Recommendations for four season hub geared bicycle?

July 2, 2007 8:03 AM

Yet another bike purchasing question, but with a twist!

Hope you're not sick of the bike questions yet!

I'm getting ready for my move north this month, and the place I'm moving to is considerably further away from work than where I'm living now. As such, I'd like to start commuting by bike. I've got a Dahon folder I'll be doing that with for a while, but I expect that I'll be looking around to buy a new/new-to-me bike before winter.

So what I'm looking for is this: a bike that can commute reasonably in all seasons, isn't too pricey (~$500 CAD or less, unless it's totally badass) and -- here's the rub -- has an internal hub (like a Sturmey Archer type thing, although not necessarily an SA specifically).

A friend of mine in the bay area of California has a KHS Manhattan Green that he's pretty fond of, but hey, he's in the bay area, where everything is made of sunshine, rainbows and cotton candy, and they don't have to deal with harsh road conditions due to weather.

As a bonus, if you could recommend a Hamilton or Toronto bike shop that you like, that'd be awesome. Thanks much.

posted by the dief to shopping (17 comments total)

The Bianchi Milano's a pretty class act in the world of internal hubs; new, it's over your price range, but I imagine you could find one used for cheaper.
posted by Wolfdog at 8:15 AM on July 2, 2007

You might want to say why, exactly, you want an internal hub, too.
posted by Wolfdog at 8:16 AM on July 2, 2007

Electra Amsterdam?

A little above your price range, at least from their website. Maybe it's cheaper in the shops.
posted by nnk at 8:22 AM on July 2, 2007

Wolfdog, I want an internal hub because I believe (and please, correct me if I'm wrong) that they last a lot longer and have fewer maintenance issues than the traditional setup.
posted by the dief at 8:24 AM on July 2, 2007

This Jamis setup looks pretty gosh-darned sweet! And they're going for just a bit over US$500, new. Very attractive - Jamis makes nice bikes.
posted by Wolfdog at 8:30 AM on July 2, 2007

I had a Brompton folding bike with a five-speed internal hub, and the thing broke twice. Very complicated mechanically (full of planetary gears and stuff) and very expensive to fix or replace.
posted by Etaoin Shrdlu at 8:44 AM on July 2, 2007

Dief--The thing with planetary-geared hubs is that they take less maintenance and they are less maintainable, that is, if something goes wrong, you need to be a hardcore gearhead to contemplate fixing it. Note also that it's a little harder to change an innertube on a bike with a planetary hub.

For the most part, derailleur-geared bikes are not hard to keep up. The derailleur is an additional mechanism and potentially an additional point of failure, but in practice they're really not that bad. If you're into chain guards, those don't work so well on bikes with derailleurs (though I have seen them).

Or you could do like the kids these days and ride a single-speed or fixie.
posted by adamrice at 8:48 AM on July 2, 2007

adamrice, I am not nearly hardcore enough for a fixie but a single might actually work. It's all city commute and mostly flat.
posted by the dief at 8:52 AM on July 2, 2007

I would give single-speed the nod as a better plan than the internal hub for sure.
posted by Wolfdog at 8:54 AM on July 2, 2007

The big benefits for hubs are:

- straight chainline, which means slightly longer-lasting chains and the ability to use a chainguard. Chainguards keep your pants leg clean. You still need to clean the chain with a chainguard.

- hubs are generally pretty long-lasting and low maintenance. When they go wrong, however, they require a moderate-to-high level of skill to rebuild. Quite often, it's cheaper just to replace one than try to fix it, if it's seriously horked. Shop time is the biggest issue. A little maintenance here goes a long way.

The biggest problem with using hubs is that you are usually limited to using the shifter that the manufacturer makes. No integrated shift-brake lever for you.

Hubs aren't as robust as derailer systems: the planetary gear systems they use are smaller and thus have higher working forces on the gear teeth. It's much easier on the hub to use higher cadence than to crank in high-gear at 20 rpm. The only internal hub that people seem to like for things like mountain biking is the Rohloff hub, but those run for about $1500 each.

Shimano hubs are probably the best deal you will find. Quite decent quality, as with all Shimano stuff. Shifters integrate with common Shimano brakes (but not compatible with their derailer shifters). They most commonly come in 3-, 4-, 7- and 8-speed versions.
posted by bonehead at 9:05 AM on July 2, 2007

(or ditto what adamrice said)
posted by bonehead at 9:09 AM on July 2, 2007

Have a look at Breezer. The Breezer website lists at least two dealers in Toronto.
posted by exogenous at 9:14 AM on July 2, 2007

also, to bonehead's point about how you're limited to the shifter that the manufacturer makes -- a friend of mine built up a Surly Cross Check with a Shimano internal hub, and the rapid fire shift on his drop bar is a total aesthetic bugbear for him. It just doesn't 'look right' on dropped roadie bars. Also, from giving his bike a couple of spins, I can also say that there are few places where one can mount a rapidfire shifter on a drop without it feeling terribly awkward.

So, if you're considering an Shimano Nexus hub, you're pretty much looking at mounting it on a flat MTB style bar or perhaps a moustache bar.
posted by bl1nk at 9:19 AM on July 2, 2007

Singles are fun, but I don't know if I'd do that as my primary ride. I maintain that the cheapest, best solution for casual urban riding is a standard 7-speed rear with a well-chosen single front cog: a 40-46. Raleigh has made entry level bikes in this configuration for years, which would do exactly that dief is looking for. Here's an example.

I love it when anyone brings me one of these bikes to work on. They're so simple and they're cheap like borscht to fix.
posted by bonehead at 9:20 AM on July 2, 2007

Those Breezer Liberty bikes are gorgeous, exogenous. The classic mixte, updated.
posted by bonehead at 9:28 AM on July 2, 2007

I had a Bianchi Milano for a while. Didn't like the fact that replacing a rear tube would be significantly more work that on a bike with normal rear brakes (the Milano has drum brakes). After a rear flat, I patched the tube without taking it off the bike, and sold it soon afterwards. If you're riding in all conditions (where wet glass is more likely to cause a flat), this may be a reason to get something without hub brakes.

The hub also adds a fair amount of friction into the drivetrain.

If your commute is flat, I would consider a nice light and simple single speed bike, which are in fashion both in mountain bike and road bike styles.
posted by meowzilla at 11:00 AM on July 2, 2007

adamrice, I am not nearly hardcore enough for a fixie but a single might actually work. It's all city commute and mostly flat.

If you're thinking about getting an internal hub because of ease of maintennance, then a fixed gear or single gear might be worth looking into also.

How long is your commute? If it's reasonably flat, it wouldn't be too hard to ride a fixed gear through it.

The BF has a Bianchi Milano, which he liked for a while, but it's been sitting in the garage ever since he got a fixed gear.
posted by nakedsushi at 3:38 PM on July 2, 2007