Originally Posted by
Veloria
3 things:
First, I have found Shimano hubs to be more finicky and more difficult to adjust than the SA (both vintage and new) and Sachs hubs I have ridden. Just my experience; others' impressions may very well differ.
Second, somehow the gearing ratios of the Shimano hubs (both the 3-speed and the 7 speed) just don't seem to agree with my natural rhythm in comparison to the other hubs. I really don't know why, but that's how it feels to me. The gears just always seem off in comparison to where I'd like them to be, whereas with SA and Sachs hubs I don't feel that.
And finally, I don't like it that the Shimano hubs force me to use those twist shifters. I have a whole treatise on that
here. I prefer trigger shifters.
Those three observations jibe with my experience with Shimano Nexus 7- and 8-speed hubs. I never could quite find the right gear and thus found myself shifting far too much (all of my riding on single speeds has made me a very lazy shifter). And then they'd get out of adjustment. Very annoying.
Neal