First off, the context of my question is 80% urban commuting and 20% weekend road trips of up to 70km, with a bit of casual trail riding mixed in. I ride my bicycle for transport and I value minimal maintenance and frugality a lot! 

With that goal in mind, over the years I've noticed that besides punctures it's **drivetrain wear that causes the most damage** (because of rain and winter weather). I admit I've neglected to maintain the chain lots of times and rode for weeks with poor efficiency, increasing the wear on the parts. So I thought of tackling this issue on my next bike by going with an **internally-geared hub** and **chain-case.** (I will probably get the chain-case custom-made in a workshop¹). Speed and performance are not important, reliability and versatility are. Currently I ride single-speed.

What I hope to get out of it:

* Nearly 0 maintenance
* No maintenance after a ride through rain/sleet/snow
* Longer-lasting parts
* Better chain clearance, more protection from rocks/curbs/sticks
* Always clean hands and pants
* Puncture repairs that are still simple to do

However there are trade-offs involved. Compared to the standard derailleur setup there's:

* Increased weight – I love light bikes and packing light
* Decreased gear range – will it be enough if I want to take a trip in the mountains?
* Lower availability of parts – in case something happens on a tour
* Price – definitely can't afford [Pinion](https://pinion.eu/en/) or [rohloff](/questions/tagged/rohloff "show questions tagged 'rohloff'"). **Alfine 11-speed** tops.

My question is: am I overreacting to the maintenance needs of an exposed drivetrain? Would going internal be justified, or should I stick with the more common derailleur setup... perhaps there is some lubricant or other products that protect it better that I don't know about?
What about if we're talking about a folding bike (20" wheels)?

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1. Said workshop is run by a friend, so I may get a better price. I don't really care as much though, because of the [IKEA effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IKEA_effect).