# Hub geared mountain bike



## element (3 Sep 2011)

http://www.madison.co.uk/productinf...&tier2=XC+&+All+Mountain+Bikes&catref=GN4K119

I am thinking of buying one of these bikes. I like the idea of hub gears on an MTB especially the eleven speed option as I will be riding to a few trails I plan on going on. I get a bit of discount on maddison items so it will come at a good price. I can't see any issues with it but I am interested to see if anyone has hubs on an MTB or if there is some unwritten MTB rule about Hubs not being good for off road.
The alternative is probably one of these.

http://www.madison.co.uk/productinf...&tier2=XC+&+All+Mountain+Bikes&catref=RB75015


THe Ridgeback is much cheaper but I stretched the budget on the genesis as the hubs gave it the gadget factor. No gadgets means I would rather spend the extra money on drink and prostitutes.*




*this is a joke I would really be spending the extra money on crack.


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## Moodyman (3 Sep 2011)

Shimano approved Alfine for MTBs so they're confident that it'll take the strain of off-roading

I'd lean towards the Alfine 11.

I've got the Alfine 8 on my commuter and the low gear is fine for getting up the steepest road gradients - but that's on smooth surfaces with slicks. I don't think it'll be low enough for off road use plus the gaps between gears is quite large.

The Alfine 11 has a greater range and the gaps between gears are smaller and more even.


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## Jezston (5 Sep 2011)

Moodyman said:


> I've got the Alfine 8 on my commuter and the low gear is fine for getting up the steepest road gradients - but that's on smooth surfaces with slicks. I don't think it'll be low enough for off road




The front ring is pretty tiny on that, though. I doubt you'd struggle much climbing with that.


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## GrumpyGregry (5 Sep 2011)

plenty of alfine, and the odd rohloff, hub geared mtb's about, even on real mountains.

if you decide to alter/lower the gearing at some point just make sure you are aware of the warranty implications if you go beyond shinamo's torque recommendation.


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## pshore (5 Sep 2011)

I keep thinking about hub gears for MTB. I have not ridden one, but have lifted one and immediately obvious was that there is a lot of weight at the back wheel. This might be an issue if you are a technical rider who pops bunnyhops, weight shifts over obstacles etc.

To get round this, what I really want is those hub gears built into the centre of the bike, maybe part of the bottom brackets or something. No idea if it would work in practice.


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## Jezston (5 Sep 2011)

pshore said:


> I keep thinking about hub gears for MTB. I have not ridden one, but have lifted one and immediately obvious was that there is a lot of weight at the back wheel. This might be an issue if you are a technical rider who pops bunnyhops, weight shifts over obstacles etc.
> 
> To get round this, what I really want is those hub gears built into the centre of the bike, maybe part of the bottom brackets or something. No idea if it would work in practice.



I think there are two-speed BB gear systems around.


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## GrumpyGregry (5 Sep 2011)

pshore said:


> _I keep thinking about hub gears for MTB. I have not ridden one, but have lifted one and immediately obvious was that there is a lot of weight at the back wheel. This might be an issue if you are a technical rider who pops bunnyhops, weight shifts over obstacles etc._
> 
> To get round this, what I really want is those hub gears built into the centre of the bike, maybe part of the bottom brackets or something. No idea if it would work in practice.



you adapt pretty quickly ime.


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## element (5 Sep 2011)

I ordered it today so we shall see. For what its worth I had a shock when ordering as the price in the link does not include a wheel pack and it would appear a 'wheel pack' what ever one is costs £500. I had decided I wanted it by then so hopfully next week I will be out on my MTB. I would say I will post a review but seeng as its my first mountain bike I have nothing to compare it too.


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## GrumpyGregry (5 Sep 2011)

2011 Genesis iO iD Alfine 11 in 19" for £1100 here


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## pshore (5 Sep 2011)

Jezston said:


> I think there are two-speed BB gear systems around.



I've just been having a read. If you want enough gears you need a special frame. The other option I found is a replacement for the front derailer so has only two gears.


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## element (12 Sep 2011)

I have now got my bike and did about 17 miles on saturday and to be honest its too heavy, the hub gears are ok but the 6 miles of road I have to cycle to get to the off road parts is painful with massive knobbly tyres. I am going to get another set of tyres as the mud-chuckers are overkill for most things even the forrest tracks and bridal ways. 
I did ride across one very ruff stretch that was all up hill but alot of the rest of the paths I took I could have done on somthing like this http://www.ridgeback.co.uk/bike/momentum I hope when I get it to the tougher trails at I can make more of the bike ruggedness. It does however bug me that I may have to start driving to those places to cycle. 
The other probelm is that is that bike caused my nether regions some serious pain, after riding on saturday I got on my other bike on sunday and had to turn back after a mile as it was still sore.


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## DTD (12 Sep 2011)

I've got my Trek Sawyer booked in at the local bike shop to be 11 speed Alfined – the Sawyer is pretty heavy to start with and has no front or rear suspension and has 29er wheels with tyres that wouldn't disgrace a tractor. On the road it's a bugger to ride, but once it gets on the trail it's altogether different. 

Not tried anything resembling a hill yet, but like you, slicker tyres are a definite maybe for me. 
Was looking at Scwalbe Big Apples or Fat Alberts(?) or some such thing. Let us know what you go with.


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## element (13 Sep 2011)

I was thinking the same, these
http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/TYSCBIAPKGF/schwalbe-big-apple-kevlar-guard-folding-tyre

or perhaps one of these two.

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/TYSCMARPPW/schwalbe-marathon-plus-performance-wired-tyre

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/TYSCSIL2/schwalbe-silento-ii-wired-tyre-with-puncture-protection


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## Ticktockmy (13 Sep 2011)

I have in the past thought about fitting a hub gear on my bike, whilst the cost is not a problem, in my mind it is the question of "what if it goes wrong”.
With a derailleur if it breaks, you can just remove it shorten the chain and carry on until you get to a LBS to buy spares.

With the Hub gear, whilst they have a good track record of being efficient and having a low failure rate, sods law says that when you are the furthest point away from a source of spares then it will fail, likewise if it might well be then it leaves you with a rear wheel which is useless as you could have no drive to your rear wheel or the wheel might well be jammed.

Bob G


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## DTD (13 Sep 2011)

True, but your folks _could_ snap, your front wheel _might_ buckle to oblivion.
I think you'd just have to accept there are some situations that mean "ride over" and then you realise why it's called a 'push' bike.


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## albion (13 Sep 2011)

One thing for certain is that reliability folklore is of little substance to would be buyers.Manufacturers themselves release no data on the subject.


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## Andrew_Culture (4 Aug 2013)

Does anyone here have experience of owning a hub geared MTB?


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