Sturmey-Archer 8-speed hub
 

Has anyone tried one of these or heard anything about them?

I've done several Audax rides (up to 300km) on one. A friend used another one for a few weeks loaded touring in Europe. They work fine.

I use one on my city bike. It works great. Only issue I've had to overcome is that I'm used to peddaling while shifting and the SA hub prefers that I don't.

I have sold several of them, and my customers seem to all be very satisfied. The shifter adjustment is very crucial, as the hub does not seem to be as tolerant of slight mis-adjustment as the Shimano Nexus, which I also sell and use myself. Fortunately, shifter adjustment is very simple to do.
The only downside I have seen so far to this hub is the shifter. I think they could come up with something better than the current one. I had one break sitting on the showroom floor. I'm sure someone's hand was on it when it broke, but still.
Dan Burkhart
www.boomerbicycle.ca

I put one of these on a friend's bike. She says that it shifts fine and it was easy for me to install and set up.

But the gear range is a bit odd. Direct drive is the first gear and everything else is higher than that. So I felt the SA loses some low gears and has some really really high ones. I had to put a smaller front chainwheel on her bike, smaller than I would like with an internal gear hub. Sheldon recommends the SA 8-speed for small wheeled bikes because of the gearing options and I agree with him.

http://sheldonbrown.org/raleigh-twenty/