Bicycle Mechanics - 3 speed hub on road bike

My rear wheel needs to be replaced on my wet weather commuter (an old Vitus 172 road frame) and I thought of going to a Nexus 7 speed internal hub.

It's pretty expensive and my commute is on flat roads, so then I thought I might be able to find an old 3 speed hub cheaper that might give me good enough gears for the flats.

Does anyone know what kind of gear development those old hubs give (and consider it'll be a 700 c wheel with a chain ring of either 42 or 48)?

I think I'd like a 60 to 90 inch range in the 3 gears. Is that reasonable?

That's perfectly reasonable. A Sturmey Archer AW or clone would do well, if a bit widely spaced in gearing. The ratios are 3:4, 1:1, and 4:3, so with a 42 chainring and 16 cog (you have the option of several from around 16 up to 22 or so), you'd have 52, 70 and 93 inches on a 700c. 48x18 would net you similar results, within an inch or so.

thanks!

I'm working on a 3 speed roadbike conversion now. I'm using one of the new SA hubs. It has an aluminum shell with thicker flanges so you don't snap spokes. Aebike is selling them for $53 with shifter and cable. I'm going to try a 21t cog and a 52t ring and see how it works for me. That will give me 49.7, 66.3 and 88.3 gear inches with a 700X28.
http://inlinethumb45.webshots.com/6700/2748057160068014369S500x500Q85.jpg (http://sports.webshots.com/photo/2748057160068014369DFdAOD)

How narrow of a chain will the cogs handle?
I know on my old Shimano 333, that the cogs were too "thick" to handle 7 speed chain.

According to Sheldon Brown's site, SA cogs use 1/8" chain. SRAM and Shimano cogs use 3/32" chain. The picture shows a Regina chain on a modified 8 speed cassette cog. I don't know why a 7 speed chain wouldn't work on a Shimano 3 speed cog. A 7 speed chain should work on any cog Made for 3/32" chain. Are you sure you didn't have SA cog on your Shimano hub? They fit.

You can always run a 1/8th chain on 3/32 parts just not the other way around.

That's perfectly reasonable. A Sturmey Archer AW or clone would do well, if a bit widely spaced in gearing. The ratios are 3:4, 1:1, and 4:3, so with a 42 chainring and 16 cog (you have the option of several from around 16 up to 22 or so), you'd have 52, 70 and 93 inches on a 700c. 48x18 would net you similar results, within an inch or so.

The Shimano 3 speed is even wider at 11:15, 1:1, 15:11 or 186% vs 178%, but it may only come with a coaster brake (hard to tell from Shimano's site.)

You can always run a 1/8th chain on 3/32 parts just not the other way around.

I thought that was a given.