Originally Posted by
grolby
Nice to have, sure, but when the road conditions get bad enough that a decent set of rim brakes really starts to become non-functional, I'm traveling too slowly for it to matter much. YMMV.
Basically exactly what I said above.
Apparently one of the other workers at the shop has an alfine 8, so I'll see if I can ride his bike for a bit or simply ask him about it. Honestly the nexus is cheap enough (you can buy an entire wheel for 200 on amazon.) that I'm not really worried if I don't like it. (The advantages of being a single male without many financial obligations are many.)
We'll see, I'll keep you guys updated.