Difficult to say whether it makes the bike feel heavier or not Neil as I have it on a steel framed (heavy) touring bike rather than my mountain bike. I love them for grinding up a hill, they feel smooth to me and they are so much easier to downshift on a steep incline. Very little cleaning required either which is a huge plus. I was hooked from the first ride. Having said that, they are a luxury item given their price tag albeit an increasingly popular one.

Hi Phil, actually I did consider internal gears after the hassles I had. I’m curious: Do they feel smooth when you’re grinding up a steep hill? Does it make the bike feel heavier?

Kenny, please get in touch with me if you’d like to clarify which tracks are ok to ride a bike on, and which ones aren’t. Since there was only a 3 of us we broke a couple of rules, but I think it would be easy to adjust the route to make it appropriate for more people on an official club ride.