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Comment by joshontheweb | Hacker News Reader

I use a single speed bike at the moment. Not because I hate gears but because I’ve never had a geared bike that didn’t constantly click on the outside gears. It drove me crazy trying to tune them perfectly and never succeeding. Forget increased efficiency. If a new design emerges that accommodates gears and is simple to tune properly, then sign me up. No idea if the design being discussed could offer this.

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Have you tried out a bicycle with an internal hub gear? I don't know how loud they are, but you shouldn't have any chain binding issues (and you could probably run a belt if you wanted).

I use a Gates belt drive with a Shimano hub gear and it’s nearly silent compared to a chain.

Oh man, I had a Ghost bike with a Continental drive belt that was a constant pain in my ass until the belt snapped at 1500 miles and practically chucked me in front of traffic.

REI really stepped up and Ghost warrantied the entire drive system as the Continental system was NLA; they replaced the whole thing with a Gates Drive system which is amazing.

I have not. Never even heard of that but I'll check it out now. Thanks :)

DAG-2.2 to the rescue.

https://www.parktool.com/product/derailleur-hanger-alignment...

Out of interest, what derailleurs and cassette's have you used?

I'm running a 10 speed Shimano XT cassette and an XTR derailleur on my mountain bike and it's amazing. Doesn't really make any sound and the shifting is downright amazing.

Its been awhile and I can't really remember. I spent about 700 on the bike so I thought it would have decent components. Maybe you have to spend more?

USD I presume, mountain bike or road bike? Because if it’s a mountain bike that probably would have been just above entry level.

Yeah, they were mountain bikes. Seems crazy to me that you have to spend $1000+ just to get something usable. Ah well... :P

I only ride fixed so not an expert on groupsets but people using upper end shimanos does not seem to have that much tunning issue.

maybe you yours is damaged or sth?

Or mismatched. It's not rare to see people upgrade their bikes with newer gear but to end up with grips that are set for 8 or 9 speed and cassettes and derailleurs with more speeds. That tends to get very awkward.

i've ridden single speed exclusively for ever a decade. first as a commuter, then fixed in a velodrome, and now freewheel in the mountains. i recently built my first geared bike since my first "real" bike i got as a teenager. it uses shimano xt di2 2x11 on onyx hubs. it's absolutely silent except for the shifts, which sound robotic. it's pretty fantastic. it was the only way i could get along with derailleurs, as i experienced the same problems you mentioned above. my commuter now has a shimano nexus 3 igh, and that's pretty great too.

Most indexed systems work just fine. Di2 is nice but a luxury imo, and the parts are just crazy expensive.

Electric shifting is at this point in time more of a status symbol than an actual solution.

Not if your bike gets serious miles on it. The rate at which I got through gear cables and outers before DI2 was quite extreme. To keep good shifting I'd have to change the both at least every 2 months, and ideally do a strip down and deep clean on the derailleur.

Not to mention the constant adjustments of cable tension as the cables stretch.

With DI2 I've not adjusted or stripped down for a good 2 years and I still have perfect shifting.

That's an interesting observation. What conditions do you ride in?

I cycle a lot (more than anybody that I know personally except for my brother) and tend do do years with cables and shifters. Cable stretch requires the occasional twist of the tensioners but that's no big deal.

I can see how for you Di2 is not a luxury though. Really curious about your mileage and other contributing factors.

Rohlofff. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rohloff

Good stuff but expensive.

The cycle-around-the-world types swear by them, they are very reliable.

If you’re not bother by efficiency then why not consider a hub gear system?

> It drove me crazy trying to tune them perfectly and never succeeding.

Don't electric shifting solutions like Shimano's Di2 or SRAM's eTap system address this? At least I thought those systems also cover the calibration and fine tuning of the rear derailleur.

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