I have a gun to my head - no really! (nexus8)
 

I can't find documentation ANYWHERE on how to remove the rear wheel in the case of a flat. I wouldn't have bought the bike if I knew it supposibly takes a half hour just to get the damn wheel off.. Can anyone assist on how it's done? Maybe I missed a site that has pictures? How long should it take if you are competent?

For most bikes open up the rear brake, upshift to the smallest cog then finesse the wheel out of the dropouts. It's not hard, but I suppose it may take some practice.

Here's a kicker: Some bikes have such short wheelbases that you will have to let the air out of the tires to get the wheel off (or on). My Bianchi is like that.

I should have explained - and now you are making me even more depressed now that you described how the rest of the world does it :(

I'm referring to the Shimano Nexus Internal 8 Hub. Completely different animal.

Yeah, you did put Nexus 8 in the subject, didn't you. My bad. :o

Just loosen everything that holds the wheel on, and if the wheel dosent come out loosen everything that is preventing you from taking the wheel off. If it will never come off, get one of those tubes that isnt a complete circle.....so you can snake a tube into your tire without having to take the wheel off. :D

Well you may want to try here: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/nexus-mech.html

It's not that bad, really. It'll take you a few times to get the hang of the steps, and one is kinda tricky, but... My recomendation is to avoid flats in the first place and go with a serious puncture-proof tire like Schwalbe Marathon Plus or Specialized Hemi Aramadillo. Best offence...

One thing to really pay attention to is the tightening torque of the axle nuts- they need to be tight! I've seen a few bent drop outs resulting from under-spec tightening, so get a torque wrench and feel what 25-30 ft/lbs is like.

Here are the service docs form Shimano for the Nexus 8(pdf)

The one thing that seems to be missing from the Nexus 8 instructions is the install/removal of the shifter cable. I would assume it is the same as with the other Nexus hubs, so here is the pdf of the Nexus 7

The Nexus really is a thing of beauty and you will soon really appreciate it (especially if you never have to take one apart ;-)

Happy Riding!

There is some stuff about adjusting nexus on the shimano europe website (FAQs), but apparently, how to remove a nexus wheel in not a FAQ.
Your dealer should have supplied an instruction sheet.
I find that track nuts, on solid axles respond best to a ring-style wrench (uk spanner), rather than an open crescent style. I also find that a bit of gentle persuasion on the wrench using my foot works well.
You can get inner tubes which are cut and sealed (ie not circular), which makes replacement a lot easier.

Thank you very much for the information!

Just out of curiosity - how long does it take to typically get the wheel off for you guys?

Moonshots' point about upshifting to the smallest cog is the crucial point to more easily positioning the chain over the cogset..The tension is better and you have to stretch the chain less to position it over the cluster.

Right but on a Nexus all the stuff is in the hub so I don't this it matters. I could be wrong though!