That might be the case now I'm not sure, This was probably 5-6 years ago, I wanted the Red Band Nexus or the Alfine as I heard at the time that they were of a higher quality. I happened upon a local deal from a guy who built it new alpine rear wheel for a project and then changed his mind. So I'm not running disk brakes as my frame isn't compatible. But I am running the j-tek bar end shifter though which is the best. Im sure you've researched the upsides and the downsides of the IGH, but I think for a town bike/commuter/all weather bike it's a good set up.