I guess a similar weight to your beige beast? Ok, so not as light as my charcoal/plastic bike but then I pootle to work and am not fussed about shaving hunners of tenths of seconds off my commute time. I set off around my usual time and get to my desk when I do. Simples!

    I tried building a wheel with similar success. I have my new toy (recumbent) I still need to master so I have no personal goals for next year. I'm even happy with my weight especially as my female neighbour commented to Josie lastnight saying "Look at Dave, he's fit as!" :D

    Your choice your money mate, but you yourself said the White (Black) bike never felt right, and the Beige Beast (TM) (C) felt great straight our of the wrapper!

    EDIT: Don't Infernal geared hubs make it a PITA for changing the tyre when the P******* Fairy visits?

    Posted 10 years ago #

  5. panyagua
    Member

    +1 to DaveC above. And hub gears won't do anything to make your bike lighter. I used to have an MTB with Alfine 8, but TBH there were as many disadvantages as advantages. With the distance you commute though, your experience may be different...

    Posted 10 years ago #

  6. cc
    Member

    My monsterfiets has an 8 speed internal Alfine hub and it's lovely, no problems at all shifting gear, smooth and precise every time. It's easily better and more reliable than the 8 speed internal Sturmey Archer on the previous bike. That was quite OK once I'd learned its quirks and with some careful chain-tightening every few months, but the Alfine just works.
    I bet your bike weighs less than mine does. (And I don't care. Supreme comfort and convenience and smoothness count for a lot in my book, at least when pootling to/from work.)

    Posted 10 years ago #

  7. Baldcyclist
    Member

    Don't think the Alfine will do much to affect the weight at all, hub is 1600g which is heavy, but my current hub + cassette is 900g. Add no requirement for rear or front mech's, and only single front chainring being required to the equation and any weight change will I think be negligible.

    Of course there is the 'rolling' weight on the back wheel which will change adversely, but with M+'s on the bike already at essentially 2kg already the bike doesn't roll well, and then add a stone of pannier and the weight surely becomes irrelevant even before you get to the rider weight....

    What I am really trying to do is minimise maintenance, I really hate fettling with gears every month. At the moment I 'consume':

    2 or 3 cassettes a year.
    2 or 3 chains a year.
    rear mech every 2 years.
    front mech every 1 year
    'big' chainring every 1 year.
    crankset every 2 years (ok, because one snapped, probably won't happen again)
    change cables 1 or 2 times a year.

    With hub gearing, I'm hoping:
    chain once a year
    cable once a year.
    new hub every 3 years (is that optimistic)?

    Other things to consider is the gearing, will it be sufficient? I'm told the 11speed has about the same range as a compact 50/34, with 11/28 block. If this is the case it should be ok.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  8. DaveC
    Member

    Front mech every year!! Waht are you doing?? Oh yes Nothing to it!! A little maintainance and it will give years of hastle free working. If you are chainging cables twice a year why do you think you'll halve this with a different hub?

    One chain will wear as much as a normal one does? Or does someone who different? Also the rear cog, is that going to not take most of the brunt and so wear out sooner? Perhaps these single speed chains wear differently?

    Posted 10 years ago #

  9. amir
    Member

    I am afraid that having experimented with a hybrid with alfine gears, I have gone the other way and use a reasonably light, quick steel winter bike with derailleurs for my commute.

    For me, any cycling over 2-3 miles should be about enjoyment and functionality doesn't suffer. So I have quick puncture proof tyres (Mich Pro 4 Endurance) with lightish wheels (Open pros on 105 hubs).

    I didn't really find the alfine system much less maintenance - without cleaning the chain still wears out quite quickly. The range of gears may be reasonably wide but there are annoying jumps in ratio.

    These days I don't find the derailleur system too bad to maintain. I do wipe down the chain regularly especially after rain, but I'd do that anyway.

    When

    Posted 10 years ago #

  10. Baldcyclist
    Member

    "Perhaps these single speed chains wear differently?"

    Because of the chain angle they don't stretch to the side, or thin on one side, so instead wear more evenly and last longer. Single speed / hub people may confirm / rubbish my suspicion.

    "What are you doing?? Oh yes Nothing to it!! "

    That's the dream. :)

    di2 would also make the gears 'self adjusting', which would require even less fettling. :) Although I don't think I can justify them. :(

    Posted 10 years ago #

  11. Dave
    Member

    My advice is don't do it unless you ride extremely gently.

    My white bike was intended to be zero maintenance with a hub gear & brakes / dynamo but after breaking three different types of SA, a SRAM and a Velosteel hub I gave up and put it to fixed (which of course I can't be bothered with, so the bike is gathering dust).

    Speaking of which, if anyone fancies taking a nice fixed commuter with dynamo hub off my hands...

    Posted 10 years ago #

  12. wingpig
    Member

    I was vaguely looking at hubgearing the sparebike, rather than converting it from a five-speed freewheel to eight/nine-speed freehub (with the vague idea that this would enable it to benefit from cast-offs from the normalbike), mostly because I don't imagine I'll have the time to spend looking for applicable hardware in the Bike Station. It'd mostly be used for slowish allotment/shopping/pootling with only the occasional requirement to cope with the frequent accelerations (and prolonged exposure to road-gack) of commuting; as such it'd only be the general overall gear range which would concern me, as it already has fairly large jumps between steps. It also already weighs a great deal and would benefit from fewer controls on the handlebars.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  13. amir
    Member

    Yes - there's a difference in requirements for a bike for pootling short distances vs commuting 15 miles + each way

    Posted 10 years ago #

  14. Baldcyclist
    Member

    Amir:
    "Yes - there's a difference in requirements for a bike for pootling short distances vs commuting 15 miles + each way"

    And that is a definite consideration....

    CC:
    "
    My monsterfiets has an 8 speed internal Alfine hub and it's lovely, no problems at all shifting gear, smooth and precise every time.......
    ........ at least when pootling to/from work.)
    "

    Would it cope with 44 miles a day, doing speeds ranging from 10 - 30mph, and lots of little up and down climbs, and off road gravelly / stoney terrain sections?

    Posted 10 years ago #

  15. chdot
    Admin

    This will help -

    http://sheldonbrown.com/gears

    Comprehensive list of hub gears to help compare and contrast with derailleur set-ups

    Posted 10 years ago #

  16. amir
    Member

    "Would it cope with 44 miles a day, doing speeds ranging from 10 - 30mph, and lots of little up and down climbs, and off road gravelly / stoney terrain sections? "

    TBH I think it will cope. The question is will you cope?

    Can you persuade someone to let you carry out a whole commute on one?

    Posted 10 years ago #

  17. amir
    Member

    "di2 would also make the gears 'self adjusting', which would require even less fettling. :) Although I don't think I can justify them. :("

    The cable on my hub-geared bike was almost completely enclosed and never required adjustment. So that's good!

    Posted 10 years ago #

  18. Baldcyclist
    Member

    Just weighed the commuter with loaded pannier (but without water)... I am currently lugging 18kg of bike every day on the commute (my road bike is 6.8kg).

    I think I am even less fussed about the weight now, just need to find one to try. Might go 'kiddie on' bike shopping.

    Posted 10 years ago #

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