Originally Posted by
NEXUS
I do not recommend you get the Sturmey Archer 8 hub. What I look for in an internal hub is smooth, fast dialing and well spaced gears and that's not what you get with this hub.
Here are the good things about the SA8:
-It is cheap.
-It is sturdy.
Now here is the bad:
-Direct drive, (the most efficient gear) is first gear. This means that the most efficient gear is the one that you will probably be in the least.
-This hub cannot be shifted while pedaling, even if into a lower gear. You have to completely stop pedaling to shift. Easing off on the pedal doesn't work either. This is especially frustrating when going up or down hill since you lose all momentum on the former and all your cadence on the latter.
-There is a huge, almost 30% jump from 1st gear to 2nd and the same with 7th to 8th, making 1st and 8th almost worthless besides when you have the steepest of hills or a very strong tailwind.
-The smallest cog the hub will fit is a 23T and the hub comes with a 25T. That means on a bike with 650B tires you will have to use a 32T chain ring for a tall gear of 101.5 in. and a low of 33.3in. You could use a 34T ring to raise your top gear to 107.8 in. but then your low end will also go up to 35.4 in. and you said you have a mile long hill to climb?
I used this hub for over a year and wasn't happy with it and after I switched to a Shimano Nexus 8 I then realized just how much I hate the SA8. Now I'm all smiles.
I think most of these things are actually advantages.
-Direct drive in low gear is good because it allows you to use a larger rear cog, which is more efficient and longer wearing. At the same time you can use a much smaller chainring, which is safer for your pants.
-If you have a hilly commute then the lower gears are the ones you will be in the
most not the least. So you want it to be more efficient towards the bottom.
-The big jumps at the top and bottom are perfect because you usually only need the highest and lowest gears briefly for extreme situations; So there's no point having the second to lowest or second to highest gears be so close.
I'll give you that the shifting isn't ideal, but still way better and smoother than a derailleur. However, as mine has broken in over the years the shifting niggles have seemed to go away.
Overall I'm very happy with mine and if it were to break I'd buy a replacement instead of another hub like the nexus.