The attractive thing about the Alfine 11 is that, apart from the 1-2 jump, the other gear jumps are all about 13%-14% steps. That's consistent with the typical 8-9 speed cassette, so I am anticipating it to feel "natural." But another part of me wants to get simpler and live with the bigger steps found on, e.g., the S-A 5 speed hub. Some of us (I'm talking about myself) try to dig in and insist we can't have it any other way, given the 8-10 speed systems prevalent, but the experiences of others on IGH's suggest we can all probably adapt quite easily.