The gearing on the five speed version is a bit whacked. It is the equivalent of a 52T chainwheel with the following rear cogs - 28, 23, 17, 14, 11T.

If it is possible to switch to a 40 T chainwheel X 18T cog, theequivalent rear cogs are - 37, 31, 23, 19, 15. I'm sure I would find those a much more useful set of gears.

Are the parts available? Can the hub take the torque?



P.S. - What is up with the Sturmey-Archer 8 speed hub? The lowest internal ratio is 1:1 and it goes up to 3.25:1. That's like a 52 X 5!!! It takes something like a 32 X 24 to get low gear down into the realm of a truly useful low gear.