[Yak] Gearing?

[Onno Kluyt]

Hello Yakkers!

Currently I have 53x39 upfront with the Capreo (9-26) cassette in the  
back. I am contemplating whether to make changes. My Pocket Rocket  
flies a lot and thus gets thrown about a fair bit together with the  
hard case. I am considering internal gear hubs to minimize the number  
of moving parts, if you will, that can get misaligned or damaged  
during transport.

With SRAM's DualDrive I can eliminate the front derailleur. I would  
have a standard 9-cog giving a very wide gear range.

I have been reading about SRAM's iMotion9 hub on their web site. In  
this case I could relieve myself from both the front derailleur and  
the rear derailleur. Tinkering with Sheldon's gear calculator a 48x17  
combination would give me a gear range of 105.6" to 31" which is  
comparable to what I have now (119.4" to 30.4") although missing one  
gear at the high end.

So, a couple of questions.

What are the experiences with the DualDrive?
The iMotion9 is still very new I believe but anyone have experience  
with it?
What are the opinions on going from 18 gears to nine with the iMotion?  
There's of course a lot of overlap in gears in the traditional double  
or triple chainring setup but it does give more choice. With the  
iMotion the steps are a bit bigger.
Currently I have drop bars. Can the DualDrive or the iMotion be used  
with STI levers?

Thanks!!

Onno.