nexus inter-8

I have really been enjoying my Shimano Nexus 8 internal gear hub on my commuter. Oh wait - have I posted a photo of my commuter? I guess not. Here are a couple:

It's an Austrian made Austro-Daimelr frame from the thrift store, set up with flat bars and the majestic Shimano Nexus inter-8. This hub rocks. No chain slap, shifts while stopped, not too heavy, and maintenance-proof. My only beef in that the shifter is kinda plastic-ey. Oh well.

Anyway, I was curious how the internal 8 compared to a derailleur setup. I hopped over to Sheldon Brown's gear calculator to see. For comaprison I used my fully-geared mountain bike. The internal 8, with a 32 tooth chainring and a 21 tooth cog, gives you a gear range equivalent to having a 22/30 tooth granny gear and a 32/13 on the top end. Basically it is like having a mountian bike with no big ring. I don't know about the rest of you, but my big ring only gets used for powering down paved hills. I think I could live without it.

The basis of this whole idea is to maybe build myself a 29er mountian bike with an internal gear hub. That would rock. Of course, durability would be the main issue. We shall see hoe the 8 speed holds up.