Shimano Nexus 8 Speed

[McPete]

I stopped in at Spearman cycles today, with the intent of riding a Giant CRX City, for the express purpose of trying a hub gear. I must say, I was very impressed.
Impecacbly smooth, quick shifts, on the spot shifting... I was quite taken by it. However, the lady serving me warned me off buying anything with a Nexus gear on it, as apparently, an Avanti Discovery 8 sold from Spearmans has managed to obliterate two of these little contraptions... She also cautioned me that the Nexus would leave much to be desired on hills, for lack of sutable ratios, and pointed me to the slightly more expensive CRX 2.
As much as I take that advice on, I'm still marveling at that hub gear(yes, I must be an old man, a hub gear for pitty's sake ), and quite interested in the CRX city.

Has anyone here had much to do with thr Nexus, or indeed any Hub gears of recent times?

[europa]

Much as I hate to say it McPete ... do a search of the forum on Nexus They've been mentioned quite a few times in different threads (not all with Nexus in the thread name) - we've got a few happy owners on here.

Richard

[Mulger bill]

Has anyone heard of the Nuvinci hub?
Seamless CVT for a pushie

[Hotdog]

I've got one on my bike, been using it for several years without it self destructing (and without having to do any maintenance on it, either). I also manage to get up all the hills I come across in Sydney, despite a fairly heavy bike often loaded down with commuting stuff. My bike does sacrifice a bit of top end gearing to acheive this though, and some of the gaps between gears can be a bit large. It's a bit like having a 11-34 cassette and just one chainring (except it can shift while stationary, shift as many gears at a time as you want, needs next to no maintenance and lasts for years and years).

I have heard a bit about the NuVinci. Interesting idea, but so far it's rather heavy and doesn't have a very wide range so best for flat places. I'm sure they'll improve on both aspects in later versions though, so definitely something to watch out for.

[Bnej]

I have a bike with a Nexus 7 speed and I live up a mountain.

The gear ratios are not a problem, durability has not been a problem either. I have done almost no maintenance on mine and it's done probably 1500 kms. If you are not happy with gear ratios, you can change the rear cog to a larger one for lower overall gears.

However, it results in having a heavy rear and less efficient gears, though the 8 is better than the 7 in that respect. You won't keep up with road bikes - but you won't on a CRX 2 either.

They're REALLY great if you're getting into cycling and don't want to hassle with the normal running gear issues.

[freq]

Well, this one is right up my alley since I own a Giant Crx City and have been riding it for about 4 months. Interesting that you found one in a shop as I was under the impression that these were sold out in Australia and that Giant can't make any more since Shimano are no longer making the Nexus cranks. But I might be wrong on that.
What I can tell you about the bike is that it's fantastic. The Avanti Discovery 8 you must remember is a completely different bike (comfort) and is cheaper to boot. It also has the "standard" hub whereas the Giant has the premium (supposedly lighter and more efficient (and stronger?))
As has been mentioned you can change the rear sprocket and/or front chainring to change the gear ratios (something I plan to do as I'm finding it slightly too high for my hilly commute.) Sheldon Brown's gear calculator is invaluable for working out ratios. Sheldon Brown dot com/gears/internal.html
Obviously this is definitely not a bike to go thrashing around off road but as a city commuter it's pretty darn good. If you have any more questions feel free to ask!