comparisons

There are many superior designs used in vintage three speed bicycles and also in today's three speed bicycles. The chain path is one of them. The derailleur bicycles were originally the new all out racing machines. They were not designed to be used in bad weather with little or no maintenance. On the other hand the internal hub geared bicycles were designed from the beginning to be all weather vehicles. Most of them, (not all the early ones had fenders and a chainguard), were made with less than perfect conditions in mind.

So what about the chain path?

The way that a chain wears out is influenced by the chain path. In the top diagram the chain wraps in an approximate oval around two cogs, the chainwheel in the front and a gear cog in the rear. That is the chain path of a single (driven) gear cog system. The bottom diagram depicts the chain path of a multi (driven) gear cog system.
This is the chain path of a derailleur geared bicycle.

In the top diagram the chain has to flex in only one direction and back. In the bottom diagram the chain has to flex in two directions and back. That is roughly twice the flexing and at least one of the turns is very sharp, the one at the bottom as the chain rounds the first (lower) derailleur pulley wheel. If all else is equal, that would cause much more wear on the chain than the chain path of the internal gear single cog bicycle. Add to that the higher price of the new narrower derailleur chains and you have a great potential savings in a bicycle with the gears in the hub, just from the saving offered by the lower chain replacement costs. I'm not against the derailleur systems. For their purpose they are just great. The internal gear hubs that I like the best, (Sturmey Archer model AW), are not designed for mountain biking stresses. But then I don't subject them to mountain biking stresses. If you need an internal gear system for mountain biking stress levels choose the state of the art Rohloff 14 speed internal gear hub. Reviews online about the Rohloff hub. It is much more expensive than the Sturmey Archer AW hub and it deserves to be. The Sturmey Archer hub is made for commuting transportation use and is perfect for that use.

The Hub

The internal gear hub has many advantages over derailleur gear systems for everyday transportation use even if it is not made for mountain biking.

It is an indexed system and the indexing doesn't need adjusting.
The gear can be changed easily while standing still. That's a great advantage for city riding in traffic or anywhere if you forget to downshift before stopping.
The gear shifting mechanism is inside the hub protected from dirt. The gear shifting mechanism is in a bath of oil so it is protected from water.
There is only one gear cog to wear and eventually need replacement so the cost of maintenance is much less than a derailleur system.

And as I already mentioned above, the chain path is the simple oval which saves trouble and money.
Also, the internal gear hub system doesn't have a front derailleur which means more savings because of less trouble and lower expense.

So why isn't the internal hub gear system the most popular bicycle gear system in the U.S.A.? Because the derailleur system appears to be less expensive and of a wider range. Initially the derailleur system is less expensive only because it is original equipment. This is especially noticeable on cheap bikes, the
ones that don't cost much more than a new Sturmey Archer AW hub and less than a new Sturmey Archer Spinter 7 hub. Many of those mostly ATB type cheap bicycles, weighing about 19 kq., cannot be kept in useable condition for much more than 1 year.

Derailleur gear systems have a wider gear ratio than the three speed internal hub. But what is surprising is that the new 7 speed internal hubs are about the same gear range as many low cost 21 speed derailleur gear systems, just with fewer gears. The same range with fewer gears can be quite helpful when the bicycle is used for road travel as the rider spends less time shifting and more time paying attention to traffic.

Other comparisons

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