My brother handed me down his 1980something Bridgestone Sirius bike. I'm thinking of converting it to an IGH+fenders+wider tires to compliment my derailleur+narrow tired bike. It was thinking of getting the Shimano Nexus 8 but my frame is only 120mm spacing. The bike shop that was taking a look at it said the SA X-RF8(W) would be able to fit.

Does anyone have any experience with this hub for commuting? I'll be using this around my neighborhood and also sometimes for my 30mile RT commute to work.

1st gear on the X-RF8(W) is direct drive, and while I don't have any huge hills I'm not the strongest climber, would you be worried about that gearing? Seems like a lot of people use this hub for smaller non-700c wheels.

Any advice would be helpful.