What was the point in three-speed bicycles with derailleurs?

Question

I can't think of a single advantage over an three-speed internal gear hub. Why were these ever made?

Answer 1

Why ask why?

Answer 2

did anyone answer the real question?

wasn;t the question

"why did they make bikes with both derailleurs and 3 speed hubs?"?

they obviously create more gear ratios

the late sheldon brown is famous for a 63 speed bike he made

wle.

Answer 3

simply put, cost.

it is probably cheaper to build and design a derailleur

Answer 4

Answer: You can get more gears with derailleurs. You can have 3 gears in front and 10 (11 is the new rage now) gears in the rear giving you a possibility of 30 or 31 speeds. Also, its what the pros use, so obviously everybody else should be using, why shouldn't you?

Turning off the sarcasm, for practical reasons you need only the gears that you need. If you have steep hills you would be glad to have those "granny" gears to help you out.  

Answer 5

Simplicity, my dear chap, simplicity. The internal gear hub is an infernal device, the very devil's own work.  

Answer 6

Much easier to replace should anything go wrong,

plus you could upgrade to a five speed, and a double chainwheel.