Originally Posted by
I-Like-To-Bike
You are right, a three speed is not the best choice for you and other cyclists who find the hills on your commute require more gearing. That hardly is a mandate for everybody else to get with the enthusiast/LBS program and fool themselves into getting more expensive racing derived equipment to meet their more normal needs.
What do you define as normal? Your implied that IGH is great for commuting, which I won't argue, but their ranges tend to be very limited compared to derailleur systems except the more expensive ones like Alfine 11, Rholeff or Nuvinci.
My daily commute involves 500 ft sections of 16% grade and the entire hill is about 9% on average over a distance of about a mile. This is completely normal to me.