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noglider @
zacster Interesting observations. I wouldn't try to generalize from most of my Citibike rides: they're too brief and too varied to conclude anything useful, and frankly, because they're brief, anything (even my two feet) would get me there and back almost as briskly. There's one recurring round-trip between West 14th St and the Upper Left Side from which I'm comfortable generalizing. The ride is long enough, follows the same route and reverses, and I've done it enough that I can tease out a few conclusions. There's always some sort of wind on the West Side pedpath, but unless it's howling out of the north or south, there's rarely more than a 1 or 2 minute difference in total trip duration. This includes — northbound — the climb from the pedpath to the streets and southbound, the descent to the pedpath. Also surprising — at least to me: this difference in trip duration stays in the same narrow range whether I'm on an old Shimano, a Sturmey Archer, or one of the Nuvincis. But the subjective feel is distinctly different. The Shimanos are rock-solid for reliability but they always feel "slow". The Sturmey Archers sometimes lack for a 3rd (high) gear and similarly, sometimes the Nuvincis' top range seems unavailable. Subjectively, there are distinct differences — and I have my preference between the rear hubs — but actual performance is close enough for me to say there's no meaningful objective difference. Still, I'll grab a Nuvinci when it's available.