Originally Posted by Sammyboy
I've got a bunch of 3 speeds, but at the moment, I'm more excited about the 4 speeds. I've got a Horace Bates race bike from 1940 with an FM 4 speed of later vintage fitted, and a Raleigh roadster on the way, with the FG four speed generator hub. Having used one of these on a Rudge that's on the way to a fellow BFer, I'm really excited. It shifts better than the AW, and gives a much more useable range. I'd think the average rider should discover what sort of gear inches they like on a single speed, and then take one of two courses of action. If you live in a flat area, equip it so that 2nd is like your standard single speed ratio, so that you get one hill climbing gear, and two higher gears to let you scream around faster. For hilly areas, I'd make 3rd like your SS gear, so that you get two climbing gears, but still have a little higher you can kick it up for more speed.
I happen to believe the most underrated hub is the Sprinter 5 speed. My Dahon Vitessee uses this hub and I've set it up so that 3rd gear is my SS (I call it direct drive) giving me two high gears and two low gears. I'm thinking of getting a slightly larger cog so that I'll have one high gear and three low gears for mountain climbing! I'm still debating this because 1st gear is so low at the moment, it feels like a touring bike gear.