Originally Posted by
FBinNY
I won't get into the Alfine quality debate, but I've long felt that Shimano is missing the point in their IGH offering, by trying to compete with derailleurs on their turf. Derailleurs excel in offering wide range gearing options at weights and reliabilities will be hard to beat.
IGH is best suited to urban and utility riding, where the all-weather benefits show out to best advantage. These applications usually don't call for the wide range and small incremental steps we look to derailleurs for.
I believe that Shimano could do itself a favor by focusing on simple, reliable 3,4,or 5s hubs, which can be lighter, simpler and more durable than the current versions are. They can expand the market by offering those in 3 versions; narrow range giving 3-5 close steps for flat terrain, medium and wide for hillier areas.
Of course there are those who like IGH and want the range of steps that derailleurs offer, but I don't believe they're as large a segment than the "I just want something simple to bop around town" segment. Focusing on 7 and 8s (and more) pushes the price points higher, and if reliability suffers in the process, they fail in the one respect that drew people to them in the first place.
I think you will find the IGH market for Shimano and obviously Rohloff is driven in Europe, not the US or elsewhere. Looking at bikes used for utility purposes in Europe, many are equipped with Nexus and similar hubs. But then, those bikes are also somewhat different in design to the typical diamond frame that is marketed outside Europe.
I attended a Velocity conference in Paris in the early 2000s, and there was a presentation by the European manager of Shimano. It was eye-opening to see him on the one hand talk of product that was virtually unheard of outside Europe, and struggle to discuss another product we take for granted (don't ask me what they were, for the life of me I can't remember, but for such a powerful distribution manager, it was the reactions to the questions that stick in my mind).