Functional bikes. Not Porn not Anti

Was thinking about the 3 and 5 speeds I've tried - SA always feels a bit agricultural and clunky whereas as shimano when working as it should is pretty light and crisp. Haven't tried the 8sp SA...

8spd SA have the direct-drive gear as the lowest gear (ie slowest) which is useless as it has noticeably less drag and is in a useless place. The Alfine has DD in gear 5, which is much more useful for everyday riding.

Oh, I see.. The handlebars do double duty as a rack for your stuff?

If you can be arsed to pop mudguards on there then it's probably for the best.

Where are you heading in Scotland?

Yeah I probably should put them on, it's only a question of arsedness as they're adjusted and line up perfectly.
John o groats to Edinburgh wild camping along sustrans routes in theory. Giving ourselves 2 weeks to do it at a leisurely pace.

The Alfine has DD in gear 5, which is much more useful for everyday riding.

Is that on Alfine 11?

On the 8 speed Alfine and Nexus you set cable tension in 4th and I thought that was where DD was, I don't like it though, 4th feel draggier than the rest of the gears on the Nexus 8 I have now and the Alfine 8 I had previously.

Alfine 8. Next time you ride, have a feel between 4 and 5. 4 runs through 2 gearsets and so is one of the worst. Sheldon (and Brandt) have plenty of info on the IGHs.

You set cable tension in 4th but it's also the least efficient gear - I can't recall all the details but it engages two of the internal gear trains. In fact it's so much worse than 5th that it's not usually worth shifting down, as you end up going slower for only marginally less effort.

Not tried a rohloff but they're a different league.

My colleague has one and initially I was impressed but his has now gone a bit wrong, out of warranty and from what we can tell, Rohloff refuse point blank to sell spare internal parts. The authorised service centres can only do oil changes and swap in an entire new internal lump and even if you send the hub to them in Germany they just tell you it needs a new internal lump too. By all accounts their warranty cover is great and I've heard stories of them shipping hubs/wheels to some ridiculously remote locations but outwith warranty you're looking at the wrong end of £700 just to replace the internals!

@hamrack @Thrustvector every day is a school day. I knew 4th felt kinda shite but had never really looked into why.

I literally just picked up my car today after having the gearbox replaced. Cost less than fixing a rohloff. Madness.

And then think about the initial purchase cost,

Rohloff hub including shifter etc = £1100+
Alfine 11 hub £190, cassette joint/fitting kit £15, shifter £50 = £245.

Put another way, you could buy a Rohloff and hope it never goes wrong, or, you could buy an Alfine 11 setup and 4 additional hubs* from which to takes spares and still be about £100 better off than if you'd bought the Rohloff.

*Can't actually find the 11speed internal lump for as cheap as the entire hub I linked.

I'll just stick with my xt/lx mix stuff from all eras on all my bikes thanks. Seems to last forever and getting 1x11 xt on my Ogre when it arrives. Was tempted by igh but didn't do enough research to be confident enough to go for it.

Yeah sorry, didn't mean to pressure you into igh ownership, I meant 'you' hypothetically.

I do love my Nexus 8 though (and it would work out even cheaper thn the Alfine 11 calculations above), thought it was a bit inferior to the Alfine I used to have but turnedout it was just the shite Microshift barend shifter on the Day One. It's due it's first service but not showing any signs of it so might try push my luck a bit...

Oh no worries I realised that completely, was just pandering to the narrative!
I've ridden a few igh but never known which model is which or what I've actually tried. I like having something I can see working and lash up one way of another if it gets battered.

I always wonder, how does a headset like that work!? How do they tension the bearings?

I always wonder, how does a headset like that work

I found this:

https://velopsy.blogspot.nl/2013/03/takhions-takhions.html

It looks like top bearings and nut and such are inside the head tube.

There must be some sort of ring welded to the inside of te head tube for it seat.

More:

https://velopsy.blogspot.nl/2014/09/

ahh so there's some internals going on.. nice

@jambon I saw Greyson Perry on the very same bike, rolling out of V&A riding towards Hyde Park last night :D

Ha awesome! He's my proudest famous 'spot' since living in London.

@amey @jambon Wrong thread! Greyson Perry is more HHSB than Functional (in art terms too) :')

Just finished building up this Vagabond.
So far I'm loving the ride, but getting used to the slight creaking of a brooks.

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