Well SchreiberBike and a few others asked me to keep them apprised of my Spectro S7 experience, so here's how I'm feeling to date. I knew from the git go that it was a liitle on the portly side (nearly 3 lbs.) and that 2nd and 1st gear respectively exhibited a little and a LOT of mechanical friction. None of that mattered though, when I looked at the *****in' single speed profile. And oh, did I mention my commute at the time was a pleasant, 11 mile, level route which took 40 minutes out of my morning?

Well I moved a couple months back. And now that my one way commute is a slightly more challenging, 30 miles which includes some significant climbing and takes me two hours (including walking the first mile of dirt road to get to the asphalt) I have a whole new perspective.

Though I have done all I can to reduce my load (taking my clothes to work the day before and leaving all non-essential items out of my bag) the rear end still feels pretty heavy when I'm suffering up those hills. I do all I can to stay in 3rd gear or above - including standing - because once you I have to hit 2nd, let alone the dreaded 1st gear, it's all over and I'm stuck sucking wind as I limp to the top. Not pretty.

So I am actually seriously considering swapping for a single speed hub in the back (with at least two, if not three rings up front) to lighten things up dramatically. I am thinking single cog out back because one thing that my experience with the internally geared hub has convinced me of is the strength of a symmetrically built rear wheel for the commuting role.

The other reason I'm considering a change is that I've been struggling to adjust some looseness in the bearings lately with limited success. I am realizing that when it comes time for an overhaul I might as well be staring under the hood of new car. This hub is the only part of my bike I am not prepared to tear apart and put back together and that's not a good feeling. Of course I'll have to convince my better half why this is a good idea, so it might take a little time. I will keep y'all apprised.

DanO

My experience with the SRAM Spectro S7 has been fairly positive. I put it on a commuter
last year and put ~1000 miles on it. It has worked well for me, although I have also
noticed inefficiency and noise in the lowest 2 gears. I'm sold on the concept of internal
gears for an all-weather commuter, but would consider trying Nexus next time around.

For my type of commuting (27 mile r/t with mostly smooth trails/roads), I don't see
any great advantage to a dishless wheel. I just don't stress out my wheels enough
for that to be a big deal.

I've also done some commuting on my singlespeed and found it to be a bit strange.
The gearing necessary to tackle the big climb on the way home is low enough that
I'm spinning a bit too much for the rest of the ride. Even though I feel really inefficient,
the amount of time lost on my single speed is actually quite small.

baker

Why are you standing? If you're standing going up those hills, you need to lower the gearing by choosing a larger cog on the back or moving to a smaller chain-ring. You need to learn to spin up those hills. You must also learn to shift down as you move up the hill. I'm able to do this on the Nexus 7 without damaging the hub. Furthermore, using the 1st gear and spinning up the hills should not be dreaded. That's why you have multiple gears in the first place. Learn to use 1st gear.

I've said it before, the two biggest weekness of hub gears is that HEAVY rear wheel and frction loses. It doesn't matter if the hub comes from Sturmey Archer, Sram or Rohloff. All three hubs are heavy and you will always get much more efficiency from a cassette.

Having said that, I only commute on a 3 speed bike because a. I don't travel far to the train station b. I don't have to climb hills.