maintenance schedule for internal hubs? (sturmey archer 8, shimanonexus)

I probably will be buying one of the new Sturmey Archer 8-speed hubs.

Probably the drum-brake model (is there still a 'roller' brake one,
and if so, how does it differ from a drum brake?)

What is the service schedule for it? I expect to do around 2400km a
year, with pretty good conditions. I don't know where in Australia i
could even get it serviced, so i'll probably have to learn to do it
myself.

How about the shimano 8 speeds (probably can't afford Nexus), how
often does it need servicing?

thanks!

Judoman wrote:
I probably will be buying one of the new Sturmey Archer 8-speed hubs.
Probably the drum-brake model (is there still a 'roller' brake one,
and if so, how does it differ from a drum brake?)
What is the service schedule for it? I expect to do around 2400km a
year, with pretty good conditions. I don't know where in Australia i
could even get it serviced, so i'll probably have to learn to do it
myself.
How about the shimano 8 speeds (probably can't afford Nexus), how
often does it need servicing?

There are no wrong answers about taste but compare the gear
range to a SRAM Nine before you build the wheel.

http://www.sturmey-archer.com/hubs_8spd_XRF8.php

page down in the box on the left side.

SA Drums brakes are good quality and easy to set up. As all
drums, will be better after a break in period. Wear is glacial.

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

On Sep 12, 10:50*am, AMuzi wrote:
Judoman wrote:
I probably will be buying one of the new Sturmey Archer 8-speed hubs.
Probably the drum-brake model (is there still a 'roller' brake one,
and if so, how does it differ from a drum brake?)
What is the service schedule for it? *I expect to do around 2400km a
year, with pretty good conditions. *I don't know where in Australia i
could even get it serviced, so i'll probably have to learn to do it
myself.
How about the shimano 8 speeds (probably can't afford Nexus), how
often does it need servicing?

There are no wrong answers about taste but compare the gear
range to a SRAM Nine before you build the wheel.

http://www.sturmey-archer.com/hubs_8spd_XRF8.php

page down in the box on the left side.

SA Drums brakes are good quality and easy to set up. As all
drums, will be better after a break in period. Wear is glacial.


I haven't ridden the SRAM, but my limited experience with the SA 8 is
that the twist shifter is a bit ponderous. On the other hand--like
Andrew states--what maintenance? I prefer Shimano with a trigger
shifter--but that's personal taste. The Shimano roller brakes don't
require much--but still have the mechanism exposed compared to a drum.
They force a series of greased rollers against the braking surface
with a cam, the grease washing away every year or so in sloppy
conditions. When they make noise, it's time to grease.

The SA8 is also geared quite high--I think it's ideal for folders--so
check out the gear ratios as stated above. It'll work fine with
regular wheels, just with a pretty small front chainring.

In article
,
Judoman wrote:

I probably will be buying one of the new Sturmey Archer 8-speed hubs.

Probably the drum-brake model (is there still a 'roller' brake one,
and if so, how does it differ from a drum brake?)

What is the service schedule for it? I expect to do around 2400km a
year, with pretty good conditions. I don't know where in Australia i
could even get it serviced, so i'll probably have to learn to do it
myself.

How about the shimano 8 speeds (probably can't afford Nexus), how
often does it need servicing?

thanks!

If you're 50 or over and riding 2400 km a year in good conditions, it's
quite possible that it will be your descendants who need to overhaul
your hub.

On 12 Sep., 08:07, Judoman wrote:

How about the shimano 8 speeds (probably can't afford Nexus), how
often does it need servicing?

Shimano says every 5000 km or every 2 years whatever comes first. If
you do a lot of bad weather riding, the service intervals should be
much shorter. The seals on the Shimano 8 speed hubs were pretty bad in
the beginning when they appeared on the market, so they quickly got a
nasty reputation for self destructing. The seals have improved much,
but water ingression into the hub, while rarer, can still wreck it.
The problem is that the hub-shell also acts like the cup/race for the
left bearings. So if this cup gets pitted, the entire hub needs to be
replaced since the hub-shell isn't sold as spare part.

There are two different service methods for Shimano 8 speed IGH's; the
original very tricky and cumbersome one using grease, and the new easy
one where you just take the gearbox out of the hub-shell and dip it in
oil. Both methods are well documented by Shimano in their service
manuals.

As a general rule it isn't cost effective to repair the internal
gearbox in Shimano IGH's, and very few LBS's seems to even know how to
do so. In case of serious trouble the fastest, easiest and sometimes
cheapest solution is to exchange the entire gearbox

Internal gear hubs (IGH's) may be low maintenance in the short run,
but they do need maintenance. The gear mechanisms are usually very
trouble free, but the hub bearings need caring for, just like on any
other hub.

Be aware that spare parts for many 8-9 speed IGH's can be very
difficult to get, eg. I believe that a certain seal for Sram newest 9
speed hub simply isn't available as a spare part yet. Since the seal
is can't be reused when taken off, this means that for now this hub
can't be serviced/ opened. Some brands have a horrible spare part
distribution. Also, if you don't want to do the maintenance yourself,
perhaps it is wise to check out your LBS if they even can/want to
service that particular brand of hub you want to buy, and what they
say about getting spare parts.

--
Regards