Originally Posted by
noglider
You got me thinking, I wonder how they ended up working out the problems they had with the Sturmey Archer hub. Lots of bikes would lose 3rd gear. Now that problem is gone. Also, there were reports of frames breaking. I don't remember which model that was.
I don't have any real information of course, but I'm thinking that the problem wasn't the gear hubs themselves, which are reputed to be bomb proof and virtually maintenance free, but rather the shifter or indicator chain, which can go out of adjustment (I know from my own three speed Brompton, I haven't touched the hub in 10,000 miles, but have occasionally had to make adjustments, and a couple of times the indicator chain failed completely). Perhaps they came up with a more robust shift mechanism. Or maybe they just upped their maintenance game, since they're supposed to check and clean every active bike once every 45 days. A quick adjustment once in a while might be enough to keep things running smoothly. Anyway, this is all supposition on my part.
I wonder if the NuVinci adds complexity, which isn't helpful for a fleet of thousands?