Daughter seems determined that next year she will need a bike to get around at uni - hurrah! I'm pretty sure her basic Boardman hardtail is going to be a bit of a lump to get around Lancaster with, and she won't be offroading anyway.
The bike will pretty much live outside or in uni bike racks, and her brother stumbled across a Nexus hub geared bike that he used at uni and seemed to cope with the neglect, so I'm thinking something similar for her. Needs to take full mudguards and a rear rack, and come in a petite 5'2 size.
Any experience or ideas of what to add to my ebay search would be appreciated!
https://ebay.us/m/A6TxgM
don’t know if it will be small enough, but it’s a good price if it fits. I’ve got the belt drive version and it’s good
That's the kind of thing, but "small" at 170cm is going to be the stumbling block!
Not tried a Nexus but I had a DI2 Alfine on my commuter for a couple of years. Hated it. The shifting was fine but it just wasn't a very good, heavy, weight in the wrong place, and very draggy. I can't see a cheaper Alfine being better.
I don't regret switching back to singlespeed. I'm guessing if she's just going between digs and campus it's not a massive commute so I'd recommend a SS, just gear it for whatever the biggest hill she'll regularly come across is and it'll be grand
Pashley Britannia ?
My utility bike is a Kona Bike: 3-speed Shimano Nexus hub with roller brakes and a dynamo. Lives outside and is bombproof. Thump fitted a borrowed supermarket basket to the rear to put his rucsac in.
Gear range isn't great but we get around happily enough.
The Santander bikes are very similar and are used throughout Stirling by students. No idea who makes them.
I've got a Boardman URB8.9 (Nexus hub and gates belt). It's a brick (I need to put faster tyres on), but it fills the purpose I wanted it for, to be robust and pretty much maintenance free. The slowness just makes all my other bikes feel faster.
Any experience or ideas of what to add to my ebay search would be appreciated!
The only problem with hub gears is it becomes more of a pain to remove the rear wheel in case of punctures. I get the reliability point but for a student, would it not be easier to accept that the existing bike is effectively doing a last hurrah and just kit it out with the longest, least-cool mudguards possible? If you're being really picky with it, knock it down to a 1x and a reduced cassette, maybe 5sp and some spacers. Could possibly give the chain a thorough waxing and fit some bombproof tyres.before it spends the rest of its life in the Lancaster rain...
The cycle facilities between Lancaster Uni campus and town aren't brilliant by the way. It's got a bit better, there's some shared use footpath stuff up along the A6 but it's still shit. Other than that, Lancaster is a great little city. The bit through the middle is relatively flat, you only really encounter hills if you head off to the sides.
I used an old alfine hub on my commuter for a few years. I loved being able to change gear whilst not moving and also how little maintenance it required (that said, I haven't needed to touch the gears on the bike that replaced it in a whole year either). I didn't find it draggy really, the wind and hills were always the much bigger factor.
It was however almighty heavy which made it a pain lifting onto the train, especially with a laptop in the pannier too.
What finally killed it for me was moving to the top of a hill that was too steep for the gear range. Sounds like that's not a problem in lancaster
Can you find a Pinnacle Arkose A8 that goes that small? Dropped bar Alfine commuter...
Cannondale Bad Boy - flat bar hybrid will come in a size small and with an Alfine 8. There are currently two on eBay.
There's nothing wrong with an alfine or nexus for getting around town maintenance free, in fact they've got loads of positives.
I have a Cannondale Hooligan looking for a new home, would easily be small enough and can come with either SS or Alfine wheels.
Another vote here for the Boardman URB8.9 as this is what I have, although as said above, it's a brick!
However, it suits its purpose and does it very well, It's got full mudguards, pannier rack, belt drive and full of scratches to make it look less appealing.
It's a proper put away wet and forget about it bike.
As well as it being my daily commuter, I've also done plenty of long rides on it too (100 miler), I did have to relearn to change gear though as the lever is reversed, and you have to take all load from the drive when shifting otherwise you get problems.
Mine suffers with EBB creak, but in all fairness I haven't been bothered to look at it in over a year, see above: put away wet and forget about it 😉
Thanks for the tips - was also considering bodging her more of a 1x pub bike.
She's not currently a cyclist, despite the hardtail at home. Drop bars are not going to be involved.
She seems to have already sussed out the weird cycle infrastructure and the back streets.
1x with 8 or 9 speed on an 11-42 cassette works well for a general abuse bike. My eldest has my old Kona on 9 speed using the original medium cage XT mech with a cheap hanger extension.
Don't know how this would fair if left outside all the time though. Does her new digs have a shed or garage? Bikes left in gardens often get 'evaporated' when not being watched irrespective of the rust.
I hated my old Alfine hub with a passion. Singlespeeded that bike afterwards and it was so much nicer to ride.
Anyway, you're asking about gears - you're narrowing your search down with hub geared bikes, I'd just find something with normal gears - be far easier to get hold of and cheaper.
I was gutted when I found a crack on the seat tube of my Alfine equipped Saracen Pylon8, the frame is still hidden in the shed ~11 years later... No idea if the 26" hub wheel would work now if transplanted to a new frame!
Something old with a sturmey archer 3 speed. Done thousands of miles on mine and it was made in the 60s. Used to live outside at my old house and it's quite rusty and un-nickable because of it. Still going strong. just needs the odd chain lube and the tyres pumping occasionally.
If it's out in all weather just be careful of what seat to buy as most sofas will just act like sponges.
An alfine hub bike can seem a bit draggy when you have other well maintained nice derailleur bikes to compare to, but compared to the average student bike that hasn't seen a service or oil in years I would take I would take hub gears every time, especially if you could find a belt drive one.
When I lived in Widnes and had commuted to Runcorn I was getting flats every other day there was so much glass on the cycle paths, until I got a pair of these dutch supreme tyres again wouldn't want to ride them on a fun bike, but for city commuting without the worry of punctures for someone who doesn't see maintenance as part of cycling as a hobby they are ideal, and would remove the problem of taking a alfine rear hub off to fix a puncture.
Isn’t most of Lancaster fairly flat? Or is it the stress of my narrowboat holiday making me misremember? The canal was flat anyway, the only good thing about the whole two weeks!
Pendleton would another brand to look at for 2nd hand city bikes
Versions of the Cube Hooper or Hyde come with Alfine hubs. Nice handling. I bought one for my daughter for Uni.