nexus hub
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I have only used the Nexus 3 speed and 7 speed. From my experience if the 7 speed is significantly cheaper than the internal 8 speed I would say go with the 7 Speed. I forgot how much i payed for mine a few years back, but let me tell you my set up with the 7 speed.
This was on a Dyno Roadster, The chainring was 44 teeth and the rear cog was 18T. When I would start pedaling I would have to shift all the way to 4th gear within a few full pedal cycles, by a few I mean within less than 10 feet because the gears were so close together and it took no effort to pedal.
If you don't plan on cruising anything faster than about 10-15MPH I would also recommend looking into a nexus 3 speed with a 44T chainring and a 22T rear cog. First and second gear feel really light; let me put it this way, my wife was able to enjoy bike riding her Phat Cycles Nadine at 7 months pregnant.
Hopefully some other people with good experience can chime in.
This was on a Dyno Roadster, The chainring was 44 teeth and the rear cog was 18T. When I would start pedaling I would have to shift all the way to 4th gear within a few full pedal cycles, by a few I mean within less than 10 feet because the gears were so close together and it took no effort to pedal.
If you don't plan on cruising anything faster than about 10-15MPH I would also recommend looking into a nexus 3 speed with a 44T chainring and a 22T rear cog. First and second gear feel really light; let me put it this way, my wife was able to enjoy bike riding her Phat Cycles Nadine at 7 months pregnant.
Hopefully some other people with good experience can chime in.
I got a Nexus 8 coaster online for about 180 from Tree fort bikes. It's not just the extra gear, the 8 speed is supposedly a better design, better all around hub than the 7. There's a an older an newer version of it too, try to get the newer "premium redline" or whatever.
J/K. Blame Shimano, and don't worry the Alfine makes my Nexus look bad. No Coaster on the Alfine though.
I don't think the premium 8's are available with a coaster brake, either.
The Nexus 7 is a fine hub, and according to an article at http://hubstripping.wordpress.com/internal-gear-hub-review/, the gear ratios on the 7 are "stepped" more evenly then on the 8. On the other hand, I think the 8 may have less pedal resistance, than the 7, especially the premium version. Three of my bikes have Nexus 7's, and I dig them, but I have yet to try an 8, to compare.
Here's a few quotes from the article:
"The Shimano Nexus INTER-7 hub has the smallest step size between 13,8% and 17,3,%. Also the size is nearly the same. A absolutly fantastic gear step chart. This is the way a internal gear hub has to be designed."
"Shimano tells us they improved the Nexus INTER-7 hub to the Nexus INTER-8 / ALFINE. Sorry! That´s not the case according gear steps. Have look on the chart. The chart jumps down from 22,2% to 13,8% and once again up and down. This is no well balanced hub. If you want to buy a internal gear hub from Shimano take the well balanced Nexus INTER-7."
"Therefore we´ll have a lock on the second important characteristic for internal geared hubs. The size of steps between the gears.
In details there are two step charactersitics:
1. The size of the step between two gears.
2. The size of the steps compared to each other.
The size of the steps between the gears defines the chance to find a perfect gear inside your choosen overall gear ratio. Smaller steps are better then larger steps. With smaller steps you can finer react on your cycling environment e.g. wind, a inclination, a trailer…
This will increase your cycling fun!
To increase your fun even more the size of the steps should be the same. Think about a old stair in a castle or old house. The steps are worn out. This means the step size changes from step tp step. This makes it very hard and confusing to step up. It´s a very inefficient walk. The same will happen with a bicycle. When the steps beween the gears change cycling gets frustrating. You´ll never find the IDEAL gear.
Conclusion: The hub should have small steps beteen the gear and the step size should be the same."
The Nexus 7 is a fine hub, and according to an article at http://hubstripping.wordpress.com/internal-gear-hub-review/, the gear ratios on the 7 are "stepped" more evenly then on the 8. On the other hand, I think the 8 may have less pedal resistance, than the 7, especially the premium version. Three of my bikes have Nexus 7's, and I dig them, but I have yet to try an 8, to compare.
Here's a few quotes from the article:
"The Shimano Nexus INTER-7 hub has the smallest step size between 13,8% and 17,3,%. Also the size is nearly the same. A absolutly fantastic gear step chart. This is the way a internal gear hub has to be designed."
"Shimano tells us they improved the Nexus INTER-7 hub to the Nexus INTER-8 / ALFINE. Sorry! That´s not the case according gear steps. Have look on the chart. The chart jumps down from 22,2% to 13,8% and once again up and down. This is no well balanced hub. If you want to buy a internal gear hub from Shimano take the well balanced Nexus INTER-7."
"Therefore we´ll have a lock on the second important characteristic for internal geared hubs. The size of steps between the gears.
In details there are two step charactersitics:
1. The size of the step between two gears.
2. The size of the steps compared to each other.
The size of the steps between the gears defines the chance to find a perfect gear inside your choosen overall gear ratio. Smaller steps are better then larger steps. With smaller steps you can finer react on your cycling environment e.g. wind, a inclination, a trailer…
This will increase your cycling fun!
To increase your fun even more the size of the steps should be the same. Think about a old stair in a castle or old house. The steps are worn out. This means the step size changes from step tp step. This makes it very hard and confusing to step up. It´s a very inefficient walk. The same will happen with a bicycle. When the steps beween the gears change cycling gets frustrating. You´ll never find the IDEAL gear.
Conclusion: The hub should have small steps beteen the gear and the step size should be the same."
Rooski, are all you 7 speed hubs coaster brake. I ask because I have a drum brake on mine and it's not very efficient at stopping me right when I want to and I get a lot of brake fade on slight inclines.
Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk
Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk
Can't compare to the Nex 7, but the nexus 8 does seem to have big jumps when you get towards the easier gears. But the middle range and harder gears are ok, can't complain. It feels like any mtb gear cluster, like a 3 tooth cog difference between gears. So basically the gear jump only annoys me in the easy gears.
rydr1 said:
All mine are coaster brake, and they work about as well as as a CB is expected to work. On long downhills, I will usually "pulse" the brakes, to slow down, rather then ride the brakes continuously. This allows for short durations of cooling down.
I assume you're talking about a "roller" brake (which the Nexus uses), and not a drum. Roller brakes are very prone to fading when heated up, and they heat up easily. About all I can suggest is to make sure you keep it well greased with the proper high temp grease, designed for roller brakes. You can also try the pulse braking method. Instead of riding your brakes to maintain a constant downhill speed, use a intervals of hard braking for short durations. Use each braking "burst" to slow yourself down to a lower speed then you normally would, and then allow the the bike to coast up to a speed where you start to feel like your going too fast, then repeat. The coasting time in between the braking bursts will offer some cool down time.
Both coaster brakes, and roller brakes are pretty far from a "high performance" solution. A front V brake or disc brake would be a nice addition, to feel safer on your cruiser. I have one bike (Townie 3i) with a front V brake. My grandaughter rides this one a lot, and I like that she has the additional brake, because a coaster brake failure can sometimes not end well. I'm strongly thinking about adding front brakes to some of my other bikes.
my nexus 8 is sweet. im buying another. with a roller brake this time
El Duderino said:
I have never felt my roller brake safe. I have been wondering if I can install a disc brake on my 7 speed, at least there would be another option.
I would recommend you ride a bike with the roller brake and see how you feel about it.
