Dynocoaster 

Is the 5 speed a one year only hub? Does anyone here own one? I am interested in this model.

brakemeister

last years Curve SL had the sturmey archer 5 speed hub..... versus the 08 SL has the Shimano 8 speed nexus hub ... a huge improvement ( owever also quite a bit more money also ... )

thor

Loch

I have the 07 SL with the 5 speed hub.

I'll be doing a 2000 mile review in 20 miles. I am quite satisfied with the hub. It has been a great bike for me and I am somwhat disappointed in some of the changes for 08. It's too bad they don't still offer the 5 speed (maybe with a SRAM) along with the 8 speed.

Standby....

Dynocoaster 

Is the anniversary model based on the Curve?

Dahon.Steve

There's nothing wrong with the 5 speed. I have a Dahon with the 5 speed and found it high geared. All I did was buy a larger cog and that fixed everything. I now ride the bike in 3rd gear and shift to 4th once up to speed. I'm thinking of getting a larger cog that will enable me to ride in 4th all the time leaving me with one high gear and 3 lower gears.

I think this setup will enable me to climb mountains! No regrets at all! You really don't need 8 gears.

bangkok

And there is weight factor: 3spd/1000g, 5spd/1200g, 8spd/1500g.

brakemeister

if you look back one year and read all the problems people had with the 5 speed Vitesse ......
or at least some :-)


thor

Dynocoaster 

Is it an easy upgrade to go from the 5 to the 8 speed?

tds101 

Hmmm,...dead thread, but useful to me right now. The 5 speed hub is the SA-XRF5, so it's definitely upgradeable to a newer SA hub, or even a Shimano Nexus. Nice, very nice.