Originally Posted by Hot Potato

If you took an old road bike and converted it into an IGH bike, it would be heavier but I don't know about slower. Its hard to find an IGH road bike new from a manufacturer. You can get IGH flat bar bikes on Mountain bike or hybrid frames with slick tires on them. I have a Giant Seek1, bought it for its IGh and hydraulic disc brakes. Its a great foul weather bike, but if the weather is nice I would prefer my road bike every time. The Alfine hub gear spacing is noticably uneven. Not enough to make me hate it, but it is noticable. The hydro brakes are awesome, so much better than road bike brakes, v-brakes, and canti brakes that I would choose my Seek everytime it was wet out for rides up to 10-15 miles. I doubt I would go much further if the weather stunk.

So, I scratched my IGH itch with a Seek1, I won't be doing it again unless I run across an old road frame I turn into a project bike. There are brifters for the Alfine coming to the market.