Hi everyone,
I'm toying with the idea of a sealed gearbox for my daily commuter. I generally bike on a mix of streets, stroads (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroad) and protected bike lanes. The terrain in moderately hilly. The weather is both wet and dusty. In winter, it's wet and salty or dry and salty sand.
My commuter which had a long life trudging through salty slush on Spadina, avoiding double pinch flats in Montreal's potholes, and fighting through the corrosive dust of our wonderful urban planning around pick-up trucks and SUVs, is now dead.
I went bike shopping and have not found much satisfaction in paying for a decent group set like the Shimano 105 which will get wrecked in winter, or getting a beater with an unreliable derailleur — I don't want my chain coming off or skipping when trucks are roaring by. (I've already face-planted in an intersection when the chain skipped off while changing gears under load, I've also had the experience of losing my chain on a boulevard without a bike lane and trucks going by at 60+kmph. The first hurt more than the second but the second was more terrifying than the first.) I've tried performing diligent maintenance, but it's super time-consuming in winter and it's a losing battle I've lost.
I've considered internal geared hubs, and I was leaning strongly towards an Alfine 11 to be eventually downgraded to 8 or a Nexus 8 depending on cost, until I found out that they are incompatible with Pinhead axle security bolts. Sounds like a good way to get my wheel and expensive IGH stolen.
Then I found the Pinion gearbox. Twice the mileage of the Alfine before an oil change (10,000km vs 5,000), I can use security axles on both wheels while keeping the weight centered which should improve handling. The seal is supposedly better than for IGH, too.
I'm torn because if i were to replace my commuter for equivalent performance, I'm looking at about 1600~1800+tx with upgrades (my marathon tires are also in need of replacement + fenders, rack, etc). Yet I know that even when dry in summer, the dusty city means diligent maintenance is required to avoid the components getting gunked up. On the other hand, if I buy something like the Priority 600 with a Pinion gearbox and belt drive, I should have almost no daily/weekly maintenance and I get the feeling it should survive winter conditions. However, it costs about 2.5x more than replacing my commuter for an equivalent.
I've also thought about downgrading shifting and braking performance for a cheaper bike, but not only do I feel this reduces my safety, I also feel like I'm stuck with the dusty and salty problems.
If I were in Holland, I'd get a steel single-speed with back-pedal brakes, but alas in Canada we've got hills, salt, (salty) dust, and longer distances on substandard infrastructure.
Do you think a sealed gearbox with belt drive is an excessive luxury ride or does it genuinely check all the boxes for a long-lasting, reliable bike?
(Assume I use an appropriate lock, at least 7/10 on Kryptonite's scale and willing to consider insurance)
by CleverJoystickQueen