Originally Posted by
canyoneagle
$500? Mine was $325.
Interesting to hear your observations - certainly not my experience with it thus far. I spin at 80-110 rpm, and do not notice any drag, though I've heard that you can feel drag at lower rpms. Again, I don't notice it, but I rarely drop below 80.
That said, if my bike were only to be designated for pavement/gravel riding, I'd personally go for the Alfine 11 (I had actually purchased one, but reconsidered after reading about people blowing the 1st and 2nd ratios offroad). The Nexus/Alfine 8 is a really nice hub, too, but the 5-6 jump is a deal killer for me, after having spent many miles in headwinds between the two gears.
I'm a bicycle commuter, not a sports cyclist. I don't record my cadence, nor do I care. If I had to guess I likely am well under your 80-110 rpm as I am a slow rider, rarely breaking 15kph. So I likely am around 50 or so. (Sorry if this sounds rude)
All I can say is it just does not feel like my pedals are connected to my wheel. I step on the pedal and I feel a give without any wheel turning. The people at the Nuvinci forums claim this is normal for a new hub and it will break in (wish the advertising would have mentioned this). They also sidestep the issue when asked about efficiency. It's clear they know the hub has an efficiency problem but just don't want to face facts.
That is sad as I do like the shifting of the hub and find it simple to find a good gear when on flat ground. I also like how smooth the pedaling is, again on flat ground. Any incline and the hub totally bombs. If I could get the efficiency of the nexus with the shifting of the Nuvinci I would be happy.
All I am saying is take a test ride first if you can. I may have a bad hub and they may actually be quite good, but that's just not been my experience.