One of the things I like most is the 7 gear hub from Shimano. It switches instantly, even with the bicycle completely stopped. In urban traffic it allows you to always have the best gear, which ofter results in instant acceleration power when you most need it. For example, no problem if you have to break suddenly at an intersection and then speed-up again: just switch gears at any time and pedal. As gear switching is so fast and convenient, I tend to switch gear much more often than with a derailleur bike.
The spacing between gears is very adequate. For my particular daily journey I would like to have a slightly larger gear ratio, which can be achieved with the newer Shimano-8 hub.
Speeds 1 and 3 are quite "grinding". Although it has improved with usage, it is an area of improvement for this model of gear hub.
