241–250 of 329 posts
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Motorbikes still overwhelmingly use chains, not sure why but there must be a good reason
Belts are not suitable for passing lots of torque. This is why cvt are not that popular outside of small-ish cars.
I’ve been doing a bit of (non e-bike) riding in poor weather of late, and it’s really surprising just how wet and dirty everything gets. After a wet road ride, every surface is covered in black, greasy dirt. It rots fabric, makes grinding paste in mechanical parts and generally makes everything worse. You need really good seals to keep that crap out.
Friends will sometimes give me crap for not riding in poor weather, but whether it's mountain bike, road, or gravel, riding in wet/muddy conditions just result in so much work.
The bike itself gets really dirty, it gets into EVERYTHING. Wear on brake pads and drivetrain are accelerated. Stuff doesn't work right. Post-ride it requires so much cleanup that it can take just as long as the ride did.
Sure, I'll get caught out sometimes, but I really don't like starting out in poor conditions because it's just so much work to get things back to right and can potentially cost quite a bit. I'll usually just skip riding these days.
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The biggest reason we use 3x8 on all our bikes is because the spare parts are cheaper than all other ratios and we can switch around as we like between all bikes and can even keep some spare parts on the shelf for when the local stores are out. The first thing to go on my bike is the deraileur though, they keep a year or so even if taken care of. They can still be used a couple of years but the shifting isn't so exac…
>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 Related?
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Still cleaning regularly is a lot of work (been there) and most people here never clean it, resulting in unreliable shifting and non-smooth cycling. Most people are better served by an internal hub and belt drive. Almost no maintenance (just bring it to a bike shop yearly to get it tuned up again).
Internal hubs are common in places where biking is common - ie. Amsterdam. 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.
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Is IP67 safe to wash like a car? Soapy sponge and reasonable hose pressure (not pressure washer) spray?
IP67 means "completely dust proof and submersible up to 1 meter". You can safely hose it down to clean it, pressure washers are probably a bit much.
I’ve been doing a bit of (non e-bike) riding in poor weather of late, and it’s really surprising just how wet and dirty everything gets. After a wet road ride, every surface is covered in black, greasy dirt. It rots fabric, makes grinding paste in mechanical parts and generally makes everything worse. You need really good seals to keep that crap out.
(Note, I don't have an eBike.) Friends will sometimes give me crap for not riding in poor weather, but whether it's mountain bike, road, or gravel, riding in wet/muddy conditions just result in so much work. The bike itself gets really dirty, it gets into EVERYTHING. Wear on brake pads and drivetrain are accelerated. Stuff doesn't work right. Post-ride it requires so much cleanup that it can take just as long as the…
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Not sure an IP rating alone gives you the information you need for this usecase. A [mountain] bike motor doesn't just need to resist ingress, it needs to do so after hundreds of hours of violent shaking while its external bearings are under heavy load. It should also tolerate a certain amount of direct impact. I can certainly imagine this being tricky to achieve for a few hundred $! > Don't people bike because they w…
"In a healthy city..." Speaking of things which are (evidently) "tricky to achieve"...
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An internal transmission hub replaces a hub, cassette, and derailleur and starts at less than $100 for the whole kit. 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.
I'm not really seeing the argument. I've never had a derailleur break, if anything, this sounds like some supreme yak shaving. Granted, I don't ride bikes for a living, but I ride a bike every day and durability isn't even remotely as big of an issue as you make it out to be.
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Getting rid of the external gears also allows you to use a fixed chain guard. Less pants with a hole chewed in one leg = profit.
You can even use a completely enclosed chain guard. You see them quite often in the Netherlands and will keep your chain out of the rain and dust, this lowers maintenance cost and lifetime significantly. 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…
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(Note, I don't have an eBike.) Friends will sometimes give me crap for not riding in poor weather, but whether it's mountain bike, road, or gravel, riding in wet/muddy conditions just result in so much work. The bike itself gets really dirty, it gets into EVERYTHING. Wear on brake pads and drivetrain are accelerated. Stuff doesn't work right. Post-ride it requires so much cleanup that it can take just as long as the…
Not to joke too hard but how long do you ride usually? To me a solid post ride cleanup takes 10mins tops. Thousands of miles on my dirty moutain bike and stuff still works right. Sure I replace parts that wear but seems insignificant.
Any city bike worth its salt will have a chain case and long inverted U-shaped fenders that will redirect dirty spray away from you.
You won’t get off completely clean but maybe 99% clean?
Maybe OP just has really cheap bikes.