A bicycle with a full chain case. They’re hard to find in the U.S. Bike mechanics say it’s because they’re a pain to work on, but the cool thing is that you hardly ever have to work on them. When riding in the winter, I’d have to clean the gears and chain every couple of weeks, and then replace the drivetrain almost every year. With the chain case, so far my maintenance has consisted of oiling the chain a handful of times in three years.
I got a bike with a drive belt instead of a chain. That’s going one step further to reduce the required maintenance although it’s a compromise (more expensive, more resistance). I’ll never go back to a chain for my commuter bike
edit: when it eventually wore out and broke, replacing it was relatively easy as well. No special tools required either. Not really a pro vs. a chain because replacing a chain is easy as well and chains are much cheaper, but worth mentioning for people who might think a belt is somehow more involved
What causes the greater resistance, the belt itself, or the internal-gear hub? I went with the full chain case (which also requires an IGH) several years ago, because the belt drive required a special frame. (In short, it cost too much.) Now that the split-belt systems have come around, it’s tempting again.
I don’t know what causes more resistance, but both the belt and the internal gear hub have some, speaking from experience with those hubs with regular chains. I don’t mind much because I figure the tradeoff is worth it for me, but it’s definitely something to keep in mind if efficiency / speed is more important to you
A bicycle with a full chain case. They’re hard to find in the U.S. Bike mechanics say it’s because they’re a pain to work on, but the cool thing is that you hardly ever have to work on them. When riding in the winter, I’d have to clean the gears and chain every couple of weeks, and then replace the drivetrain almost every year. With the chain case, so far my maintenance has consisted of oiling the chain a handful of times in three years.
NotJustBikes has a relevant video about these kinds of bike features.
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video
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I got a bike with a drive belt instead of a chain. That’s going one step further to reduce the required maintenance although it’s a compromise (more expensive, more resistance). I’ll never go back to a chain for my commuter bike
edit: when it eventually wore out and broke, replacing it was relatively easy as well. No special tools required either. Not really a pro vs. a chain because replacing a chain is easy as well and chains are much cheaper, but worth mentioning for people who might think a belt is somehow more involved
What causes the greater resistance, the belt itself, or the internal-gear hub? I went with the full chain case (which also requires an IGH) several years ago, because the belt drive required a special frame. (In short, it cost too much.) Now that the split-belt systems have come around, it’s tempting again.
I don’t know what causes more resistance, but both the belt and the internal gear hub have some, speaking from experience with those hubs with regular chains. I don’t mind much because I figure the tradeoff is worth it for me, but it’s definitely something to keep in mind if efficiency / speed is more important to you