Commuting - 90s Bridgestone MB commuterized?

Hi all.

I'm wondering if anyone has put a IGH on an old, 90s Bridgestone mountain bike? I used to ride a MB-4 with city slicks back in the day when I lived in San Francisco. It was a fabulous bike, but I'm wondering if anyone has put, say, a Shimano Nexus 8 drivetrain or somesuch on it, or if that's even possible.

Thanks in advance,

Keith.

Sure its possible, just need the chain tensioner , if a vertical dropout on rear,
and the anti spin Keyed washer to engage properly.
as IG hubs have torque to transmit to the frame..
many ratios the internals are spinning backwards inside the hubshell
Rohloff Retrofit kit has a torque arm, to do this, it's a long aluminum lever.

Shimano makes an Alfine chain tensioner that would work great for this application. Bonus: with that particular tensioner, you could still use the three chainrings up front, in concert with the 8sp rear for a total of 24 gears.

If it has long horizontal dropouts, you won't need the tensioner; if the horizontal dropouts are short, you might need to add a half-link to get both good tension and good grip for the bolts, still, no tensioner needed unless you want to use the multiple chainrings up front.

That's what I thought, randomgear. Thanks.

I've also been told that I need to watch the width of the rear dropouts, that they're most likely 135mm and that Shimano's Nexus and Alfine both make a hub to this dimension. Does this sound right?

Okay, so I've found an old Bridgestone frame and fork in really great condition that fits me perfectly. I can get it for a song, too. I'm scared to death to build my own bike, however, because its not something I've done before. I'm no idiot and I have been around bikes, but I've never undertook building one from scratch. Should I reconsider this or trudge on through?

trudge on, go for it

You realize, fizzaly, that's almost like volunteering to be my mentor through this process if I decide to go this way, yah?

Check your rear dropout spacing - it could be 130 or 135mm. If it's a steel frame, it's not a big deal to flex it that amount (don't do this with aluminum or CF, at least that's the conventional wisdom), but it's more convenient to have the spacing right, and if you're ordering your hub you might as well order the one that's most convenient.