Originally Posted by photogravity

I think that putting a multi-speed (well at least more than 2 gears) hub on that bike is a good idea. I've seen the hills in Austin... Some of them are BIG! Unless you gear the bicycle very low and plan to coast down all the hills, I'm not sure a 3-speed will be sufficient in Austin. A SA AW with a 44t chainwheel and a 24t cog will yield you 37/50/66 gear inches so on the flats you'll be a little undergeared. If you use the same chainwheel and cog with a X-RD5(w) you'll get 31/37/50/66/79 gear inches, a slightly more useful combination though there is no gear that puts me as close as I'd like to the 70 gear inch mark. Changing to a 22t rear cog results in 34/41/54/72/86 which is pretty workable gearing, at least for me.