One more time a cycle co-branding does not work out...
Ab bit sad with the Morgan brand...
But there are answers to your question:
Morgan 8 and Shimano:
- Alfine is fine for around 10k miles
- Roller brakes are durable and do very good. They are awkward to maintain - that´s may be why the gave way for disk brakes. Watch the tutorials on the tube before you get involved with them - it will save you time....
- the Morgan 8 comes with the BROOKS cambium saddle. This one is good quality and wether proof
Morgan 3 and Sturmey Archer:
- 3-speed hub is very durable. Never had serious trouble with one of them and we sold them frequently
- Drum brakes: They do need proper greasing as all the screws tend to corrode like hell. So if you want wo run it outside - keep an eye on that. Performance is obviously not up to date - speed will somehow decrease and you will get used to it;-)
- quality of the leather saddles massively dropped since BROOKS is takenb over by Selle Italia - at least that´s what we see in the shop.
Although I like the Guv´nor best - I would go for the MORGAN 8 as overall better option. The modern gearbox from Japan fits to the MX5 gear box used by Morgan...
If you are going to put it in the living room - forget about the technical detail;-)
BR
Miklos
co founder of:
http://hugo-cycles.de