Thank you for your insights thus far.
A colleague just dropped by his bikesdirect.com bike for repair. He said he tries to contact the company, because the repair might be covered by warranty. No answer.
Please buy a bike at a bike shop, not over the internet. You get what you pay for, and less, when you buy something over the net that ought to be backed by a breathing human being.
Believe me, I have been torn about this almost as much as choosing the bike itself, but more from an ethical perspective than from concerns about service. I am a true believer in the integral role that local businesses play in contributing to the urban environment. I do not gloss over the importance of being able to walk out my door, and have a hardware store, produce store, bike shop, cafes, etc., all within a block or so, owned and operated by my neighbors. The problem, however, is that given my budget and wish list of features, ruling out online wholesalers would likely kill my plans to buy a new bike in the first place. In that case, my neighborhood bike shop still doesn't make a sale, and I don't get a new bike. I will still continue to patronize neighborhood bike shops whenever I need some tubes or brake levers or a chain or maybe some wheel work that is beyond my ability, but unfortunately I really don't think I'll find what I want at a price I want when it comes to buying a whole new bike.
It's a tall order, given your budget. Of your choices I would lean toward the Torker, but I would be thinking of that bike as more utilitarian than speed demon. The
Kona Worldbike is a 3-speed, all steel commuter with 26" tires. Again, no speed demon, but definitely could be ridden aggressively. For a bit more money (MSRP $649) there is the
Schwinn Sporterra NX8; but it has an aluminum frameset. Still seems to me a decent value for a sporty IGH bike, though.
The budget is capped at around $500 because that's roughly the cut off of how much personal property I am willing to leave locked up on the streets while still being able to enjoy myself without just worrying about my bike the whole time! I definitely appreciate the additional recommendations, though--what would you say it is about these two bikes you are recommending that would make them such a desirable alternative to my shortlist, despite being over budget?
Well, it has two more gears, and as we all know, more gears is always better!
The overall ratio of the Sturmey 5(W) is 256% and the overall of the Nexus 7 is 244%. The gear steps in the Nexus are of course smaller. The Sturmey is direct in third gear and runs through one of two epicyclics to create the other 4 gears with no compounding. It is based on the Sturmey 5-speeds of the last 44 years, but is a new design. The Nexus has no direct gear. IIRC five of the seven gear ratios are created by dual stage compounding (run through two gears sets). The latest ones are the fourth (?) version Shimano has released.
Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that the hub with more gears is indisputably better--in fact, like most Brooklyn commuters, I use two gears: The Bridge Gear, and The Other Gear! I was referring mainly to what I thought was a general consensus that the Shimano is just a higher quality component. Though definitely I appreciate your technical analysis of the difference between the hubs.
Thanks for all of the advice!