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by johnwalkr
1997 days ago
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I had an internal geared hub (IGH) bike with a coaster brake and it was a blast to ride with almost zero maintenance. Even as an enthusiast that likes doing maintenance, it was nice to have that bike. I’m an advocate for IGH and drum or coaster brakes for casual commuter riders. Belt drives are nice too. These things have more drag than a derailleur and disc or caliper brakes, but this is offset by the maintenance aspect. What people don’t often realize is that IGH can have very wide gearing. A 3 or 7 speed IGH can have as wide gearing as a 24 speed, just with fewer gears in between and fewer gear combinations that are virtually the same. Another nice feature is you can change gears when stopped. On the other hand, what seems to sell in North America is crappy bikes with full suspension and maximum number of gears. In this case, Shimano should have simply sold the public on IGH and other existing low maintenance features, and got people on test rides. The automated shifting part seems useless and annoying. The real benefit is having fewer gears and one rather than 2 places to change the gear which is much simpler to manage. Actually IGH can’t shift smoothly under load so I can only imagine this automated system would feel clunky whenever you’re trying to accelerate or ride uphill. |
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Part of that problem is there's a certain cost floor to Derailleur based drivetrains versus Internally geared hubs, and when you're an ODM mass producing you're at a whole different level of price structure.
> Actually IGH can’t shift smoothly under load
Ehhhhh..... So The Nexus 8 speed will upshift under load OK, but downshift you typically will have to pause pedaling for at least a moment for the shift to complete. I had one on a tandem at one point and even with two experienced riders it could do the upshifts fine. I think? some other IGH manufacturers have/had models that could shift in both directions fine, but they were very expensive models.
From my time slinging bikes (which was around when Shimano kicked off their 'Coasting' program,) where Shimano missed the boat was they didn't offer a 5 or 7 speed with shifting capabilities close enough to the Nexus 8. That would have been enough for everyone to be happy.
As an aside, It's fun to see all the different kinds of shifters Shimano cooked up for their IGHs over the years to sell people on them...
I'm still not sold on Drum brakes, in any case, but I'm also a Mechancial Disc zealot FWIW.