Originally Posted by BruceMetras
Yo Vince, good points. here's some more observations.
I think I'm with Bruce on this one...
Originally Posted by BruceMetras
The gear range of the new Shimano Nexus 8 is 307%....the SRAM 7 is 303%... the Shimano obviously has a closer gear ratio spacing in addition to wider overall gear range.
I checked with Sheldon Brown's website, and get 305% for the SRAM and 306% for the Shimano.. but essentially the same! I also think there may be a virtue in having closer ratios.
Originally Posted by BruceMetras
The Nexus (locally)with shifter is $46 (US) more than the SRAM 7
I didn't notice shifter prices, but the hubs themselves are both $200 +/- a few $0.01 at Sheldon Brown, so there's nothing pricewise seperating them!
Originally Posted by BruceMetras
the SRAM 9 looks interesting,
Oh yes... drool drool drool...
I haven't heard anything about SRAM & maintenance, but as a corollary to what was said about that - a bike mechanic friend of mine says that Sturmey Archer hubs are much nicer to work on than Shimano. He says most of a Sturmey hub is metal, built to last and/or to replace individual parts easily. By contrast the Shimano has some delicate plastic parts and is designed so you can only swap out large sub-assemblies...