I had a go on an Alfine hubbed bike today, and I liked it 🙂

I'm now wondering what place a hub-gear bike can have in the stable. Maybe a commuter, but the existing machine gets no maintenance anyway.
Or a winter mud-plugger, but the SS does that really.
So, on my bestest fun-bike? Somehow doesn't seem right.

So I guess it's a solution in search of a problem. Of course if there was a real classifieds bargain I might think again.

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest,

A

Or a winter mud-plugger, but the SS does that really.

Yeah, but plenty of us can't/won't/don't get on with singlespeeds. Bad knees, too hilly, unfit or just lazy, or whatever!

For me, I've just been wanting to ride a derrailleur-less bike for ages, I don't mind doing some maintenance, but having to spend as much time cleaning and fixing a bike in the winter months as you do riding it becomes a chore! And I can't do singlespeeds… Well, I could on a flat ride, but we have hills in this country! So the Alfine seemed like the perfect option… So I finally plucked up the courage to buy one… Will let you know how it goes once I've put some miles in!

I am enjoying my genesis IO ID – but the alfine is not the complete answer – the gear range is not enough for hilly offroad- equal to a 1×9.

It should get a good test at the 'Puffer tho – no broken mechs for me

Yeah I guess that's the place, in lieu of the SS. But I only just built up a new un, so what's to become of it?

I suppose you can choose which ratios you get via the number of front & rear teeth?

Too early for this speculation, work now 🙁

A

mines on a 'mudplugger' and although the gear spread is not perfect, it's better than 1×9. So far its been great. Ride around in the mud, hang the bike up, and a few days later… ride it again in the mud. Haven't cleaned it in ages.

An Alfine hub with a 20T sprocket is the equivalent to having a 12 to 38 cassette so slightly wider than a 1×9 but of course it means the steps between gears are larger.

this seems a familiar theme Alex, its as if we were talking about it in the pub only a few nights ago

According to the gear ratios that MaverickBoy is using in that calculator it is almost identical to 11 / 34. The size of the chainring / sprocket makes no difference to the gear ratios generated in the hub. I counted turns of the cranks to turns of the wheel and I am sure it is almost perfectly equal to a 1/9 11/34

18 tooth is supposedly 11-32, 20T is 11-34 from what I've read.

90% of my off road riding is local bridleway bashing, and I hate spending as much time cleaning my bike as I do riding it. And I hate riding along listening to chainrings, cassettes and jockey wheels getting ground down by the mud. I have come to the realisation that however much I love my Soul, given the riding that I do off road, an Alfine'd Inbred would be a much more practical solution. And then I could bling up the Soul for those rare "proper" rides.

Mind you, most of my total riding is commmuting by road. Now you can get drop bar shifters for the Nexus hubs, I can see a solution to the winter salt and grit problem on that bike as well…..

Does anyone who uses one notice the weight when riding over rough or bumpy stuff?

Whats it feel like in the air when doing jumps etc?

Im tempted by one cos I only run a 1×9 anyway and my top sprocket is a 28 so an alfine would give me a better hill climbing gear

How easy is it to remove the wheel?

It's fairly easy once you've done it a few times but I just run tubeless on the rear wheel so I don't get any more punctures. There is definitely a weight difference on the rear but I adapted and it didn't bother me. You learn to shift gears differently but you get used to it really quickly and it's generally more intuitive.

18 tooth is supposedly 11-32, 20T is 11-34 from what I've read.

An 18T sprocket on the Alfine gives you EXACTLY the equivalent of a cassette ranging from 11.1-34.2 teeth… Or as near as dammit an 11-34 9 speed, just with slightly wider gaps as it's only covered by 8 gears.

A 20T sprocket gives you the equivalent of 12.4-38.0 teeth on the cassette.

A 22T sprocket gives you the equivalent of 13.6-41.7 teeth on the cassette.

swadey, if you want a copy of the calculator, drop me an email (it's in my profile) and I'll email it back to you…

i had one on a hardtail over the summer and have since changed the setup to traditional gears. I have moved the alfine over to my commuter where it will get more use.

One thing i have noticed was the additional drag from the Alfine compared to a normal setup. I didnt notice this during my riding (i must have got used to it) but only since the change over.

there is an additional weight penalty that takes some getting used to an das others have said the shifter takes a while to get used to.

Yeah I think for flicking the back it could be an issue, but for a 'wheels on the ground' bike is rear wheel weight a problem?

A

I am no great shakes at bunnyhopping but I can get the rear wheel in the air with as much difficulty as I can the dérailleur bike.

Whoa felllas, How does this work? TJ say that Front rear combos dont affect the gear ratios? Equal to a 1×9? With what front ring?
Surely the front/rear combo shifts the Alfine ratios up and down the gear inch curve? Somewhere in that hub is a 1:1 ratio. and the chainring/sprocket will set that gear/inch size, so if you change the chainring/sprocket then the whole hub ratio set takes a step up or down the inch chart.

Chopper – you are right – what I meant and said was that the chainring and sprocket sizes don't affect the gear ratios produced in the hub but obviously do effect the overall ratio.

Its a bit misleading to give the comparison in terms of rear cassette equivalent sizes

I would echo what others have said about drag and weight adjustment, but as a wheels on the ground general trails, lrt, local paths bike it is ace. I run mine with an 18t sprocket and a 26/36 front set-up using an alfine tensionner.