Shimano 8 speed hub & dyno hub/roller brakes - any user info welcome

[petal puss]

Can anyone who uses these tell me if there are any problems with
Shimano 8 speed gear and roller brake hub,shimano dynamo hub and
roller brake in long distance road use. Is the lowest gear low enough
for a 1 in 10 hill and are the brakes adequate for a similar gradient?
Are they ok for trailer towing? I am putting together a touring bike
for a 'round-Austrlia'trip of about 12 months duration and the load on
the bike and trailer is anticipated to be about about 150kg. Any
thoughts or ideas most welcome.
Thanks
Nick, Australia

 

[Poiter]

I am putting together a touring bike
for a 'round-Austrlia'trip of about 12 months duration and the load on
the bike and trailer is anticipated to be about about 150kg. Any
thoughts or ideas most welcome.

Carry less stuff.......

Pete

 

[flyingdutch]

Can anyone who uses these tell me if there are any problems with
Shimano 8 speed gear and roller brake hub,shimano dynamo hub and
roller brake in long distance road use. Is the lowest gear low enough
for a 1 in 10 hill and are the brakes adequate for a similar gradient?
Are they ok for trailer towing? I am putting together a touring bike
for a 'round-Austrlia'trip of about 12 months duration and the load on
the bike and trailer is anticipated to be about about 150kg. Any
thoughts or ideas most welcome.
Thanks
Nick, Australia

presumably you are going the hubgear route for lower maintenance, yeah?
pro's and cons. weight. gear range is 'OK' but if you are hauling so much stuff you are probably gonna want smaller than bigger.
Can you stretch to a Rohloff? pricey but lighter and better geared.
If you can get in contact with Alan Christie or someone form the touring clubs (melbourne -MBTC - http://www.mbtc.org.au/ or similar org if is not near you)

 

[Bikesoiler]

I am putting together a touring bike
for a 'round-Austrlia'trip of about 12 months duration and the load on
the bike and trailer is anticipated to be about about 150kg. Any
thoughts or ideas most welcome.
Thanks
Nick, Australia

I hope that 150kg includes your body weight..... & you're 'big boned'. Slow trip otherwise.

A BoB trailer handles fine with ~25kgs. I second the Rohloff over Shimano.

 

[Mike]

petal puss wrote:
> Can anyone who uses these tell me if there are any problems with
> Shimano 8 speed gear and roller brake hub,shimano dynamo hub and

The 8-speed hub gear has a 307% range. About the same as a mountain
bike or tourer's rear cassette. But you'll be stuck in one chainring,
so only have half the overall range.

> Is the lowest gear low enough
> for a 1 in 10 hill ... 150kg. Any

!!! Only if you have a ting chainring, and top speed of 25km/hr.
I'd want a very low gear to haul 150kg up 10% for any length of time.

> thoughts or ideas most welcome.

Carry less. Reconsider conventional derailer gears, unless you can
afford the Rohloff.

good luck

 

[Peter Signorini]

"petal puss" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I am putting together a touring bike
> for a 'round-Austrlia'trip of about 12 months duration and the load on
> the bike and trailer is anticipated to be about about 150kg. Any
> thoughts or ideas most welcome.

The standard load that most tourers carry on a long bush tour is usually
around 40kg max. Friends of mine who rode the Gunbarrel Hwy from Uluru to
Wiluna (not for the family tourist) took an extra 30kgs of water and had to
limit other gear, but still wouldn't have exceeded 60kgs.

What unusual extras are you carrying that adds up to 150kg? A portable
generator?

150 kgs up 1 in 10 grades - good luck. Glad I'm not hauling it.

Cheers
Peter

 

[kingsley]

On Sat, 25 Sep 2004 20:08:44 -0700, petal puss wrote:

> Can anyone who uses these tell me if there are any problems with
> Shimano 8 speed gear and roller brake hub,shimano dynamo hub and
> roller brake in long distance road use. Is the lowest gear low enough
> for a 1 in 10 hill and are the brakes adequate for a similar gradient?
> Are they ok for trailer towing? I am putting together a touring bike
> for a 'round-Austrlia'trip of about 12 months duration and the load on
> the bike and trailer is anticipated to be about about 150kg. Any
> thoughts or ideas most welcome.

I'd ring Adam at Cheeky Monkey in Sydney. They build 'city-bike' bikes
put together with the shimano hubs, and supposedly sell quite a few
Rolholfs. There's also a Sturmey-Archer(sp?/wrong?) 8 speed hub on
the market too.

What sort of trailer are you talking about ?

Don't forget some excellent brakes, stopping that lot down
a hill in the wet is going to require something serious.
I wouldn't want to rely on a hub brake only. What's a 1/10
hill as a percentage gradient anyway? (10%? I thought it was
more complicated than that). We once hit the wrong direction on
a 20% hill, luckily it was only short, but it took two of us
to push the bike with the kids in the trailer to the top.

-kt

 

[petal puss]

Thanks for all the help so far. To clarify a few points......
I am 6ft 4in and weigh 100kg and the other 50kg is for the trailer and
load. I'm getting a custom frame made as I find conventional frames
too small for my height. Sounds like the Shimano gear hub doesn't have
a big enough range and the rohloff is the way to go.

I hope to have a trailer built out of light steel with 26inch wheels
and be able to slot in a large esky for a waterproof storage unit. I
have seen gooseneck trailers coming off the main frame behine/below
the seat, not off the rear 'axle'. They seem very manoueverable and
well-balanced.

Further thoughts????????????
Nick

 

[Terry Collins]

petal puss wrote:

> I hope to have a trailer built out of light steel with 26inch wheels
> and be able to slot in a large esky for a waterproof storage unit. I
> have seen gooseneck trailers coming off the main frame behine/below
> the seat, not off the rear 'axle'. They seem very manoueverable and
> well-balanced.

50Kg throwing your bicycle about at the seat post doesn't sound too
controllable to me. I recently had a lot of trouble with 50kg getting a
wobble up on a bob style trailer. My suggestion is a two wheel trailer
with a gooseneck to near the bottom left axle, or a bob style connection
to both axles/rear dropouts.

Unless this is for a beer trailer, you might also like to look at
galvanised tradesman tool boxes.

 

[Bikesoiler]

Thanks for all the help so far. To clarify a few points......
I am 6ft 4in and weigh 100kg and the other 50kg is for the trailer and
load. I'm getting a custom frame made as I find conventional frames
too small for my height. Sounds like the Shimano gear hub doesn't have
a big enough range and the rohloff is the way to go.

I hope to have a trailer built out of light steel with 26inch wheels
and be able to slot in a large esky for a waterproof storage unit. I
have seen gooseneck trailers coming off the main frame behine/below
the seat, not off the rear 'axle'. They seem very manoueverable and
well-balanced.

Further thoughts????????????
Nick

I don't like the idea of a high mount trailer, but I 'spose the trailer bikes tow OK. They are single wheel like a BoB though.
A BoB trailer is rated to 32kg & I'm sure could carry a bit more on good roads. Can you trim your load down?

 

[Peter Signorini]

"petal puss" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Thanks for all the help so far. To clarify a few points......
> I am 6ft 4in and weigh 100kg and the other 50kg is for the trailer and
> load.

Ah! That sounds much more reasonable.

> I'm getting a custom frame made as I find conventional frames
> too small for my height. Sounds like the Shimano gear hub doesn't have
> a big enough range and the rohloff is the way to go.

Rohloff would be the best of the gear hubs but = $$$$$$
>
> I hope to have a trailer built out of light steel with 26inch wheels
> and be able to slot in a large esky for a waterproof storage unit. I
> have seen gooseneck trailers coming off the main frame behine/below
> the seat, not off the rear 'axle'. They seem very manoueverable and
> well-balanced.

Heavily loaded trailers mounted on the seat post will throw your bike about
when braking. Think semi-trailer jack-knife.

And a BOB-style trailer with 50kgs would still be a scary proposition on a
steep descent. I would dread taking a 50kg trailer down a 1 in 10 descent
and expecting to turn the corne r at the bottom. For stability and safe
braking you need a fair proportion of your load on the front wheel.

Panniers on the bike are generally a much more balanced way to carry gear. A
50 kg load is quite possible to carry with front and rear panniers and a
rack-top bag. If you need more space you could also use a BOB trailer. See
these Germans' gear carrying variations:
http://www.mountainbike-expedition-team.de/

I'd suggest getting Tubus f & r racks - tubular Cromoly, light and very
strong but not cheap. The Cargo rear rack is rated to carry 40kgs and the
front Tara 22kgs.! I'd never get near this capacity even on a high country
expedition.
http://www.wallbike.com/tubus/tubus.html

Have fun preparing your bike and good luck with your travels.

Cheers
Peter