Hanslow

I tend to use my bike (Marin Hawk Hill from circa 1999) mainly on the roads and packed dirt tracks, rather than the full on off road surfaces.

Was thinking of some changes for a more sealed system and was wondering about going the internally geared rear hub along with a covered chain to protect from dirt, rain, etc.

Any of you bikers out there got any opinions on this? Am I better off sticking with my classic derailleur setup? I tend to spend most of my cycling life through a small number of gears but don't know the range of internally geared hubs. They claim to be able to take a fair amount of pressure, and the alleged improvement in slick changes looks promising.

If I did go that route, it'd probably have to be a 7 speed internally geared hub, as the 14 speeds are about 750 quid

Also pondering a full on bike upgrade rather than tweaking what I have, and contemplating a full sus bike and venturing further off road, although this is only a remote possibility and I don't want a heavy one so would be looking at £££ to get a decent lightweight I assume.

Lots of choices, no idea where to start looking for further info, hence why I'm here posting this

Davey P

iTrader: (1)

Don't bother with all these internal gears IMHO. I have been using the normal method for years like most others without any problems. As long as you have a half decent bike with decent parts you don't need to worry about the rain and other grime, just keep everything oiled and greased up.
If your going to ride loads of off road which is quite bumpy or you just want a softer ride then full sus is the way to go. However, it is worth spending that little extra otherwise your bike is going to weigh a ton and you won't have any decent parts. If that's not your thing, just stick to a front suspension bike. It depends on what sort of riding your going to be doing.

Franx2

It's possible to buy internal hubs - Rohloff make some of the best around - http://www.rohloff.de/en/products/index.html - although they're not cheap.

Having said that, they're supposed to be pretty bloody good, and having spoken to a man who knows a while ago, it does work out marginally lighter than using a conventional derailleur setup. He was in the process of fitting a Rohloff to one of these: http://www.nicolai.net/ Helius ST I think it was, which was going to be around a 4 grand bike

I'm not entirely sure whether a hub gear system will fit onto a normal frame, as the rear dropout & so on obviously isn't required, and you might have to use one with horizontal dropouts. I think either way, it's a custom bike, as I'm not aware of anyone making such a thing off the shelf - most hub geared ones I've seen have been hybrid type bikes, and not the kind of thing you're after. It could be achieved I'msure but it wouldn't be cheap .

Nice idea though, as if they're anything like mine, derailleurs always go out of sync and start skipping up and down just as you approach a hard section .. Maybe best sticking with 'em I think, as there's a lot more to chose from.

Hanslow

Well we (me and the missus) went out and did a quick road scoot round our local Derbyshire village and the Marin stood up well Think I'll keep her as is for a little while longer. Needed a minor adjustment on the front wheel when I got back (brake pad occasionally rubbing) but other than that, was pretty faultless As much as I'd like a new bike and/or new gadgetry, there's nowt wrong with the one I have