Just been discussing hub gears on a USA forum. Their consensus is that hub gears are unreliable - the opposite of my experience.
There's probably enough riders here using Alfines to get an idea of how they are going in UK conditions.
So how is your Alfine 8 speed? (we'll leave the 11 to get over its teething problems 
)
Anyone had failures? and why?
My Alfine 8 has been perfectly reliable for years now. I had to change the chain and sprocket for the first time last month!
No problems with the gears themselves.
The disc mount ring split from the main hub on my first one (an 8).
It was replaced under warranty, and my second Alfine has been fine with no problems yet, touch wood (although I am on an 11 at the moment so not directly what you're asking).
Had an Alfine 8 on my commuter for the past year and had no problems. The shifting is excellent and being able to change down when stopped is handy. My only comment would be that the transmission does not feels as direct as a deraillieur set up (which it is not). The set up I run means that for a good deal of the time I am in 8th gear and I wonder if I used a larger chainring to bring the normal use closer to the 1:1 ratio in the hub then efficiency would be increased? I assume the power loss in the gearbox varies with the gear you are using with the 1:1 (I thin it's 4th?) being the most efficient. Hope that makes sense.
Had an Alfine 8 for about a year now, no problems at all, havent done anything in the way of maintenance either.
had my 5 year old hub serviced last week and the only issue was one or two (literally) bits of grit in there.
I can't see how that is unreliable
3 yrs old Afline with 3 winters use. One service and it's still working fine on the same sprocket/chain. 11spd Alfine's seem to have more issues - quite a few threads on here.
Aye, 3 years, 3 winters (albeit they've been fairly 'mechanically kind' of late), 1 service (not really needed, but wanted to have a go at it), 0 grumbles on reliability.
Edit: Wish the same could be said of the bottom bracket in the same bike - I guess I'm on my 4th HTII.......
Edit: Wish the same could be said of the bottom bracket in the same bike - I guess I'm on my 4th HTII.......The BB-UN72 on my Alfine bike is 7-8years old and the Suntour XCpro cranks almost 20years old.
alfine 8 used most days for a couple of years - a bit of offroad and a strathpuffer but mainly as a commuter. serviced once with the oil dip.
It did miss a gear last week. No other issues
KZP894 - Member
I assume the power loss in the gearbox varies with the gear you are using with the 1:1 (I thin it's 4th?) being the most efficient. Hope that makes sense.
5th is the 1:1 gear but unfortunately it's not properly direct (ie it still uses the gear train). With my hub it's the ratio with the slowest engagement, so for most "ratchety" situations I tend to use 4th or 6th.
I've had no problems with the hub over two years - and it's geared low at 32:23 too.....
My view is that gearing them below the "recommended" input ratio isn't bad for them, as spinning up a long steep climb has to be more transmission friendly than having to hammer and torque your way up (like I have to do on a SS).
KZP894
5th is 1:1 although Ihave read its not direct drive which seems peculiar to me. Gear it so thats the gear you use on the flat
I'm on the 4th year of a SG-500, which I use on my hardtail. I've killed the cup and cone from ignoring it all that time. It's been jet washed twice and apart from a few oilings of the chain I when I finish a spin it goes in the shed until the next spin. It still shifts fine but you can hear the bearings rumbling as I cycle so I'll have to get a new hub - I can't complain. Gearing is at 32:20.
I've a SG-501 on the commuter bike and it's gear change was ok but it wouldn't stay in gear if the going got bumpy - swopped out the cable stop thing and it's been perfect since, gearing is 44:20.
The BB-UN72 on my Alfine bike is 7-8years old and the Suntour XCpro cranks almost 20years old.
I can well imagine! The bike was supplied with HTII cranks and I don't really want to change them, I merely mentioned it as a guage as to how reliable Alfine hubs are compared to an 'improved' design from the same company!
How about the folk who rode the 'Puffer with Alfines - any problems?
I did a couple of years ago - geared down very low as well with no issues
Four Highland winters in all sorts of filth on mine and I had it opened for the first time two weeks ago and it was spotless. Good enough advert for reliability for me and those that know how I/ we ride.
Gordymac
Fyrishbikes.com
Thanks for that info wise forum people
2 winters on mine and it's been flawless. I ride it all the time in any weather and it's had no attention whatsoever. Ride it way more than my full bouncer this time of year as I know there's minimal fuss involved.
Mine was absolutely fine up until the point it broke. It had been used in all conditions and been dunked a few times (on the Kielder 100 for example) and been no bother at all. However, when it did go it was at the start of a family touring holiday and the was no chance of repairing or even replacing it. Because of that I decided that although there are definite advantages of a hub gear if/when it failed it's harder to fix than a conventional derailleur.
Mine's has been playing up recently, coughing and skipping gears quite a bit if you try to give it anything resembling any welly while pedalling.
I've only had it just over a year and can't have done much beyond 300-400 miles on it, so it's not like it's even due its 1000km oil change service. Most of those miles have been in the summer as well, or on dry days in the winter.
Any other Alfine owners encountered this and found a way to fix it? Does this sound like something I could send back to Shimano?
StefMcDef
MIne was begining to skip a bit before it was serviced so I guess an oil bath might well be worth trying. either than or check the cable is free to mover properly / lined up right
2 winters on mine, washed it ,maybe three times. Still going strong.
Check your cable tension - the yellow spots align
No maintenance other than a couple of cable alignments and letting the rain wash it now and then, a couple of winters, regular use, very cold, pretty muddy, on an ex-hire bike, no problems (touch wood).
The only thing that really irritates is pinch punctures (which do seem more common than with a mech etc.) in the cold and the extra hassle of removing the rear wheel etc. Is everyone using tubeless setups with theirs?
Yep, tubeless set up here, which means the back end bounces like a rubber ball when you pick it up and drop it. I think this helps with making the bike feel really lively even though the transmission weight is all at the back.
It also means that the one and only pinch-flat type incident I've had was sealed about 5 mins after I'd done it with a small pool of latex as the only evidence
Done all the yellow dots stuff and freshly lubed up the cable but I'm still getting the coughing/jumping every now and again, usually just after changing gear, once you're in the new gear, and usually when you're trying to put some power down.
There was a ton of chat in their early years on here epi, IIRC there were tails of exploding hubs, but only 1-2.
StefMcDef
worth trying an oil bath then.
I had an early one (SG 500), the cup and cone bearings were knacked in just under a year, although the shifting mechanism still seems ok. Not in a rush to get another one...
So...Americans think the world was made in 4004bc and global warming is god hugging the planet a bit tighter and now they they think hub gears are unreliable.
And yet they are in charge....how the hell did that happen?
Not sure what year mine is.
I commute on it ~ 100 mile p/w. Bought second hand and on its third winter now.
I've had the occasional gear slip, but I think that's down to cable indexing. I've found it has to be spot on.
Done nothing to it except for a very occasional gear cable fiddle and a yearly service. Not because it needed it, but preventative maintenance & inspection.
TandemJeremy - Memberworth trying an oil bath then.
Did you DIY the oil bath? Easy to do? Need to buy any special tools or oil?
even due its 1000km oil change service
Stef - are you not talking about an 11-spd hub there (8-spd - grease with oil bath service - 11-spd, Shimano Snake-Oil (TM) with Snake-Oil change for a service)?
^
Think the 11-speed has an oil port on the hub that you just drain the old oil out of and pour the new oil into.
No, the documentation you get with the hub is a bit light on this sort of stuff. I couldn't find any info about when it was supposed to be serviced or how to do it. Having googled around it a bit, people are giving their 8-speeds an oil bath and regreasing the bearings to service them. Looks a bit offputting for my limited fettling skills, and costly, if I need to buy special oil and tools to do it.
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