It's off-topic & besides that I'm not sure, if any further explanation makes sense in this case. Never mind. In brief:
Originally Posted by
randya
I find the Shimano 7/8 gearing to be much more evenly spaced than the SA8 gearing.
Shimano 7-Speed: max. step 20 % somewhere in the middle; average Step: 16 %
Shimano 8-Speed: max. step 22 % from 4 to 5 or something like that; average Step: 17 %
Old SA 8-Speed: From 2 to 7 max. step 13 % average step 13 %; step from Low & to high gear is 28 % to cover extreme conditions.
Originally Posted by
randya
(...)all you need to do is play around with chainring-sprocket combos until you find one that works for you.
At SA 8-speed the direct drive is 1. 8 is ratio >3. Shimano-Hubs have their direct drive somewhere in the middle of the range & the highest gear has much less ratio than SA 8-speed. That means: You have to use really tall chainrings with Shimano-Gear Hubs built in small wheels.