Hub Gears in Everyday Use
- Traditional hub gears are indexed at the shifter making operation dependent on correct cable tension (and lubrication thereof). In practice, gear-jumping and consequent internal damage are unusual except in high-mileage units. Modern hub gear-units incorporate the indexing in the unit itself and are therefore unaffected by shifting malfunctions caused in this way.
- The Sturmey Archer and Fichtel & Sachs 'Torpedo' systems defaulted to top gear at slack-cable, which could make the bicycle usable for long distance travel in flat terrain even if a fault developed in the change mechanism (rather like a derailleur system, which can be manually set to a high gear in case of a similar fault). Some modern hub gear systems (e.g. 7-speed Shimano) default to bottom gear and are thus more dependent on the cable-pull.
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