My Alfine 8 has an issue in the lowest gear. The yellow dots are lined up and the shifting between 1 through 8 is all fine.

However, under load in 1 it feels horrible and makes a sound similar to the freewheel when backpedalling.

Anyone else had this?

Not was issues in 1st…I had issues in 3rd and 5th but that was down to the wrong cassette joint being fitted.

Cheers, Steve

they do make noise when back-pedalling in some gears. Try tweaking the cable tension slightly? Mine has to be a baw hair tighter than the yellow dots indicate to be perfect.

Have you tried servicing it? Makes them run and shift much better.

Play with slightly offsetting yellow dots
Check chain tension is not too tight, needs to be a bit looser than a single speed.
Check cone bearings

After thousands of trouble free, maintenance free miles I had a couple of bad shifts and random shifts on mine. Turns out the rubber boot had been pulled onto the cable track and causing the cable to be pulled a little bit more than it should. Only affected 1st gear under load.

they do make noise when back-pedalling in some gears. Try tweaking the cable tension slightly? Mine has to be a baw hair tighter than the yellow dots indicate to be perfect.

Have you tried servicing it? Makes them run and shift much better.

The noise is *similar* to the back pedalling noise but it’s forward under load. I’d say It feels like the gears aren’t engaged properly (but only in that gear). I had a fiddle with the cable tension yesterday but will have another go. i’m think I’m going to release the cable completely and see if it still does it – that will give the limit in one direction won’t it?

should do.

Not heard of them making a noise when pedalling.

Has the hub done a lot of miles? the original grease dries up and can cause poor shifting. Take the cluster out and bathe it in ATF. It improves things on high milage alfines. Simple to do.

Check the cones are set correctly as well – any play in them mucks up the shifting.

Bike was new in Spring and it’s done hundreds rather than 1000’s of miles.

It’s not the shifting that’s the issue – it shifts between all gears fine. It’s just under load in 1 it seems to have an issue.

try what you suggest with releasing the cable tension completely. that should put it in first gear and then you can tell if its the hub or the cable at fault. Also you could try removing and cleaning the cassette joint ( the bit on the hub that changes the cable movement to rotary movement) if they get dirty or sticky it can affect shifting

Ah. of course releasing the tension completely puts it into 8 not 1. Nothing loose or out of line.

I’ve had a good fiddle with the cable tension – adjusting it until the gears stop shifting properly and then easing back. That seems to have solved it.

Ah – mines an old one where the cable goes the other way – slack cable is first.