Originally Posted by moxfyre
Internally geared hubs are quite expensive: today's equivalent of the 3-speed Sturmey-Archer would probably be the 7-speed Shimano Nexus hub, which I couldn't find for < $150. By contrast, I can get a pair of Shimano LX or Shimano 105 derailers, rear hub, and a 9-speed cassette for about $100 from Nashbar. The LX setup will have a slightly wider and more finely spaced gear range, and is quite a bit lighter. The difference *may* be due to economies of scale in large part, but I'm not sure...
Those theories of internal hubs having a lower efficency may have their mathimatical points, but I highly doubt whether the effecency difference, in practice, will ever be noticed by the rider.
And you don't seem to realize that although the initial cost of an internal hub setup may exceed that of a derailer setup, history has shown that there are internally-geared hubs out there (most notably, of course, the Sturmey AW) that have currently logged enough miles -
without major parts replacement - to easily wear out 10 to 15+ sets of $hitmano's current Hyperbribe drivetrains.
As for weight, since internal hubs have not been applied to race use since the mid '50s (except for the fantastic Rohloff piece), lighter ones have not been developed, but that is NOT to say that a lightweight, internally-geared hub cannot
be developed.
I do have quite a few AW spare parts on hand - perhaps I'll try my hand at adding a little "drillium" to the innards of one to see how light I can get it. That, plus an alloy SA hub shell will probably weigh less then a current drivetrain group for a road machine.
-Kurt