Thanks for the comment, Nish. For my sake, I'm not happy with the gearing on the my Swift or my Ticket. In both cases, I spin out pretty quickly when going downhill.

Sorry, I have a really dumb question, but what I'm trying to understand is this: are the internal hubs that we've been discussing (Alfine and Sturmey Archer 8 speed) geared in such a way that they will probably stop me from spinning out on downhills or will I also need a front derailleur?

Thanks very much. I'm a total newbie.