I'd suggest with a Sturmey 8 and standard size wheels that a 34T will be on the large side for "combating" hills for most riders. My bike is 30x25 using Sturmey-Archer's FCS80 crank that was developed for use with the XR*8(W) hubs, and I derive the very useful 31-100 gear inch range that's served cyclists well for over half a century. That's pretty much as wide a gear range as you can achieve with an IGH without spending a lot more money.
Originally Posted by
Dan Burkhart
+1. Same gearing I have on mine. Sometimes, I'd like a lower bottom end, but it mostly serves me well.
I'm with tcs and Dan here. Going any larger than a 30t chainset could be problematic if you plan to ride in hilly areas as you have described. As far as noise, it is the quietest SA hub I have and is considerably quieter than any of my Sachs/SRAM hubs. The hub is not as quiet as that which is on my wife's Linus Mixte which has a Shimano Nexus 8. I must admit that I want to like the Shimano hub, but simply can't get past the bad design which has horribly uneven jumps between gears.