Okay, so the bike I ride and adore has a 3 sp Sturmey Archer Internal Gear Hub. I am absolutely whack about internal gear hubs, and here's a few reasons why.
1. Gears are fully enclosed, and this means;
A. Protection from dirt and the elements
B. Practically no maintenance
C. No derailleur to damage
2. You can shift at a stand still.
3. Not as complicated as drive-trains with derailleurs
4. They are relatively cheap to replace if the need ever arises
Awhile back I was having trouble with my Sturmey Archer 3 sp. This particular hub rolled off the production line in 1974. I was worried it might turn out to be some kind of major malfunction, considering it's age, so I started to shop around for a replacement hub, just in case. It was going to be a few days before the mechanic at my LBS could get around to my bike, and he suggested I look at the Sturmey Archer 8 sp IGH. I was pretty sure I didn't need 8 gears, but pulled up Sturmey Archer's website to have a look-see. All of their 8 sp hubs have the lowest gear as direct drive. If I have 8 gears, I'm thinking I'm going to want a couple of gears lower than direct drive. I'm a bicycle commuter, not a racer. Next, I checked out their 5 sp hubs. Those hubs have direct drive in the middle, you have 2 lower and 2 higher. This makes much more sense to me.
I really liked Shimano's Alfine 8, but like I said, I wasn't entirely convinced I needed an 8 sp, and the drop outs on my bike were too narrow.
To make a long story a little bit shorter, there was nothing wrong with my 35 year old Sturmey Archer 3 sp hub. It turned out the cable tension needed to be adjusted. It took my bike mechanic about 2 minutes, and cost me all of $5.00.
Oh, I almost forgot. While I was surfing for hubs, I came across this. Fallbrook Technologies, Nuvinci hub. I was totally blown away! Not a lot of reviews yet, but I'll damn sure be following this closely. Comes with a 6 year warranty. We'll see....
If you're interested in learning more about IGHs, Sheldon Brown posted tons of valuable information here. Thanks Sheldon, and may you rest in peace.
