I'm the relatively new owner (just over 6 mos. and 1,000 miles) of a Breezer Uptown 8 with the Schimano Premium Nexus 8 (red band) hub. I think the hub works fine, haven't had any functional problems with it. My Uptown 8 is not a lightweight racing bike, so the weight of the hub is no issue as far as I'm concerned. My problem is that the shift cable linkage and it's stupidly awkward attachment to the shift cog is a real pain to remove and replace. And this must be done each time the wheel needs to come off, such as to patch or replace the tube or tire. Now, I don't know about you guys, but I cannot patch a tube without taking it out of the tire. Which means having the wheel off the bike. So, the rigamorole necessary to get the rear wheel (the one that always goes flat, BTW) off the bike is just absurd and intolerable. Nothing about the process is easy, and every action on that cable linkage requires the application of seemingly destructive levels of force using oversized tools. It's not just lift-off, drop on by any means. Therefore, I'm afraid I'd have to discourage anyone from getting involved in this thing. The whole concept is questionable in any case, since derailleurs are much simpler to maintain, pose no problems as far as wheel removal is concerned, are cheaper and lighter in weight. What's the reason for this Nexus hub anyway? If I could delete it from my Uptown 8, and get a good 24-speed derailler system in it's place, I'd do so in a heartbeat.