Any Alfine users on here?

[yo-eddy]

Alfine might be friendly for your MTB, but your MTB won't be friendly for your Alfine No manufacturers have Alfine on their MTB's..... for a reason.
cheers Roy

I beg to differ , Genesis are making the IOID in both 8 and 11 speed forms this year:-
http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/bikes/mou ... -alfine-11

I stand corrected ....wouldn't recommend 'm though, the Alfine 8 is in Shimano's City and Comfort division :roll:
Really hope the 11 is better, would be great to have an available alternative for Rohloff, but to be honest I doubt the Shimano hubs have half the lifetime and Durability of a Speedhub, interested to see some torque tests and serious offroad reviews.

 

[Andy R]

I stand corrected ....wouldn't recommend 'm though, the Alfine 8 is in Shimano's City and Comfort division :roll:
Really hope the 11 is better, would be great to have an available alternative for Rohloff, but to be honest I doubt the Shimano hubs have half the lifetime and Durability of a Speedhub

Is this based on actual experience or just hearsay though?

Whatever - I've just built a wheel on an Alfine 8 (SG-S501) hub, purely to see if they're as good as most people who actually own and use them reckon.
Anyway, at £130 for the hub itself I could buy another one for spares and swap the internals over when (if ?) it self destructs.
I'm looking forward to giving it a trip out - I could have been out with it yesterday if I hadn't lost/mislaid the cable connector and lock ring and had to order another fitting kit :roll:

 

[skinheadjc]

I was just about to (well tonight) put a fitting kit up for sale in the 'for sale' section - typical..... :roll: i had to order a 2nd as the one that came with my Alfine is for horizontal dropouts and i have vertical on the mtb so just needed the locking spacers.

You should be ok with the 8 speed - i've run one on my road bike for the last year with no probs, just one readajustment for cable stretch when it was new. I'd expect it to feel a little 'crunchy' off road initially as you have to power off a little when changing gears (only in certain ratios) otherwise it has a delay - it takes a few rides to adjust to this, and is one of the things they have sorted with the conical gears in the 11 (apparently).

I'm sure it'll be fine when you get used to it.

BTW| have you any built weights of the wheel/bike for a before and after standard gears comparison?

 

[Andy R]

I'll drop you a PM re the fitting kit, as having a spare will do me no harm (with my propensity for losing stuff :roll: ).

I'm about to fit the same type of tyre on the Alfine wheel as I have on the Hope Pro 2 SS wheel that I'm swapping it with (both run tubeless and same rims) so when I've done that I'll be able to get a weight difference.

 

[Defender]

I stand corrected ....wouldn't recommend 'm though, the Alfine 8 is in Shimano's City and Comfort division :roll:
Really hope the 11 is better, would be great to have an available alternative for Rohloff, but to be honest I doubt the Shimano hubs have half the lifetime and Durability of a Speedhub, interested to see some torque tests and serious offroad reviews.

The IOID in 8 speed form has around for a several years now, I understand reservations many people have about hub gears.
I think it has a lot to do with the old Sturmey Archer 3 speeders that were fitted to 'utility' bikes many years ago, along with cheap hub gears that don't last partly because they aren't quite a fit and forget item and do need a little servicing from time to time.
I'm hoping the Alfine 11 is the first of many afordable hubs suitable for british conditions, be that 'on' of 'off' road :?:

 

[Defender]

OK, so I've just weighed my SG-S500 26" rear wheel (WTB SX24 17-559) and it comes out at 7.74lbs/3.56kgs , complete with axle, disc, dropout spacers, sprocket, tyre and tube (Schwalbe Big Apple 2.00), but no shifting mech.

 

[skinheadjc]

TBH sounds about right if you think about it using approx weights it'll brake down to:
alfine - 2kg
rim - 400g
spokes - 320g
tube - 150g
tyre - 600g?

= 3570g

its proberly less on the hub and a bit more on the tyre....

 

[Defender]

TBH sounds about right if you think about it using approx weights it'll brake down to:
alfine - 2kg
rim - 400g
spokes - 320g
tube - 150g
tyre - 600g?

= 3570g

its proberly less on the hub and a bit more on the tyre....

Sorry , I can't comment on the individual weights as it's built up and ready to fit .
Schwalbe quote 790g for the 26x2.00.

 

[yo-eddy]

I stand corrected ....wouldn't recommend 'm though, the Alfine 8 is in Shimano's City and Comfort division :roll:
Really hope the 11 is better, would be great to have an available alternative for Rohloff, but to be honest I doubt the Shimano hubs have half the lifetime and Durability of a Speedhub

Is this based on actual experience or just hearsay though?

It's from hearsay.... and see!
I've been using my Rohloff hub for over 2years now, by using I mean riding offroad hard in Dutch muddy conditions but also in the Alps. My collegue is using a Rohloff also on his commuter wich he also uses for offroad trips in the weekend for over three years.......... this same collegue, being 20kilo lighter than me, managed to ruin his wifes Alfine 8 on a trip to the supermarket ...... so Allthough I never tried one myself, I probably stay with Rohloff just to be on the safe side
Durability is my main concern with all other IGH's I'm big and heavy and want my parts to be strong and long lasting.
Hope there will be a better hub than the Rohloff soon (Lighter, less noise, but still as durable) but for now nothing beats a Speedhub for me
Cheers Roy

ps, will follow the Alfine reviews with interest

 

[Cinders]

Pleased with mine, after 6 months no problems (8 speed). Sometimes seems to be a little slow shifting 5th - 4th, but it's difficult sometimes to notice the shift as they're very smooth.

Not sure the 11 speed is worth the extra expense?

Interesting weight info here;

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/t ... all-thread