> Furthermore, from our calculations, this is the most advanced a racing bicycle will ever be or can ever be. The very nature of the 1/8″ wide sprockets means four is the maximum one freehub can carry.
Ah, the "640k ought to be enough for anybody" of the bicycling world. These days you can get 13 speed on the back derailleur alone -- not even taking into account the front derailleur.
Well, if you do go to 13, you are not taking into account any front derailleur. True for both the wire-operated tredici as well as the hydraulic trece.
one of the more recent developments is combining a rear derailleur with a internal gear hub (both electronically and wirelessly shifted) and a single front chainring. some upsides, some downsides, but definitely something to watch.
It's not a particularly recent idea, I believe Brompton has been doing that for decades. And it fills a very specific niche.
On most bikes I don't really see the point.
Either you want the convenience of an internal gear hub and you have plenty of options that offer a pretty wide range. For instance the Nexus/Alfine 8 feels plenty enough for a commuter bike even if you live in a hilly place. If you're rich you can go with an Alfine 11, Rohloff, or Pinion.
Or you don't want the weight/cost/inefficiency, nowadays you can get affordable and reliable 1x10 or 1x11 groupsets. And of course on a proper road bike you'll still want a double chainring.
The Brompton system is ... weird. Owing to the fact that the bike folds and the length of the chain line changes dramatically when you fold it, a traditional parallelogram linkage derailleur wouldn't work.
Instead, they have a crazy custom thing that runs the chain through a little pivoting fork that shifts the chain left and right on the two speed freewhatever[0]. The six speed adds the three speed internally geared hub. You can also get one or the other alone.
I believe they developed that combination when the supply of 5 speed hubs that fit their highly non-standard read hub spacing dried up.
I have a two speed Brompton and love it, but their engineers are next-level crazy in the best possible way.
[0] I wouldn't even care to guess. Everything they do is insane.
that combination system i've been talking about is for proper road bikes.
> And of course on a proper road bike you'll still want a double chainring.
why? the IGH replaces the front double chainring. weight and price might be a bit higher but it's probably more robust, less maintenance and you can shift under full load.
Still, I'll believe it when I see it at amateur cycling clubs. At pro-level I don't think anyone would take the performance hit (even though they claim it's compensated) just to avoid having a front derailleur.
For gravel, cyclocross or even casual road biking, if a double chainring really bothers you, then 1x12 groupsets exist.
The biggest issue is the complexity, weight and poor efficiency compared to a derailleur. And also fewer and unevenly graded gears, though that's probably less true with Pinion hubs.
It's not that hard to avoid shifting under heavy load (higher-end IGHs shift fine under some load). And on a commuter bike, being able to shift gears at a standstill is great.
Edit: you completely changed the content of your message and my reply doesn't make a lot of sense now.
I find the shifting in the IGHs to be super annoying because it destroys your cadence. You have to stop peddling, then shift, then start peddling again. Weight/efficiency are also definitely noticeable.
Complexity is a weird thing. For the vast majority of owners the most you'll need to do is change the oil every 10k kilometers, but for the unlucky ones that do need it serviced, that requires shipping your hub across the world.
I'm hoping that their growing popularity improves the technology and makes them cheaper. I tour bikes as a hobby and make pretty okay money, but I still can't justify the price point of a Rohloff system.
Both Rohloff and Shimano have been making pretty sturdy internal gear hubs for a long time, efficiency is fantastic. Ditto for the venerable Sturmey Archer internal gear hub, which goes back to the dark ages.
Efficiency sucks for the continuous variable kind, like the Enviolo and other variations on that theme.
Yes, true. But back in the day they were ultra reliable, I've seen a few fail but that was mostly due to gross abuse, if you were kind to them they'd last forever. Plenty of the oldies still in use today are proof of that.
That I certainly agree. About 15 years ago, there was talk of them (re?)releasing a 3 speed fixed gear hub and I couldn't (first) believe it and also couldn't ever find it in stock. They're around now, but I'm not sure I'd risk it.
yes, i meant combining an IGH with a rear derailer (instead of a front derailer). afaik there's only one supplier of those currently (and the system is a bit half-baked, i.e. no DI2 compatibility for reusing the existing shifters).
Ah, the "640k ought to be enough for anybody" of the bicycling world. These days you can get 13 speed on the back derailleur alone -- not even taking into account the front derailleur.