Got a chance to ride the bike today before the rains and it works well. Will almost pull from stop in low and will just creep along, second is a good cruise gear, and third is a bit high for such low HP but once you get rolling it fun to ease along at very low rpm putt putting along. Shifts just fine using the clutch, I don't back off the throttle since its hand operated, just leave it where it is, clutch, click and go on. My concern about the momentary cable slackness during clutching had no effect.
The bonded tire section doesn't seem phased by the riding. It conformed to the tires profile in about a half hour and really began to bite well. The hub actually seems to have less inherent drag than the previous roller, was able to lower the idle a bit. I see no issues with it at this point. Its all a matter of how well the hub lasts.