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@moth
I love sturmey archer hubs too. Normal 3-speed hubs have a direct drive and two gears that are the inverse of each other. I think 4:3, 1:1, 3:4 is common. (I think of them as 'starting off', 'normal', and 'full hurtle'.) Once you get the knack you can accelerate away from stopped faster than most other cyclists. Where derailleurs need a period of forward peddling at reduced pressure to change, especially across a wide range of gears, a hub gear can change with only a moment of back-peddle, so you can get back to putting power down straight away.
There is one thing to watch out for when riding old 3-speed hubs which is explained here: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/sturmey-archer.html. Basically, there is a neutral gear somewhere between top and direct drive, and very occasionally when you are peddling very hard in top, the hub will jump into neutral. It happened to me twice in several years of daily cycling, and i (just) managed not to fall off when it did. I've modified my current hub to prevent this. The old 5-speed hub I had before that didn't do this (it's clutch engaged with dedicated protrusions on the face of the planet carrier, rather than with the planet pinions), and i have no experience with the current production. Don't stand up when going fast in top gear and you will be fine - you will be more aerodynamic and can put down more power if you keep your arse just hovering over the saddle anyway.