Originally Posted by Thor29
As far as Shimano Nexus goes... YUCK!!!!! I work in a bike shop and have seen several generator systems quit functioning and no one could figure out why. The wiring is really crappy - Shimano should hang its corporate head in shame. The internal geared rear hub makes getting the rear wheel off a pain in the butt. A 1x9 system with a Shimano XT rear derailleur or SRAM X9 would be a much better option - lighter and more efficient. After all, the front derailleur is actually more problematic than the rear.
My mistake. I didn't mean the shimano generator just the hub gearing. I've no experience with the shimano generator. My Schmidt generator hub works like a charm. I've owned Sturmy Archer, and SRAM/Sachs geared hubs too and find this Nexus 8 to be the smoothest. I've noticed that bike shop mechanics freak out about removing the rear wheel but you don't have to remove the rear wheel very often. It isn't that bad. To change a tire you don't have to remove everything, just one side. I've had to show several different mechanics how to deal with the rear wheel, including two of them at the shop that sells the bike. I took it in for the "free tuneup" but ended up showing them how to do things so never went back.