Archive for May, 2008
Peter Eland from velovision.com has written an interesting article about internal geared hubs.
Here is his conclusion:
CONCLUSIONS
It’s great to see internal gear hubs developing to
the extent we’ve experienced in these reviews. The
Alfine in particular has the ease-of-use and style to
charm everyday riders away from derailleurs and
to introduce them to the low-maintenance joys of
hub gearing. The SRAM too is a user-friendly hub,
but perhaps more aimed at the performance rider
who will appreciate the wider, more even spread of
gears and won’t mind the extra cost.
The Rohloff is in a different league in every
aspect: range, price, tandem rating and quality.
It shifts reliably but not quite as smoothly as the
Alfine, and the lower range noise is irritating, at
least on a non-worn-in hub. But it’s still the only
truly wide-ratio hub gear, and many will find it
well worth the money. Strong riders who break
other hub gears may well end up with the Rohloff
too, as the only hub they can’t destroy.
The NuVinci was a very pleasant surprise
– a novel transmission which really works. Yes, it’s
heavy, and perhaps a bit draggy, but it’s bomb-
proof and super easy to use for non-mechanically
minded riders: a welcome addition to the hub gear
world and one which deserves to do well.
More details can be found here: