Nexus 8 Hub Gears - Rear Sprocket Options

[Jonah]

There has been much said about the relatively low gearing of the Nexus 8. I certainly find that 8th gear is just not high enough for cycling comfortably above the assist cut-off level. My 20" wheeled bike has a 38T chain wheel and 16T rear sprocket. One solution that has been mentioned is to change the rear sprocket, but 16T is the smallest that Shimano make. Does anyone know of an alternative source of a rear sprocket (12T or 14T) that would fit the Nexus 8 hub gear set-up? Changing the chain wheel is more complicated (and expensive) for various reasons.

 

[flecc]

The 16 tooth is the smallest on Nexus hubs, on most models for clearance reasons. With the chainline correct. Smaller sprockets leave the chain inner side fouling the hub casing on some models.

There's a lower cost way of coping with a chainwheel that's too small that's sometimes suitable, bolting a larger chainring onto the side of the existing chainwheel. It's also a good way of coping with non-standard chainwheel setups.