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With all of this so called "recession" talk going on and also knowing it was my turn to bless the Crank it Cycles newsletter with a stunning piece of material, it didn't take long to come up with something to discuss.
Remember back in the days of the trusty old 3-speed Sturmy Archer hubs? I have finally decided to take my commuter bike to the next level... From single speed, to 8 speed, and still all there inside the rear hub. You can barely see the difference, but you can sure feel it. With its massive gearing ratio you can crunch along at a low cadence, or otherwise change gears so perfectly smooth and spin up the likes of Summerhill Drive with ease. One thing I wasn't too sure about when getting gears was firstly the hideous look, but secondly, not to forget, the eventual need to replace the drive train (i.e. worn chains, sprockets, cassettes and the unlikelihood of destroying a derailleur). Eliminating these parts will nearly eliminate the need of regular servicing of your beloved (your bike that is).
James with his Giant Seek 8-speed
Switching to an internal geared wheel is probably going to cost you anything up to five-hundred dollars. If your bike is looking a little worse for wear, you want to reduce your carbon footprint, you want to increase your fitness and release those "feel good" endorphins or you just think its time for an upgrade, then maybe an internal geared hub bicycle is for you. Fortunately for us, this year Giant Bicycles has released an enormous product range with many of its models offering standard gearing setups or internal geared. To get a new bike equipped with one of these hubs is much better value than bolting one on to your current bike. These complete bike models start from about eight hundred dollars.
The Shimano Alfine Disc 8-speed rear hub
The Shimano Nexus hub works with both 700C road and 26" mountain bike wheels.
Article by James Dobson |
