Rear hub question
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Adding a geared hub to any bike is a matter of knowing the OLD (over locknut distance) - the width of the hub and the width of the rear dropouts. If the hub is wider than the dropouts, the frame needs to be spread. If the hub is narrower, you need to squeeze the frame tighter.
I'm assuming the Felt has an aluminum frame - if you're asking this question, you probably do not have the skills to do this. (I certainly do not.) That's something for somebody with metal working skills. Aluminum frames break before they bend much.
If you're adding a hub to a steel frame bike, you can spread or compress steel frames a bit. It's called cold setting, and is basically just a matter of carefully bending the frame. Ideally, you want to not only spread or squeeze the rear end, but you also need to bend the rear dropouts slightly so they remain parallel.
I'm assuming the Felt has an aluminum frame - if you're asking this question, you probably do not have the skills to do this. (I certainly do not.) That's something for somebody with metal working skills. Aluminum frames break before they bend much.
If you're adding a hub to a steel frame bike, you can spread or compress steel frames a bit. It's called cold setting, and is basically just a matter of carefully bending the frame. Ideally, you want to not only spread or squeeze the rear end, but you also need to bend the rear dropouts slightly so they remain parallel.
If you're cold-setting a frame, you also need to check and correct for alignment; you could end up spreading more on one side than the other, which will cause tracking issues. Alignment can easily be checked using a length of string; do a search on sheldonbrown.com for more info on the string method, and cold-setting in general.
The El Nino is aluminum, so don't bother trying to cold-set it. @SSG nailed it went he suggested the Sturmey-Archer sx-rk3, if your bike is spaced at 170mm, it should drop right in. NuVincis are all spaced at 135mm, as far as i know, and b/c of the CVT design, they don't lend themselves well to re-spacing. I'd stick with the 3 speed....
HTH
The El Nino is aluminum, so don't bother trying to cold-set it. @SSG nailed it went he suggested the Sturmey-Archer sx-rk3, if your bike is spaced at 170mm, it should drop right in. NuVincis are all spaced at 135mm, as far as i know, and b/c of the CVT design, they don't lend themselves well to re-spacing. I'd stick with the 3 speed....
HTH
I'll correct myself so nobody else has to say it: OLD = over locknut dimension, not distance. There's something much cooler than that anyway, like "we're entering the over locknut dimension."
Thanks for the recommendation of sheldonbrown.com. I meant to mention that as the source of my very meager knowledge of the topic. Very cool website, in fact, you could say it is the Over Locknut Dimension.
Thanks for the recommendation of sheldonbrown.com. I meant to mention that as the source of my very meager knowledge of the topic. Very cool website, in fact, you could say it is the Over Locknut Dimension.
If we're in a pedantic mood, technically most hubs use "jam nuts," not "lock nuts." Some might argue that the terms are interchangeable, while others feel strongly that a true lock nut will involve some sort of locking feature or mechanism, whereas a jam nut is just a thinner hex nut that gets "jammed up" against the other hex nut to lock it in place. 
Either way, we all know what OLD is, but most folks would probably get confused if we started talkin'bout "OJD."
Generally speaking, while we've all cold-set a frame or two to make it work with parts on-hand, if you're about to order a new hub for your build, the wise move would be to purchase a hub that fits the frame. Some ppl just love to tweek their frames for the sake of tweeking, and that's fine, but guaranteed someone else is gonna be cussing you out for it, should you ever sell the frame.
Either way, we all know what OLD is, but most folks would probably get confused if we started talkin'bout "OJD." Generally speaking, while we've all cold-set a frame or two to make it work with parts on-hand, if you're about to order a new hub for your build, the wise move would be to purchase a hub that fits the frame. Some ppl just love to tweek their frames for the sake of tweeking, and that's fine, but guaranteed someone else is gonna be cussing you out for it, should you ever sell the frame.
I have the el nino with the stock 3 speed and noticed something interesting, the hub width is same as a normal hub. so you should be able to fit a nexus 3 speed straight in but I will say one thing the standard el nino rims are dual drilled so they can offset the rear hub.
