Shimano Nexus rear hub

On 12/15/2015 11:02 PM, James wrote:
On 16/12/15 14:43, Andre Jute wrote:
On Tuesday, December 15, 2015 at 10:32:17 PM UTC, James
wrote:
On 16/12/15 00:09, AMuzi wrote:
On 12/15/2015 6:28 AM, John B. wrote:

I'm beginning to see these geared hubs on some of the
cheaper
flat bar road bikes here and am sort of wondering
whether they
might be just the thing for riding in Bangkok.

Bangkok is built on an alluvial plain and is
essentially flat.
The largest "hills" I encounter riding here are the
"hump back"
bridges and if a bike has three gears (assuming the right
ratio) it would be enough for the majority of my Bangkok
riding.

Given the added complexities of the usual front/rear
derailer
system I am wondering whether one of the various
Shimano Nexus
geared hubs might not be "just the thing".

It seems to me that the chain would be similar to the old
single speed chains that lasted forever and no
derailers to
keep in tune and sprockets and cogs to wear out.

I am thinking that a 5 or 7 speed hub would more then
cover all
city riding assuming, of course, that the gear ratios
were in
the right range. I believe that with an odd number of rear
gears, probably 5 or 7, if the middle gear was, say 60
gear
inches, and the ratios were in say 10 - 15% steps that
it would
cover 99.9% of all the riding I do in Bangkok.

Has anyone done this? Are rear cogs available in
sufficient
sizes to be able to set up any initial gear ratio that one
desires? Do the hubs last? Any special loves/hates?

Any suggestions, advice?

-- cheers,

John B.


My daughter enjoys her Raleigh in Chicago with Shimano 8
gearbox
on a flat bar road bike (discontinued model Alysa 8).

For regular city use, rider needs a wrench to change the
rear
when flat but the Shimano gear linkage is simple and
quick with
fingers only.


Why not install large wingnuts on the axle ends, for
wrench free
wheel removal? Worried about wheel theft?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Retro-bicycl.../dp/B008H0P5Z0




Yo're misled by the misinformation already in this thread.
Shimano's
hub gearboxes, the premium 8sp versions anyhow, are not
supplied with
quick releases but with solid axles and domed nuts.
There's nowhere
to put the end of an Allen key into. And a common socket
won't do it,
you need a deep socket or a rather large, heavy flat
spanner, in most
cases two flat spanners. Thieves are too elegant to have
two large
flat spanners distort their clothes. But wingnuts would
restore their
opportunity. Wingnuts from the hardware store won't do,
though: the
axle nuts are serrated on the underside of their built-in
collar, so
wingnuts would require quite a bit of machining.


Did you look at the link I posted? They are not wingnuts
from the hardware store. They are designed for bicycle hubs
with solid axle.


And would be both suitable and pretty once you tap them to
m10x1. That said, a wrench is sufficient.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Wednesday, December 16, 2015 at 6:27:30 AM UTC, Tosspot wrote:

The Rohloff requires annual oil changes as well :-(

Yup. Every year or 5000km, stretchable to double that if you're travelling in Outer Arseholeoftheuniverse without losing your lifelong free guarantee of labour, parts and return carriage from Germany.

It takes all of an hour, including a leisurely 55 minute ride to circulate the cleaning oil in the box, but if you're in a hurry, you can cut it to 13m, including a casual ride of 4km on hills, or still less for a speedy 3km on the flat.

There's a threaded hole in the Rohloff gearbox. You draw up the cleaning oil in the syringe that comes in the oil change kit and screw the nozzle into the threaded hole in the gearbox, then inject the cleaning oil. Screw the plug back in, take a ride. Now screw the empty syringe back in and withdraw the old oil and now supposedly dirty cleaning oil (if it is really cold, you just leave the cleaning oil in at this point and you're finished, as the cleaning oil is also the sub-zero running oil). The bottle in which the cleaning oil came is thoughtfully large enough to hold both old oil and used cleaning oil. Suck up the new oil from the second little bottle in the Euro 12 kit, inject it 17-25ml of it (the syringe is graduated, and as long as you get in 12ml, you're okay), fit the fresh ready-loctited grub screw (Rolloff has thought of everything -- it's their trademark), and bob's your uncle. I do it in midwinter on the Persian in front of the fire in my wife's drawing room, and have never spilt a drop of oil, or gotten any on my hands. The bottles are used for disposing of the oil environmentally-safely (these German are pretty obsessive -- I wash more left-over artist's oilpaint from my palette down the drain in a month than is left over from servicing a Rohloff in a whole year).

Andre Jute
Indeed

John B. wrote:
Possibly true, I hadn't done any research as to "what" hub to use and
am still in the "is it a good idea" part of the problem.


For what might be called "low intensity" riding my Shimano Nexus 8 red band has
worked just fine. It's on a Breezer Uptown 8, used entirely for in-town shopping
trips, sometimes pulling a Cycle-Tote trailer with a couple bags of groceries
and a case of beer. Over ten years it's maybe accumulated 5000 miles, not more.

The gear range is only 3:1, which is ok for modest loads in the flats and much
better than singlespeed. It's very handy to shift at standstill in congested
areas where stops are hard to anticipate, perhaps its most obvious virtue.

The hub does give a sense of being fragile. It makes noises from time to time
that bespeak stress, if not distress, in the gearing. I agree that standing on
the pedals is probably not a wise practice, hence steep hills and heavy trailers
are inadvisable.

In hindsight, I don't think I'd buy another. The derailer on my old Cannondale
presently gives no more trouble, is infinitely more repairable and offers a much
greater range of gears. I can stand on the pedals pulling more than 100 pounds of
trailer without fear of breaking anything but me 8-)

Within its limitations the Nexus 8 is a nice piece of work, but modern chains
and derailers simply aren't that bad.

hth,

bob prohaska

On 16/12/15 20:40, John B. wrote:
On Wed, 16 Dec 2015 15:02:49 +1000, James
wrote:

On 16/12/15 14:43, Andre Jute wrote:
On Tuesday, December 15, 2015 at 10:32:17 PM UTC, James wrote:
On 16/12/15 00:09, AMuzi wrote:
On 12/15/2015 6:28 AM, John B. wrote:

I'm beginning to see these geared hubs on some of the cheaper
flat bar road bikes here and am sort of wondering whether they
might be just the thing for riding in Bangkok.

Bangkok is built on an alluvial plain and is essentially flat.
The largest "hills" I encounter riding here are the "hump back"
bridges and if a bike has three gears (assuming the right
ratio) it would be enough for the majority of my Bangkok
riding.

Given the added complexities of the usual front/rear derailer
system I am wondering whether one of the various Shimano Nexus
geared hubs might not be "just the thing".

It seems to me that the chain would be similar to the old
single speed chains that lasted forever and no derailers to
keep in tune and sprockets and cogs to wear out.

I am thinking that a 5 or 7 speed hub would more then cover all
city riding assuming, of course, that the gear ratios were in
the right range. I believe that with an odd number of rear
gears, probably 5 or 7, if the middle gear was, say 60 gear
inches, and the ratios were in say 10 - 15% steps that it would
cover 99.9% of all the riding I do in Bangkok.

Has anyone done this? Are rear cogs available in sufficient
sizes to be able to set up any initial gear ratio that one
desires? Do the hubs last? Any special loves/hates?

Any suggestions, advice?

-- cheers,

John B.


My daughter enjoys her Raleigh in Chicago with Shimano 8 gearbox
on a flat bar road bike (discontinued model Alysa 8).

For regular city use, rider needs a wrench to change the rear
when flat but the Shimano gear linkage is simple and quick with
fingers only.


Why not install large wingnuts on the axle ends, for wrench free
wheel removal? Worried about wheel theft?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Retro-bicycl.../dp/B008H0P5Z0



Yo're misled by the misinformation already in this thread. Shimano's
hub gearboxes, the premium 8sp versions anyhow, are not supplied with
quick releases but with solid axles and domed nuts. There's nowhere
to put the end of an Allen key into. And a common socket won't do it,
you need a deep socket or a rather large, heavy flat spanner, in most
cases two flat spanners. Thieves are too elegant to have two large
flat spanners distort their clothes. But wingnuts would restore their
opportunity. Wingnuts from the hardware store won't do, though: the
axle nuts are serrated on the underside of their built-in collar, so
wingnuts would require quite a bit of machining.


Did you look at the link I posted? They are not wingnuts from the
hardware store. They are designed for bicycle hubs with solid axle.

Does one leave one's 10K racing bike alone, in strange places, where
thieves lurk?

Does one fit a heavy 8 speed IGH to a 10k racing bike?

--
JS

On 12/16/2015 11:21 PM, James wrote:
On 16/12/15 20:40, John B. wrote:
On Wed, 16 Dec 2015 15:02:49 +1000, James

wrote:

On 16/12/15 14:43, Andre Jute wrote:
On Tuesday, December 15, 2015 at 10:32:17 PM UTC, James
wrote:
On 16/12/15 00:09, AMuzi wrote:
On 12/15/2015 6:28 AM, John B. wrote:

I'm beginning to see these geared hubs on some of the
cheaper
flat bar road bikes here and am sort of wondering
whether they
might be just the thing for riding in Bangkok.

Bangkok is built on an alluvial plain and is
essentially flat.
The largest "hills" I encounter riding here are the
"hump back"
bridges and if a bike has three gears (assuming the
right
ratio) it would be enough for the majority of my Bangkok
riding.

Given the added complexities of the usual front/rear
derailer
system I am wondering whether one of the various
Shimano Nexus
geared hubs might not be "just the thing".

It seems to me that the chain would be similar to the
old
single speed chains that lasted forever and no
derailers to
keep in tune and sprockets and cogs to wear out.

I am thinking that a 5 or 7 speed hub would more then
cover all
city riding assuming, of course, that the gear ratios
were in
the right range. I believe that with an odd number of
rear
gears, probably 5 or 7, if the middle gear was, say
60 gear
inches, and the ratios were in say 10 - 15% steps
that it would
cover 99.9% of all the riding I do in Bangkok.

Has anyone done this? Are rear cogs available in
sufficient
sizes to be able to set up any initial gear ratio
that one
desires? Do the hubs last? Any special loves/hates?

Any suggestions, advice?

-- cheers,

John B.


My daughter enjoys her Raleigh in Chicago with Shimano
8 gearbox
on a flat bar road bike (discontinued model Alysa 8).

For regular city use, rider needs a wrench to change
the rear
when flat but the Shimano gear linkage is simple and
quick with
fingers only.


Why not install large wingnuts on the axle ends, for
wrench free
wheel removal? Worried about wheel theft?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Retro-bicycl.../dp/B008H0P5Z0




Yo're misled by the misinformation already in this
thread. Shimano's
hub gearboxes, the premium 8sp versions anyhow, are not
supplied with
quick releases but with solid axles and domed nuts.
There's nowhere
to put the end of an Allen key into. And a common socket
won't do it,
you need a deep socket or a rather large, heavy flat
spanner, in most
cases two flat spanners. Thieves are too elegant to have
two large
flat spanners distort their clothes. But wingnuts would
restore their
opportunity. Wingnuts from the hardware store won't do,
though: the
axle nuts are serrated on the underside of their
built-in collar, so
wingnuts would require quite a bit of machining.


Did you look at the link I posted? They are not wingnuts
from the
hardware store. They are designed for bicycle hubs with
solid axle.

Does one leave one's 10K racing bike alone, in strange
places, where
thieves lurk?

Does one fit a heavy 8 speed IGH to a 10k racing bike?


Not easily. Frequent chain replacement or swapping
chainrings one tooth apart has been done, but single-point
frame ends with an internal gearbox is ill advised at best.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Tuesday, December 15, 2015 at 8:18:35 PM UTC-6, John B. wrote:
but one guy says he has been using the geared hubs
for 5 years with no problems.
John B.


All of my Shimano and Campagnolo 9 and 10 speed bikes are more than 5 years old and have never given me any problems. And are minimal maintenance. It does not sound like these internal gear hubs are very durable.

On Thursday, December 17, 2015 at 5:21:51 AM UTC, James wrote:
On 16/12/15 20:40, John B. wrote:
On Wed, 16 Dec 2015 15:02:49 +1000, James
wrote:

On 16/12/15 14:43, Andre Jute wrote:
On Tuesday, December 15, 2015 at 10:32:17 PM UTC, James wrote:
On 16/12/15 00:09, AMuzi wrote:
On 12/15/2015 6:28 AM, John B. wrote:

I'm beginning to see these geared hubs on some of the cheaper
flat bar road bikes here and am sort of wondering whether they
might be just the thing for riding in Bangkok.

Bangkok is built on an alluvial plain and is essentially flat.
The largest "hills" I encounter riding here are the "hump back"
bridges and if a bike has three gears (assuming the right
ratio) it would be enough for the majority of my Bangkok
riding.

Given the added complexities of the usual front/rear derailer
system I am wondering whether one of the various Shimano Nexus
geared hubs might not be "just the thing".

It seems to me that the chain would be similar to the old
single speed chains that lasted forever and no derailers to
keep in tune and sprockets and cogs to wear out.

I am thinking that a 5 or 7 speed hub would more then cover all
city riding assuming, of course, that the gear ratios were in
the right range. I believe that with an odd number of rear
gears, probably 5 or 7, if the middle gear was, say 60 gear
inches, and the ratios were in say 10 - 15% steps that it would
cover 99.9% of all the riding I do in Bangkok.

Has anyone done this? Are rear cogs available in sufficient
sizes to be able to set up any initial gear ratio that one
desires? Do the hubs last? Any special loves/hates?

Any suggestions, advice?

-- cheers,

John B.


My daughter enjoys her Raleigh in Chicago with Shimano 8 gearbox
on a flat bar road bike (discontinued model Alysa 8).

For regular city use, rider needs a wrench to change the rear
when flat but the Shimano gear linkage is simple and quick with
fingers only.


Why not install large wingnuts on the axle ends, for wrench free
wheel removal? Worried about wheel theft?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Retro-bicycl.../dp/B008H0P5Z0



Yo're misled by the misinformation already in this thread. Shimano's
hub gearboxes, the premium 8sp versions anyhow, are not supplied with
quick releases but with solid axles and domed nuts. There's nowhere
to put the end of an Allen key into. And a common socket won't do it,
you need a deep socket or a rather large, heavy flat spanner, in most
cases two flat spanners. Thieves are too elegant to have two large
flat spanners distort their clothes. But wingnuts would restore their
opportunity. Wingnuts from the hardware store won't do, though: the
axle nuts are serrated on the underside of their built-in collar, so
wingnuts would require quite a bit of machining.


Did you look at the link I posted? They are not wingnuts from the
hardware store. They are designed for bicycle hubs with solid axle.

Does one leave one's 10K racing bike alone, in strange places, where
thieves lurk?

Does one fit a heavy 8 speed IGH to a 10k racing bike?

--
JS

Theoretically possible. Perhaps, for those who can't afford a whole winter bike, even desirable to have a set of winter wheels with hub gears and hub dynamo to fit for winter training rides in places with ice and consequently salt on the roads. You could adjust the chain tension with an external eccentric bottom bracket. See concurrent post TUNING OUT CHAIN "STRETCH" ON INTERNAL HUB BICYCLES, FIXIES, SINGLE-SPEED AND DERAILLEUR BIKES.

Andre Jute

On Thursday, December 17, 2015 at 1:51:02 PM UTC, AMuzi wrote:
On 12/16/2015 11:21 PM, James wrote:

Does one fit a heavy 8 speed IGH to a 10k racing bike?


Not easily. Frequent chain replacement or swapping
chainrings one tooth apart has been done, but single-point
frame ends with an internal gearbox is ill advised at best.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

You have a whole lot of success talking the nutters out of their weirder obsessions, then, Andrew?

Andre Jute
Too fly even to try

On Thursday, December 17, 2015 at 6:54:00 PM UTC, wrote:
On Tuesday, December 15, 2015 at 8:18:35 PM UTC-6, John B. wrote:
but one guy says he has been using the geared hubs
for 5 years with no problems.
John B.


All of my Shimano and Campagnolo 9 and 10 speed bikes are more than 5 years old and have never given me any problems. And are minimal maintenance. It does not sound like these internal gear hubs are very durable.

Nah, I used to wreck derailleurs too, complete new transmission every thousand miles or so. And that's running them inside enclosed chain cases. That's why it is actually the cheap option for me to run a Rohloff and stainless gears which between them make my KMC X8 chains last near enough 3000m. I now ride instead of spending my time shopping for new components and fitting them...

Also, before you condemn Shimano hub gearboxes on such slender evidence, you should ask how many millions are running in their twentieth or thirtieth year, untold tens of thousands of miles of commuting into their lives, in Holland and Germany and Japan.

Andre Jute

On Thursday, December 17, 2015 at 2:46:29 AM UTC, User Bp wrote:

For what might be called "low intensity" riding my Shimano Nexus 8 red band has
worked just fine.

Both of mine worked fine for high intensity riding on bad roads too, especially the fully automatic Di2 one shown at
http://coolmainpress.com/BICYCLINGsmover.html
They just didn't last too long.

Andre Jute