At 09:14 PM 8/2/2005, Bianca Pratorius wrote:
>I for one am not a snob about hub gearing. I would love to own a five
>speed hub gearing based bike,
Garth, 4 and 5 speed Sturmey hubs are always on Ebay, and usually can be gotten fairly cheaply. Try one, you might get hooked.
Usually 28 or 40 hole though. If that's a problem, the guts will fit into
any AW shell built before April '83. With no dish, 28h works pretty
well. Be sure to use spoke washers, due to the thin hub flanges.
>but I have heard from too many experts (including Sheldon Brown) that
>there is the inevitable friction loss to an internal gearing system.
I know all about the supposed inefficiencies, but I can't feel any
difference with my SAs. Rode a Rohloff once and it felt like it was full
of oatmeal. (Though I hear they get better after a long break-in.)
> Nothing could be more elegant and practical than a hub geared serious
> racer.
Racer? Maybe not. But for anything less intense they are sweet.
>I have also yet to ride one of those high bred and rarer hub set-ups that
>could compare to a nice derailleur bike.
Comparing the experience of riding a good hub geared bike to a good derailleur bike is a bit like comparing a good meal to good music. Both are pleasurable, but different.
Unlike the 3 and 4 speeds, SA never made the 5 speeds in a close or medium ratio version. Riding a 5 speed requires you to be more flexible with your cadence, and maybe a bit less concerned about maximizing your average speed. Mine are all geared so the 5 speeds correspond to 5 "situations" UPHILL!, uphill, Cruising, Boogeying and Whoopie!
Mark "I've bought 6 NOS SA 5 speed hubs in the past year, so I've got
Epicyclic Syndrome pretty bad." Stonich
Minneapolis Minnesota
http://bikesmithdesign.com
http://mnhpva.org