But for some reason, every bike in a bike shop, including the most casual upright bike, has a finicky derailleur.
So instead we’re doomed to a life of misaligned derailleurs and bent derailleur hangers.
>The first thing to go on my bike is the deraileur though, they keep a year or so even if taken care of
>I do buy the cheapest ones I can find for around 10-15 euro
Single speed and 3s chains last 5000km easily while 12/13s won’t last much more than 1000km.
in some number of years, 3x parts will become less available and less common on cheap bikes.
We have lots of bikes and have gone through even more (bought & sold). The most reliable drivetrain on any of them just turned 20 (2004 model). It was the highest end Shimano XT-R at the time. It is easy to align, always stays in alignment, all in all takes very little attention and always shifts perfectly.
The bikes with cheaper drivetrains are a lot fuzzier and take more frequent attention and even when freshly aligned don't quite shift as nicely.
The absolute worst is the cheapest one (a department store bike my partner insisted on buying as an exercise bike). It simply can't be aligned well no matter how many hours spent. When I get it to a good-enough state, it's misaligned after a few weeks. The amount of time wasted on that thing would easily buy at least an Ultegra set to replace it.
A derailleur can cost $10, but it won’t be nearly as durable. Buying a high quality one is gonna cost in the same neighborhood as $100.
Switching is probably a bit of an unecessary faff. But if you want a drivetrain that can be ignored or neglected and never complain, an internal gear is really great.
For a commuter bike it also allows you to fully cover the chain and chainring if you want.
Where a geared bike with a derailleur will need you to put the bike in the smallest gear, and untangle the chain from the cassette. Replacing the wheel back in requires the chain to be properly laced around the cassette and can require dexterity.
Unfortunately derailleurs are necessary to ensure chain tension when the bicycle frame isn’t designed the allow for manual chain tensioning (vertical dropouts).
Also, run tubeless and flats will feel like a thing of the past.
I guess it all depends on what you are used to do. I had soooo many flats last year when the spikes started eating through my one year old schwalbe wintertires. 220 spikes makes 220 holes. Had to give up on fixing the holes and change innertube until I could get new tires. Not schwalbe this time. Don't think tubeless would do any difference here though, see enough people get flats with those too and as someone else stated, the glue can get pretty messy.
Having a properly packed underseat bag is essential to any long ride.
Also I have never run tubeless at 25mm. Most folks I see running tubeless have 28mm at the smallest.
The geyser of glue makes a hell of a mess too. I went back to inner tubes.
Looking at jensonusa, the cheapest rear derailleur is a Shimano Altus 7/8 speed for $22.
The only problem is, is that this kind of guard typically is quite susceptible to damage if the bike falls or when you hit something.
Otherwise it is in many ways superior to a belt. Belts are inherently inefficient compared to chains.
The set of my experience is { Shimano: [ $various_derailleurs, Nexus 3, Nexus 7, Alfine 11 ] , Rohloff: [14 speed], Other: [rear-hub e-bike] }
$various_derailleurs -- fussy to maintain, cheap to replace but costly over 10 years
Nexus 3 -- rubbish
Nexus 7 -- not bad for modest bicycling
Alfine 11 -- zero maintenance, excellent performance, cheaper over 10 years than $various_derailleurs
Rohloff -- low maintenance, expensive, built to last, and 14 speeds! But heavy and 10% efficiency loss.
e-bike -- reliable, fast and fun, but zero exercise and in the range of a Rohloff for cost
In short, I think an e-bike in 2024 is brilliant for single-mode commuting. The technology is reliable and performant... but heavy.
An Alfine 11 or Rohloff is bliss for multi-modal commuting (assuming 16" or 20" wheels).
I disagree on the last point, I can turn the motor up or down, or all the way off, based on how much of a workout I want to get.
Also the only reason I'm willing to bike around my hilly city (Seattle) is because I have an ebike.
To put it another way, across 3 or 4 blocks I have around a 100 meter incline on the way to a park.
Can experienced bicyclists who are in good shape pull that off? With a kid on the back of their bike? Sure. But an ebike lets me turn turn the motor on for that part, and turn it off when I'm not doing something as difficult.
The Nexus 7 proved reliable; the Alfine 11 a good value for durability and range of speeds; the Rohloff is brilliant but yes, those 14 speeds are expensive.
The choice depends on the rider's needs. I'd rather ride an IGH bicycle for the reliability and value over 10 years of riding. I'm not sure that an indifferent/infrequent bicycle user (the sort who lets things rust and never checks tire pressure) would care.
For the purpose of long commutes it's possible to buy an entire e-bike in 2024 for less than the price of a Rohloff hub alone.
The Alfine 11 and the Rohloff are brilliant. The Rohloff is a joy to use on all types of terrain. Instant shifts without fuss.
SRAM has a famous video where they lay the bike sideways and jump on the derailleur while shifting, without it bending. Admittedly that model is out of price range for most riders.
Ideally you should give the chain a quick rinse and brush of to prevent grime from accumulating. Sure, the internal gears are a bit easier in that regard, because you don't need to get into the cassette. Otherwise from a reliability standpoint they should take equal beating. The cleaning frequency depends a lot on the oil you use also, wet lube will accumulate more grime than dry.
Derailleur's just seem to be far cheaper, I suspect because most of their parts can be made from stamped steel, whereas most parts of an internal gearbox must be CNC machined and face hardened.
Internal hubs work great, but have a bit more loss, tend to weigh more, and when they start going sideways tend to go really wrong. But for the commuter-y / daily use like what you mention they tend to last and be more weather resistant.
Because of all of this they haven't found a place in much hobby/fitness mountain or road biking, but are really great for less hilly utilitarian needs.
However, many suggest that because hub gears usually have an enclosed chain, whereas derailleurs rarely have an enclosed chain, that 2% is usually eclipsed by chain losses as the chain gets dirty/rusty/worn far faster on derailleurs.
And by sheer coincidence, the popularity of bicycles and internal hubs coincides with having extremely flat terrain.
They also have the benefit they can change gear while stationary (very handy for traffic lights etc)
Historical (ie. 1960's) internal hubs only had 3 gears, so what you say might have led to market dominance.
I presume you don’t mean the Bauke Mollema one?
Also, for the low end the price is prohibitive: there is a firm (Priority) selling relatively cheap, casual belt driven bikes in NYC, which, I figure is quite flat, but the gear ratios on the cheap ones are not good enough for someplace hilly. And for the high end the weight is insane. One does not need to be a "weight weenie" to feel a ~2Kg hub spinning with the wheel.
I consider 3 speeds to be the sweet spot for capturing the advantages of an IGH without an exponential increase in cost. In technical terms, a 3x only needs a single planetary unit, and shifting is simplistic.
But it's going to be a tough sell in the US. Derailleur systems have actually improved a lot since I've been riding bikes (50+ years). Indexed shifting really works. Even low-end Shimano systems last a long time with minimal maintenance. There are maybe a dozen bikes among my family members, and derailleur problems are quite rare.
When it was working, it was a thing of beauty.
The cost difference alone is extreme enough to explain why you don’t see internal gear hub bikes everywhere. Even if you did have them on the showroom floor, those casual bike riders wouldn’t be buying them much due to the price.
You’re also underestimating the reliability of a modern derailleur system. As long as you’re not buying the absolute cheapest, no-name system, they’re actually quite reliable. The technology has come a long way.
It is dirty after rain, but they still just leave it at that.
When it comes to efficiency, internal gear hubs sadly aren't yet in the range of a rear derailleur.
https://fahrradzukunft.de/17/wirkungsgradmessungen-an-nabens...
A dirty rear derailleur of course also reduces the drive train's efficiency by a lot - which can be solved by cleaning the chain every other month.
When moving towards belt drives, you need a very stiff frame which can be opened/split in the back to fit the belt. These frames are more expensive to produce which will furthermore increase the overall bike's price.
Ideally, we all train our legs to be able to handle a single speed setup ;-)
decent bikes derailleur hangers.
they’re simple and they work reliably enough. why do we need something more complicated?
building a touring bike for remote areas? reliability wins, internal transmission and belt drive sounds smart.
otherwise, your money is better spent on nicer brakes, lighter weight wheels, nice hubs, etc.