Originally Posted by interested
Personally I think bikes should be fun to ride, and while being no weight weenie, I do think that light bikes are more fun, and Nexus 8 rear wheels tend to be very heavy. A matter of personal taste of course, but none the less someone should take into consideration when thinking about getting a hub with internal gears.
My all-steel Surly,with older Nexus-7 and roller brake,weighs about 28-29lbs. That's about average hybrid weight,and less than alot of MTB's. It doesn't feel heavy to me at all. My Milano is maybe a pound heavier,and rides like a rigid MTB,even though it looks like a cruiser. They're both extremely fun to ride. If I'm moving along at a good clip,and am going to get caught at a light,I don't have to do the brake-pedal/downshift-brake dance derailler riders need to do. I just stop,then click the shifter down a notch or two. And I never get caught on a hill in too high of a gear.
Originally Posted by interested
Hardly a fair comparison; for only $20 more you get very light, 10 speed race level goodness with crisp shifting action
I dare say a Nexus shifts better. I bet even with that fancy derailler setup you can still hear/feel some gnashing from the chain moving on the cogs. Most of the time with my Nexus hubs,the only way I can tell I've shifted is it becomes harder/easier to pedal(depending on whether I up/down shifted).