Rookie question: Converting to hub gears
Discussion
Anyone got any experience of this? My MTB is not really used as a proper MTB; commuting on streets/roads and perhaps a light, undemanding trip through a park.
Currently it's got 20 year old Shimano 21 speed rubbishness*. I suspect it's in need of a complete overhaul/replacement and was weighing up the options.
I never use anything but the biggest ring on the chainset *and probably only use 4 or 5 of the back cogs. Was thinking about moving to a single chainring at the front, perhaps with some sort of guard to make it less trouser trashing, and a 5 or 7 speed internal hub at the rear.
Current thoughts are:
Pros - Simple, Low maintenance.
Cons - Cost, Aesthetics (I'm not sure if I can even imagine what it will look like with a fat hub and no cassette/derailleur), Weight? Will the frame and drop outs cope? Can't see why they wouldn't but thought I'd ask. Also, what's it like getting the back wheel out with them?
As far as cost goes? Parts, I could do a bit of it myself but I'm guessing I'll need a new wheel and some other kit. Also I have conventional cantilever rim brakes, with as far as I can tell, no way of fitting disc brakes is that an issue?
Cheers
Don
Currently it's got 20 year old Shimano 21 speed rubbishness*. I suspect it's in need of a complete overhaul/replacement and was weighing up the options.
I never use anything but the biggest ring on the chainset *and probably only use 4 or 5 of the back cogs. Was thinking about moving to a single chainring at the front, perhaps with some sort of guard to make it less trouser trashing, and a 5 or 7 speed internal hub at the rear.
Current thoughts are:
Pros - Simple, Low maintenance.
Cons - Cost, Aesthetics (I'm not sure if I can even imagine what it will look like with a fat hub and no cassette/derailleur), Weight? Will the frame and drop outs cope? Can't see why they wouldn't but thought I'd ask. Also, what's it like getting the back wheel out with them?
As far as cost goes? Parts, I could do a bit of it myself but I'm guessing I'll need a new wheel and some other kit. Also I have conventional cantilever rim brakes, with as far as I can tell, no way of fitting disc brakes is that an issue?
Cheers
Don
I looked ito this while speccing up my new '5. I wanted to use a rhollhoff hub but a new alfine hub would be almost as good. I did track down a guy who had tried it. He was an team mechanic so knew his spanners. The problem was weight (sorry mass, been talking to the engineers this morning... sigh). On a full suspension bike it would put 1kg on the rear suspension and would significantly dull the performance on a full sus bike.
On a hard tail it seems nothing but a great idea, especially as many hard tail MTB's are used to prevent wear to the full sus bike over winter. BUT for the price of an alfine hub (less than half the price of a rhollhoff) you can buy a hell of a lot of drive train.
On a hard tail it seems nothing but a great idea, especially as many hard tail MTB's are used to prevent wear to the full sus bike over winter. BUT for the price of an alfine hub (less than half the price of a rhollhoff) you can buy a hell of a lot of drive train.
Sorry, yes, it's a hard tail.
As I tend to make two steps back before three forward when it comes to fixing or fitting things I think I'll be having a chat with the LBS about it.
As you say, it'll probably cost a lot more than just getting what I've got refreshed or replaced but I like the idea of not having all the faff of maintaining the exisiting gears through summer and into the winter. Also 1kg!
And no not a particularly special bike, but one I'd like to keep using and seeing as
a) the gears need attention anyway
b) the set up I have is not really ideal for what I actually do
It seems to make sense to look into the options.
Also I do not have room for another bike.
As I tend to make two steps back before three forward when it comes to fixing or fitting things I think I'll be having a chat with the LBS about it.
As you say, it'll probably cost a lot more than just getting what I've got refreshed or replaced but I like the idea of not having all the faff of maintaining the exisiting gears through summer and into the winter. Also 1kg!
And no not a particularly special bike, but one I'd like to keep using and seeing as
a) the gears need attention anyway
b) the set up I have is not really ideal for what I actually do
It seems to make sense to look into the options.
Also I do not have room for another bike.
I think the Sturmey Archer 5 speed hub would be best - half a kilo lighter than Shimano Nexus and available from under £100
http://www.sturmey-archer.com/products/hubs/cid/4/...
Budget another £30 to rebuild or £50-60 to build a new wheel
Edit: Or use a 2nd hand bike with Nexus as suggested above.
http://www.sturmey-archer.com/products/hubs/cid/4/...
Budget another £30 to rebuild or £50-60 to build a new wheel
Edit: Or use a 2nd hand bike with Nexus as suggested above.
Edited by Roman on Wednesday 23 March 11:38
Thanks chaps, might bump this every now and then to see if anyone who's done it has any tips re the cost and practicalities.
From that 2x10 thread another thought has occured to me. I could easily make it single chainring and swap the outer to the middle and do away with the medium and small. Then perhaps get a more road biased cassette on the back.
One thing that's stuck me is that even though I only use 5/21 those 5 are useful....
....but I'd also really like to do away with the tweaking, the crackling and that f
king black paste.
From that 2x10 thread another thought has occured to me. I could easily make it single chainring and swap the outer to the middle and do away with the medium and small. Then perhaps get a more road biased cassette on the back.
One thing that's stuck me is that even though I only use 5/21 those 5 are useful....
....but I'd also really like to do away with the tweaking, the crackling and that f
king black paste. I'd chop the frame in if I were you and get one that had sliding dropouts to handle a hub gear, makes a difference. I have a full susser with a rohloff (though it has a back end designed for one) and that works very well, though you have to make an allowance for the mass at the back; I have a hardtail I built on the Dave Yates course with an Alfine, very good with a nice spread of gears. I've given it plenty of use/abuse with no issue though obviously it doesn't have the range of the rohloff and the build quality looks less good.
Then I also have a normal geared full susser for sumer use, all I've done with the hub geared bikes over 4 years of hard Yorkshire grit usage is change the oil and chains whilst the derailleur bike has required an almost complete tranny change. Don't be fooled, you will shell out more up front for a quality hub bike but will pay less in the long run. Can't wait to try the new 11spd Alfine when my 8spd dies - though it's going strong at the minute. Also worth pointing out that hub gear wheels are much stronger than cassette wheels as they have shorter spokes and no dish, I haven't had to true one yet.
Whenever I go back to the derailleur bike after the hubbies it feels like a backward step, changing gear while standing still or when braking at the bottom of a descent before a steep climb cannot be under estimated on a hub bike. All your mates will hate you for your smugness!
Then I also have a normal geared full susser for sumer use, all I've done with the hub geared bikes over 4 years of hard Yorkshire grit usage is change the oil and chains whilst the derailleur bike has required an almost complete tranny change. Don't be fooled, you will shell out more up front for a quality hub bike but will pay less in the long run. Can't wait to try the new 11spd Alfine when my 8spd dies - though it's going strong at the minute. Also worth pointing out that hub gear wheels are much stronger than cassette wheels as they have shorter spokes and no dish, I haven't had to true one yet.
Whenever I go back to the derailleur bike after the hubbies it feels like a backward step, changing gear while standing still or when braking at the bottom of a descent before a steep climb cannot be under estimated on a hub bike. All your mates will hate you for your smugness!
donfisher said:
Thanks chaps, might bump this every now and then to see if anyone who's done it has any tips re the cost and practicalities.
From that 2x10 thread another thought has occured to me. I could easily make it single chainring and swap the outer to the middle and do away with the medium and small. Then perhaps get a more road biased cassette on the back.
One thing that's stuck me is that even though I only use 5/21 those 5 are useful....
....but I'd also really like to do away with the tweaking, the crackling and that fking black paste.
2x10?From that 2x10 thread another thought has occured to me. I could easily make it single chainring and swap the outer to the middle and do away with the medium and small. Then perhaps get a more road biased cassette on the back.
One thing that's stuck me is that even though I only use 5/21 those 5 are useful....
....but I'd also really like to do away with the tweaking, the crackling and that f
king black paste. http://www.singletrackworld.com/reviews/long-terme...
Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff