>>987632>no non-trivial real-world benefitsThey are tough. Winter, mud, banging around in public bike racks, years of abject neglect; hubs are able to tolerate this and derailleurs are not. Compatible with belts or cases that further enhance the toughness. If they have a twist-grip or lever they can also shift from high to low in a single motion while stopped, a non-trivial benefit in traffic.
Like fat, cargo, uni, tri, tandem, and other -cycles they fill a specific niche better than anything else. If your shitting on them for not being sporting, then you can put your carbon racer on your car carrier and drive your spandex ass over to /sp/.
This is /n/.
