Originally Posted by
elbows
How does the Sturmey hub stack up in terms of weight and efficiency? We do ride this bike longish distances and I don't want too much drag from the hub slowing us down. The extra braking power would be nice, though.
The older Nexus NX-30 also comes in a 36-hole version, but I'm steering clear of it because of the poor efficiency and high drag even when the light is turned off.
The Sturmey is supposed to be using the same Sanyo internals as the modern Shimano dynohubs, so it should have comparable efficiency. Given that it also has a drum brake, it weighs about 300g more, or nothing you should notice on a tandem.