Originally Posted by
NEXUS
Decent maybe but not as good as a Shimano or Sram that has way more gearing possibilities and if you still have completely stop pedaling with the new model then there is no point.
So what if you live in a place with no hills or much wind? It is better not to have to settle for a hub with a bailout gear just for climbing and one just for tailwinds. It is better to have more evenly spaced gears that makes sense for any environment or situation.
There is no point in fitting a 19T cog since the 25 already makes the gearing too high anything but a folding bike.
If they are going to make it the price competitive with Shimano and Sram then lower-end bike companies will start selling their bikes with Shimano and Sram hubs which are better known and better respected brands.
Notice that even with the current Sturmey 8, you don't have to stop pedaling to shift. As with most IGH hubs, you just reduce pressure on the pedals a bit. Shifts on a properly adjusted Sturmey 8 are an improvement over Sram 5/7 and Sturmey/Sram/Shimano 3. It is not quite as smooth-shifting as Nexus 8 or especially Alfine, but then again, nothing is smoother shifting than Alfine.
What Sturmey has as an advantage is its performance for small wheel bikes and that the gears that matter in hillier areas (bottom gears) are the most efficient. Yes, to get the gearing right, the use of a small front chainring is necessary with normal sized wheels. The Nexus is backwards in that the bottom gears are least efficient and gears 5-7 are the most efficient.
Both hubs have their place in the market. Sturmey really did have some flaws with the first 8 speed hub, no doubt, which made the hub "not ready" for nearly all users. If they are fixed with the new model, the design itself is has legitimate benefits.