I have used both for years.
Re the maintenance - if riding in wet weather, the SA hubs are actually no good. Water got into mine every time, rusting the bearings. It is a helluva lot more work to strip and grease a set of bearings than to spray WD-40 on a chain, spin cranks, blow out with compressed air, and oil the chain rollers. And I have never bent a derailer on any of my folders with them on.
I also have doubts about the validity of the argument that a low-hanging derailer will pick up extra dirt. If you are riding normal dry sealed roads, I don't think there is any extra dirt. On wet roads - sure, but I have found the majority of wet dirt is splashed up from the wheels, and smaller wheels tend to splash more than big ones, so the smaller wheels make the derailer and chain get dirty quicker, not the low-hanging position per se. But in very short order the difference between small wheels and big wheels is gone because the chain gets saturated. So I find that the chain gets as dirty as with any sized wheel bike. I don't notice any difference.
Huh? I have 30+ bikes several get ridden in any and all weather conditions, I have never had a problem with water in an SA hub, Shimano not so lucky. FWIW all of my SA hubs are the older style oil bath. I do use grease in the bearings.
The drive trains on my derailleur bikes get quite filthy riding and need to be cleaned regularly. Riding in inclement weather and they need to be cleaned more often. Perhaps the chain guards/chain cases on my IGH bikes help keep things cleaner? All but one of my bikes have fenders.
Aaron
