Commuting - Breezer Uptown 8 - First Impressions

Today was my first commute on the new Breezer Uptown 8 and I'm very impressed. I put some miles on it mucking around over the weekend, but today it officially became my new commuter bike.

I was quickly reminded what impressed me about this bike when first seeing them in California. Out of the box, it's completely setup to be daily transporation: rack, fenders, chaingaurd, lights, oh my!

First off, it's a sharp looking bike. Breezer does a good job with the paint and decals, the bike looks "classic" while at the same time being very modern. I got some 1/4 inch black and silver reflective pinstripping and when the mood hits me, I'll tape her up good to increase visibility.

I really dig the upright riding position. I'm a tall rider, so the stem is still a little lower than my seat, as a result it's not completely "laid back." Compared to my converted Hardrock, I'm finding I prefer the upright riding position for viewing traffic. The grip and bar position is very comfortable, so far I haven't experienced any kind of discomfort in my shoulders or back. The seat is a bit "coushy" but I'll give it a chance. The suspension seatpost seems nice, but I need to muck with the pre-load adjuster as I'm a larger/heavier rider and probably need some preload to help compensate. In the long run I could see myself replacing it with a standard seatpost.

The shifting on the Nexus 8 hub is quick and responsive. I like being able to shift when stopped, and it's much easier to drop into lower gears when climbing. I'm getting used to the "whirrrr" sound, and it doesn't feel "sluggish" and is very responsive when applying power (no derailleur slop). I've read complaints the gearing is too low for some riders. So far I'm only finding myself in "8" when running down gradual descents or rare flats and I really want to push the speed, only then does it seem like the highest gearing may not be "enough." Otherwise the gear range is more than adequate, and I imagine it will be nice when I'm running with loaded panniers. It doesn't feel sluggish or slow as some have suggested. It goes fast enough for running errends around town and my daily 7-8 mile round trip commute.

The rack is well designed and I'm able to move my pannier forward a little and not experience heel clearance issues.

The generator lights are slick. The sensor function is kind of a luxury, but it's nice. The lights are bright, much brighter than the LED's I was messing with previous. I like the positioning of the light over the front fender, getting it closer to the road. The standlights are bright and stay on for a long time if fully charged. I don't notice any rolling resistance from the generator hub, but can see it when spinning the front wheel freely off the ground.

Even though I liked the reflective sidewalls, I changed out the stock tires. Breezer says these are 1.5s, but they seem more like 1.75s to me. Compared to my 1.5 nimbus armadillos, the stock beezer tires seem much fatter. The nimbus are now on the Breezer and with the higher pressure and skinner tire it's rolling much better than the stock setup. Taking off the rear wheel isn't as big of a chore as some think, just make sure to practice at home first!

I'll write again after I put some miles on it, but so far I'm very happy with my Breezer.

Yes, Please drop back in to let us know how the Breezer performs
when the "new wears off". The 8sp hub has made me drool for quite a
while now.

Congrats! I also love my Breezer. The gearing on my 7 sp. is great so I'm sure yours is even better.

Try tightening up your suspension seat. You can tighten is so there is no springing at all--all you do is turn the knob. I have a slight spring and like it a lot.

Glad to hear you're enjoying it so much. I've put just shy of 2300 miles on my Uptown 8 since last August and have loved every one of them. Everything you've mentioned that you like so far still holds true for me today. The only thing I would caution you about is making sure to service the rear hub every once in a while. I let mine go too long and found the gears slipping on me. Once my LBS cleaned and lubed the hub, all was back to normal. I hope you continue to enjoy your new wheels.

I've been riding my Uptown 8 to and from work for the past 7 and a half weeks and am very happy with it. Splurging on the 8 speed was worth it. I haul a lot of stuff on it every day. The lights are great. I get the nicest complements from the local whinos who will sleep along part of my route. They thank me for having my lights on in the early morning. Apparently they see me better in their drunken haze.

As to the saddle, I can see that if I was any heavier, I might not like it as well as I do. I don't like the cushiness as much as I like how it supports my sitbones just right.

The only negative for me is that the U frame can be challenging to lock up. Still like it, though.

The only thing I would caution you about is making sure to service the rear hub every once in a while.

What's your definition of "once in a while", DizzyG3?

I imagine it would depend on the conditions in which you ride. For me, riding through the Boston winter, I would say it should be at least every 1,000 miles. Maybe even at the beginning and end of the rough season would be good, too.

I imagine it would depend on the conditions in which you ride. For me, riding through the Boston winter, I would say it should be at least every 1,000 miles. Maybe even at the beginning and end of the rough season would be good, too.
Yikes! What makes you think your hub needs maintenance so frequently? Isn't it a sealed unit?

I have at least 20,000 miles on my Sachs/SRAM Spectro 7 and have never done any maintenance on the hub. And don't intend to either. And it works like a Swiss watch. I ride all year long in all weather. Hub maintenance every 1,000 miles would make any bike a non-starter for me.

How about chain oiling and cleaning? It's quite the necessary ritual for deraillers in this climate. My housemate does hers every other week in the rainy season. When I asked the LBS owner, he laughed and said "maybe November". Thing is, I don't think he really believed I'd be riding to work every day and using it for most errands and trips. I don't own a car, so I'm using it a lot. It is stored indoors at work and home. What do you guys do?

How about chain oiling and cleaning?
I spray some cheap silicon lubricant every month or two. Change the chain once every year or so (about 7,500 - 10,000 miles). Clean it? Never. Hardly worth the effort when a new one only costs $5 or $6 and takes two or three minutes to replace, without getting filthy nor needing to properly dispose of contaminated cleaning solvents.

Maybe it was a fluke of some sort, or perhaps even a faulty hub? Admittedly, it doesn't bother me too much. I do roughly about 3,000 miles a year, so lubing my hub once every 6 months or so isn't a big deal to me. Someday, I'll have me a Rohloff. Until then, I'll make do with lesser equipment. Having said all that, I'm still very glad to have the Shimano 8. I still consider it a great hub.

Maybe it was a fluke of some sort, or perhaps even a faulty hub? Admittedly, it doesn't bother me too much. I do roughly about 3,000 miles a year, so lubing my hub once every 6 months or so isn't a big deal to me. Someday, I'll have me a Rohloff. Until then, I'll make do with lesser equipment. Having said all that, I'm still very glad to have the Shimano 8. I still consider it a great hub.

I run a Nexus 8 equipped bike with a 42x19 drivetrain; it's about right in that I spend a good part of my time in 5, direct drive.

According to Sheldon Brown, most of the problems with Nexus hubs come from people servicing them incorrectly. :P You'll probably better off leaving it as it is. I think Shamino calls for it to be repacked with grease every 3 years or some-odd-thousand-miles or so. You can look it up on their website.

But if you're "servicing" the hub any where near as often as you need to service a derailleur, you're doing way too much.

I have owned a Breezer Uptown 8 since January 2006, and it has just gone over 1,000 miles. I am in the process of writing a review on the bike, which I will post here when it is done.

I like my Breezer just fine, but have had some issues with it, which will be covered in the review.

What I'd like to know is, has anyone had any problems with the chainguard on any of the Breezer Town Bike models?

What I'd like to know is, has anyone had any problems with the chainguard on any of the Breezer Town Bike models?

I was wondering the same thing. I've never seen a Breezer in real life, but in photos, the chainguard looks sort of flimsy.

What I'd like to know is, has anyone had any problems with the chainguard on any of the Breezer Town Bike models?

I'm not sure what sort of problems you could have from a chaingaurd. Even though it may appear to be a "thin" plastic, mine seems to be holding up well (so far only 350 miles on it). I haven't removed it to clean under it yet, so who knows it may be one of those parts that is never the "same" once you take it off and re-install it.

I could possibly see it being a problem if you smashed it into something, but I love how clean it keeps the chain, and my calf/pants legs. I really wish more manufatures would take a card out of Joe Breeze's deck and start putting some sort of chain guard back on "commuter" influenced bikes.

Ma Breezer is like butta'

Thanks for the review. I test rode a Breezer and found it to be very pleasant.

I was wondering the same thing. I've never seen a Breezer in real life, but in photos, the chainguard looks sort of flimsy.

The chainguard itself is not flimsy at all; it's made of a very durable plastic material, similar to that used on the fenders. That's not the problem. The problem is the way it's mounted. The rear mount is very well designed, it's a metal tab, undoubtedly aluminum, welded to the frame tubing itself. The front mounting is the problem area; it consists of a metal plate which mounts on the crank hub, and I assume is supposed to remain in place mainly due to pressure, although I don't know where that pressure is coming from. The movement of the cranks, and the inevitable occasional brush of a foot against the chainguard, causes this mounting plate to work loose, and in my case, this started happening in only about 3 weeks of riding. It was just occasionally annoying at first, but after 6 months and over 1,000 miles, the front chainguard bracket was so loose that it was interfering with the crank to the point where the bike became unrideable. I had to remove the chainguard, then take the bike to my LBS to have the cranks removed so the bracket could be removed.

In time, I'm going to try to re-install the chainguard with a self-designed system in which parts of the original bracket are attached to mounts which are attached directly to the frame. However, for now, the bike is working better than ever with the chainguard deleted, and since it's never been a major selling point of the bike for me anyway, I may just leave things as they are.

That's interesting. Mine is a little loose, but not so loose as to interfere with pedalling. I was also having some lateral movement in my crank arms and some clicking so I took it to my LBS who thinks it's the bottom bracket and will be repacking it on Monday.

I've had to have the bottom bracket serviced twice already on my Citizen. And it's only a month old. I'm praying that the LBS just did a shoddy job the first time around.

Any kind of clicking in my pedal motion just makes me physically ill.

I've had to have the bottom bracket serviced twice already on my Citizen. And it's only a month old. I'm praying that the LBS just did a shoddy job the first time around.

Any kind of clicking in my pedal motion just makes me physically ill.

I was having the same problem with clicking in the bottom bracket when pedal was under increased power (from the right side only). According to Sheldon Brown's Creaks Page (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/creaks.html) it appears the cups on the bottom bracket may have been loose. It's interesting to hear this from other Breezer owners. Does the bottom bracket come assembled from Breezer, or is this something the shop puts together?

My clicking eventually dissappeared and hasn't popped back up in the last two or three weeks, so maybe the self-tightening cups just needed some miles to setup properly?

Very interesting. I wonder if someone from Breezer follows these threads.

I had clicking in a hubbed bike that I traced to the chain once. The chain was doing that thing where it was failing to disengage the chainring. In a derailleur bike the chain would have pulled the derailleur up and doubled back on itself, locking the drive system in place, but because there isn't enough slack in it in a hub system the force of pedaling eventually just yanked it off the chain ring with a loud pop.

I fixed the problem by removing the chain and giving it a good lub/clean job and then retensioning it.

I happened upon a woman on an Uptown 8 on my commute home today. I had to ask her about her bottom bracket. She said she's had nothing but problems with it - "loose" chainguard, clicking, lateral crank movement. There are quite a few Breezer town bikes around here, and I'll try to ask about it when I see 'em.

Thanks for the report. I fervently believe that if you have a good wrench, you'll have a good experience. But it is disconcerting in the beginning, especially when you're at the mercy of your LBS.

Part of the problem, is that when you pick up your bike from servicing, it's almost impossible to get the technician to tell you precisely what's been fixed. What does "We tightened the crankset" mean exactly? Stuff like that.

I have a clicking noise and thought it might be coming from the crank. But the crank doesn't slip and appears fine. I'll check the chainguard.

It's interesting to hear about these problems from others. I don't know much about wrenching, but using Sheldon's guide I determined it was the loose cup in the bottom bracket by holding the crank arms in line with the seat tube and wrapping my hands around the seat tube and crank and pulling hard. There was a noticeable 'pop' when doing this.

My problem seems to have worked itself out for now, maybe the cups tightened up on their own. If it comes back, I'll be sure to let ya know.

I really wanted a Breezer but when I got my 'involuntary upgrade' (i.e. my Giant Cypress was stolen) there were none available for sale in my town, so I had to get a Trek instead. My bike is my transportation, I couldn't wait for them to ship a Breezer in from somewhere else and did not know that they would do so. For the record I was told that they would ship to a bike store and have them build it for me.
I'm curious to read the reviews of the Breezer Uptown since I'd still consider getting one in the future, if the bottom bracket problem isn't universal.

Bought my first decent bike when I was 13. It was a Raleigh Sport. I lived on that bike. Stupidly, I removed the chain guard and fenders, which were eventually lost. After I started driving, the bike fell by the wayside. After losing my license due to points, it was pressed back into service. I rode all my friends various bikes, but always preferred the solid, maneuverable, albeit heavy, English 3-speed.

Fast forward a few decades, and my Brooks saddle is in need of replacement, among other things. I'd love to restore her, but it just ain't worth it. Ebay had a few possibilities, but I never followed up on them. Started following the progress of the newer internal geared bikes, and after a few years, I was surprised to see they weren't catching on like I thought they should. A few models I was interested in, came and went. I was not deterred. I knew my replacement would have internal gears, no ifs, ands or buts.

I stumbled onto the Uptown 8 while searching for bikes using the Nexus 8 hub. The more I read, the more I wanted it. Now, four days after hearing about the Uptown 8, I own a used one with about 100 miles on it. A few scratches was worth a few hundred off the MSRP ($550.00). It's a 2005 with the suspension fork. I hear that's an option in 2006. This is the first day of ownership, and I've got just a few miles on it, but it beats the bike it replaced handily. I WILL live on this bike, too! Thumbs up to Joe Breeze and company. I know this bike will not fade into oblivion.

For all that I griped about the bottom bracket and that I need a new saddle as soon as I can afford one, I love this bike and would still choose it over any other bike currently sold in the US.

Just ordered another Uptown 8 with large frame. It should arrive via UPS on Wednesday. My "LBS" is 150 miles away. Cheaper to have it shipped than to drive there and back. Speaking of cheaper, he gave me a 2005 model (with suspension fork) for $750 + tax. It should arrive about the same time as its new Bike Rack (http://shop.vendio.com/eng68/item/821279947/index.html). Just in time to enjoy some fall foliage riding. :)

I wanted to revive this thread, since I got a good fix on the clicking noise I had on my Breezer. I think others will find this useful.

I've had the bike for about 9 months now (it has about a 1000 miles on it) and a couple of months ago I started noticing a clicking noise in the crank, or so I thought. It felt tight, so I couldn't figure it out. I thought the chainguard might be causing it. It sounds like others might have had a similar problem.

So I emailed Breezer and got a response from Joe Breeze. He said that I had to tighten the bottom bracket.

Here was his instructions--

The fix is straight forward: Remove chainguard (not bracket) and both cranks. Loosen right-side BB cup. Tighten left side BB cup to 400 in/lbs, holding bracket from rotating. Snug up right-side BB. Re-install cranks and guard.

Joe Breeze
Breezer Bicycles

The crank was very tight, but when it was off you could feel the slop in the chainguard holder, which is mounted to that bottom bracket. You need a special tool to tighten it, but it only takes a moment or two. The total time took me about 20 minutes as I was trying to be very careful. I didn't have a torque wrench--but could tell it was loose and when it was tight. The chaiguard holding bracket must be notched, since it didn't move when tightening. It tightens when the BB tightens.

My cycling friend says that it isn't uncommon for the bottom bracket to come loose on a new bike after some time.

After riding is for a couple of dozen miles, the bike is definitely click free.

Other nagging nits--I can't pull the rear tire back enough to get the chain as taught as I want. I also hear some creaking in the handlebars when I climb hills standing up. Regardless, the bike has been a joy. I used the generator lights yesterday--came it at dawn. They are great. I also love my seat.

Just finished the same procedure (http://www.ornery.net/2006-10-05/), but those instructions don't jive with what I found. I consider the side with the chainguard to be the "right" side, and that's the side I tightened as tight as possible. I installed it loosely, along with the chainguard and its bracket, for proper positioning, then tightened the hell out of it. I found the "left", nylon cone didn't have much effect on the overall looseness of the spindle, so I only tightened it to what I consider a reasonable amount. Maybe 40 ft. lbs. or so.

Brand New Breezer BB Repair (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?p=3159089) 09-28-06

I have had my Breezer Uptown 8 since 2006 and have had several problems with the bottom bracket. For some reason, it is constantly coming loose and constantly creaking. The chain guard cracked once while I removed it to tighten the bottom bracket so now it flops a little when I pedal. I couldn't stand the suspension seat post and replaced it. I also had to replace the pedals since the ones included got very slippery when wet. The seat now needs to be replaced as well. I only have 3,200 miles on it and have rotated the tires once. The brake pads on there leave a gnarley black residue that comes off in the rain and leaves stains on the ground where you park it when wet. The rubber on the brake levers is coming off and leaving a fairly sticky substance on my fingers. I also replaced the cranks with some truvativ which I could not pass up at 70% off. That was the bad.

The good is that the rear hub has been bulletproof. The frame is sturdy and feels great. The rack and lights are fantastic although it would be nice if the rear light could blink.

I'm getting ready to sell it.

So, what would you replace it with? I'm curious what the latest, greatest, internal geared commuters look like lately. Not in the market myself, so I haven't kept up.

I'm pretty sure, if you removed that chain guard bracket from the bottom bracket assembly, it would stay as tight as any other bike. Not sure what you could use for a chain guard after that, but at least it wouldn't loosen anymore.

Another Thread From The Dead Revived! :eek::p

Today was my first commute on the new Breezer Uptown 8 and I'm very impressed. I put some miles on it mucking around over the weekend, but today it officially became my new commuter bike.

I was quickly reminded what impressed me about this bike when first seeing them in California. Out of the box, it's completely setup to be daily transporation: rack, fenders, chaingaurd, lights, oh my!

First off, it's a sharp looking bike. Breezer does a good job with the paint and decals, the bike looks "classic" while at the same time being very modern. I got some 1/4 inch black and silver reflective pinstripping and when the mood hits me, I'll tape her up good to increase visibility.

I really dig the upright riding position. I'm a tall rider, so the stem is still a little lower than my seat, as a result it's not completely "laid back." Compared to my converted Hardrock, I'm finding I prefer the upright riding position for viewing traffic. The grip and bar position is very comfortable, so far I haven't experienced any kind of discomfort in my shoulders or back. The seat is a bit "coushy" but I'll give it a chance. The suspension seatpost seems nice, but I need to muck with the pre-load adjuster as I'm a larger/heavier rider and probably need some preload to help compensate. In the long run I could see myself replacing it with a standard seatpost.

The shifting on the Nexus 8 hub is quick and responsive. I like being able to shift when stopped, and it's much easier to drop into lower gears when climbing. I'm getting used to the "whirrrr" sound, and it doesn't feel "sluggish" and is very responsive when applying power (no derailleur slop). I've read complaints the gearing is too low for some riders. So far I'm only finding myself in "8" when running down gradual descents or rare flats and I really want to push the speed, only then does it seem like the highest gearing may not be "enough." Otherwise the gear range is more than adequate, and I imagine it will be nice when I'm running with loaded panniers. It doesn't feel sluggish or slow as some have suggested. It goes fast enough for running errends around town and my daily 7-8 mile round trip commute.

The rack is well designed and I'm able to move my pannier forward a little and not experience heel clearance issues.

The generator lights are slick. The sensor function is kind of a luxury, but it's nice. The lights are bright, much brighter than the LED's I was messing with previous. I like the positioning of the light over the front fender, getting it closer to the road. The standlights are bright and stay on for a long time if fully charged. I don't notice any rolling resistance from the generator hub, but can see it when spinning the front wheel freely off the ground.

Even though I liked the reflective sidewalls, I changed out the stock tires. Breezer says these are 1.5s, but they seem more like 1.75s to me. Compared to my 1.5 nimbus armadillos, the stock beezer tires seem much fatter. The nimbus are now on the Breezer and with the higher pressure and skinner tire it's rolling much better than the stock setup. Taking off the rear wheel isn't as big of a chore as some think, just make sure to practice at home first!

I'll write again after I put some miles on it, but so far I'm very happy with my Breezer.

It's good to hear you're liking your new bike. The Breezer Uptown 8 is one of the bikes I was considering when, a few months ago, I was trying to set upon which bicycle would be right for me. Did you get the Uptown 8, or the "new" Uptown 8 (the latter features a full chaincase rather than a simple chain-guard, as well as a few other "upgrades")? Myself, I eventually opted for a Specialized Globe, with which I'm very happy.

*I just realized this thread was created in 2006...

I have had my Uptown 8 since August of 2005. Since then, I've put about 11,000 miles on it. I have never had any issues with the botton bracket, though my LBS did replace it for me once during a regular tune up. I get teh same nasty black stuff when it rains, but I always figured it was a combination of rain and road grime just dripping off the fenders

Differences in preference:
The pedals never bothered me much, though I agree they can get slippery when it's wet out.

I absolutely love the seat post. Call me an old man, but I crave my comfort and really miss it when I'm on one of my other bikes. The seat is pretty work, but still reasonably comfy. When it finally goes, I'll likely replace with a Brooks.

Never had an issue with the cranks.

Not so concerned with the rear light blinking. People have told me that they can see it for quite some distance, so I figure that's pretty good.


Where I agree with you:
The frame has been great. I have dreamed about other really sweet steel bikes I've seen, but just can't seem to kill this one no matter what I do. ;-)

The rack is the best I've had on anything short of an Xtracycle.

The dynohub and lights are awesome.


The hub:
This is my one touchy subject. I am on my third. The first one went bad within a year. My LBS was really great about it and got it replaced by Shimano. The second one went much better with some manitenance every 1,500 miles or so, but eventually started to go the same way. My LBS went to repack it with new grease, but killed it and got me another. When they did, they got the older model 8 speed hub (not the one with the red stripe). Interestingly enough, the new hub has been really solid. Maybe the red stripe hub is just not as well built? Some day, I hope to ride a Rohloff, but those things are expensive. At the moment, my dream ride is this one (http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/tout-terrain.asp), with a few minor tweaks. I'm saving my pennies.

All in all, I have been really pleased with the bike. I can't imagine riding every day like I do, through all kinds of weather, and not having some issues. Still, my experience with the Nexus hub is not as bulletproof as most claim.



I have had my Breezer Uptown 8 since 2006 and have had several problems with the bottom bracket. For some reason, it is constantly coming loose and constantly creaking. The chain guard cracked once while I removed it to tighten the bottom bracket so now it flops a little when I pedal. I couldn't stand the suspension seat post and replaced it. I also had to replace the pedals since the ones included got very slippery when wet. The seat now needs to be replaced as well. I only have 3,200 miles on it and have rotated the tires once. The brake pads on there leave a gnarley black residue that comes off in the rain and leaves stains on the ground where you park it when wet. The rubber on the brake levers is coming off and leaving a fairly sticky substance on my fingers. I also replaced the cranks with some truvativ which I could not pass up at 70% off. That was the bad.

The good is that the rear hub has been bulletproof. The frame is sturdy and feels great. The rack and lights are fantastic although it would be nice if the rear light could blink.

I'm getting ready to sell it.

I had the opportunity to ride a 2006 Breezer last week and was quite impressed with how nice a bike this is... this one is on it's second hub (the first went 10,000 miles).

The stock brake pads were replaced with Kool Stops as the stock Tektro pads are hard on rims... this bike also have new wheels as Portland weather shortens rim life considerably.

Shimano's updated advice on Nexus hubs is that despite the fact they are sealed, they should be torn down, cleaned, and repacked with grease after 1000 miles as this removes any contaminants that come from the break in period.

This advice is echoed by folks who work with these on a regular basis.

The hub:
This is my one touchy subject. I am on my third. The first one went bad within a year. My LBS was really great about it and got it replaced by Shimano. The second one went much better with some manitenance every 1,500 miles or so, but eventually started to go the same way. My LBS went to repack it with new grease, but killed it and got me another. When they did, they got the older model 8 speed hub (not the one with the red stripe). Interestingly enough, the new hub has been really solid. Maybe the red stripe hub is just not as well built? Some day, I hope to ride a Rohloff, but those things are expensive. At the moment, my dream ride is this one (http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/tout-terrain.asp), with a few minor tweaks. I'm saving my pennies.

All in all, I have been really pleased with the bike. I can't imagine riding every day like I do, through all kinds of weather, and not having some issues. Still, my experience with the Nexus hub is not as bulletproof as most claim.

The Shimano Nexus 8 quickly got a nasty reputation for self destruction in Denmark where I live. During the winter of its first release, the bike shops would have crates where they tossed the daily ration of dead Nexus 8 IGH's in.
Apparently the major Danish bike producers lost so much money on the Nexus 8, that they are still boycotting it to this day. Shimano has improved the sealing of the Nexus 8 line (AFAIK, the new seals can be retrofitted on older models), but it still requires regular service. Especially the bearings should be watched since the cup/race on one of the sides is part of the hub shell, so if you pit the cup, a new hub is required since the hub shell isn't sold as a spare part.

While the Sram Spectro S7 or the Nexus 7 arguable has a much better service record, I think that faulty design is only part of why the Nexus 8 seems to fail so much more often than the Sram S7 or the Nexus 7.
The Nexus 8 seems also to have attracted another kind of riders that ride further and harder than the normal IGH market catered for. While anecdotal, I seem to me that those who destroy their Nexus 8 first are commuters that ride fast, even when it rains, and put a lot of torque on the hub because they are fit riders. Different riding styles could also explain (besides local climate) why some seems to destroy their Nexus 8 IGH within a year or two, while other have theirs for a considerable time without any problems.

Shimano's constantly changing service instructions seems to reflect that some riders are much harder on the hub. The newest service interval is apparently a low as every 1000 miles/1500 km. down from every 5000 km (no fixed interval before that). Instead of the elaborate dissembling and re-greasing, they now support a simple dipping and flushing in oil. I assume that Shimano warrants any trouble in the warranty period if one follows the service interval.

--
Regards