Folding Bikes - Nexus 8-speed premium vs nonpremium

Anyone have experience with both of these hubs? Is there a significant difference between the two?

Ideally I'd like a redband with a coaster brake, but only the nonpremium version comes equipped this way.

I think that there is an old thread where WAVSHRDR discusses the two. He was in favor of the red-band big time because of how much smoother the hub shifted and ran. There is also a weight difference between the two.

correct much smoother and shifts better too .... lighter as well
if avaialble its worth the extra dineros

correct much smoother and shifts better too .... lighter as well
if avaialble its worth the extra dineros

The money is not really an issue. Where you buy seems to make a bigger difference in price than which one you get.

The coaster brake version is about a pound heavier than the redband, but still lighter than the SRAM i-motion or the Rohloff with brake. After you add a v-brake plus cabling and lever the redband setup weighs about the same as the nonpremium coaster brake version.

It's a tough decision because I really want a coaster brake and with only 300% range I don't want to compromise shifting or efficiency either. It's hard to believe that the redband could be that much smoother than the nonpremium. I wonder if the nonpremium would eventually break in to be just as smooth as the redband.

Believe it, it's true. The Red Band, from what I understand, is also built a tad heavier duty than the other version. I use the Red Band on my R20. It was a great choice!



... It's hard to believe that the redband could be that much smoother than the nonpremium. I wonder if the nonpremium would eventually break in to be just as smooth as the redband.

Why do you want a coaster brake? All of the internal hubs come with good lever controlled hub brakes.

I personally prefer the SRAM 7sp hubs to the Shimano 8sp. They are a simpler design that is easier to work on. The gear spacing is more consistent. The range is about the same. They are more robust. You can get them with a drum brake, coaster brake, or no brake. I have the drum brake model on my Tikit.

alex

Believe it, it's true. The Red Band, from what I understand, is also built a tad heavier duty than the other version. I use the Red Band on my R20. It was a great choice!

According to Shimano the only differences between the redband and the regular are the needle bearings and a lighter hub shell. Looking at http://hubstripping.wordpress.com/ it seems like it may be possible to swap the redband internals into the coaster brake shell/assembly.

Of course, I'd lose the weight advantage of the redband, but at least I'd have the upgraded bearings. Seems like too much hassle/cost.


Why do you want a coaster brake? All of the internal hubs come with good lever controlled hub brakes.

Several reasons:
1. The extra cables, levers, etc of a hand brake are just a hassle. Especially for folders, but in general it makes more sense to have the hands free and the feet occupied when braking because that's when you aren't pedaling and that's also when you usually need to be careful with your steering.
2. I find that coaster brakes make it easier to balance when standing (for example, when trying to merge with traffic). With a regular freewheel you can only stand without moving with your feet in a single position, but the coaster brake gives you more standing positions (without the sudden backwards freewheel flop which sometimes gives me cramps).
3. Not sure if the wide range coaster hubs are like this, but the single speed coaster hubs don't move the cranks when rolled backwards. It seems that the biggest ergonomic problem of the fold in half (dahon-style) design is that you can't hold the folded bike near the bottom bracket and push it backwards because the rotating cranks hit your knuckles. I haven't tried this myself, but a coaster brake may eliminate this problem making Dahons, Downtubes, etc all extremely convenient to push around while folded.


I personally prefer the SRAM 7sp hubs to the Shimano 8sp. They are a simpler design that is easier to work on. The gear spacing is more consistent. The range is about the same. They are more robust. You can get them with a drum brake, coaster brake, or no brake. I have the drum brake model on my Tikit.

Overall we're looking at about half a pound difference between the SRAM 7 w/ coaster and the Nexus 8 w/ coaster, and another pound difference between the Nexus 8 w/ coaster and the SRAM 9 w/ coaster. Lots of people say the SRAM 7 is better than the Shimano 7, but you're the first I've seen say that the SRAM 7 is better than any version of the Shimano 8. I was under the impression that you had the SRAM 9 on your tikit.

One problem is that the warranty limits primary drive ratio (chainring to rear cog) on the SRAMs. I'm not sure if this is an oversight that the Shimano Nexus hubs don't specify a minimum primary ratio, but at least using an acceptably low ratio wouldn't void my warranty.