I've been thinking about the next bike build and am considering the new Alfine 11sp hub when it comes out. I've never actually had a ride of a hub geared bike and, after checking weights of cassettes and rear mechs, was wondering how much the extra 1kg on the back wheel affects how you ride the bike/how the bike rides.
Comments/discuss.
Ta.
I have an alfine 8 sp. The total weight is around half a kilo more than an xt drivetrain but more of it in the rear hub. You can tell when moving the bike around by hand / lifting it but I certainly cannot tell when riding.
Doesn't look like it's actually heavier per-se,
350g hub
250g rear XT cass
300g rear xt cass
extra chain - 75g?
900g total
alfine - 1600g
so only 700g extra.
Never ridden it but I suspect it will only make a difference if you like hopping the rear around freely, if you're not the sort of person who considers lifting the rear wheel frequently to be an essential part of riding, I can't see it making much difference.
You can add the front mech and 2 rings to the weight equation as well, as you're likely to ditch those as well when switching to an Alfine. Shifter & cable too.
yeah, half kilo is what I calc'd a while back aswell.
on a weight weenie build I can see it being a dealbreaker but not if it's a mainstream weight (25-30lbs) bike.
as for weight balance, a guy I met riding a Rolloff'd nicholai made a good point that we've added a kilo to the front of our bikes with shock forks so adding 5-700gr to the back shouldn't make a difference. I expect it'll take some small amount of getting used to but not much.
I have one on my commuter and they are great. Not sure about offroad tbh as they dont really shift under load at all well (although this would actually be good practice as your deuralliers shift so much better if you avoid loading them during the shift). It's also a bit of an all eggs in one basket solution where if you have a problem with a 3x9 setup you can jury rig a solution to get you home, not so obvious on a gearbox but then I covered 5,000 km on mine last year and didn't have to do anything except tighten the gear cable.
I like the look of the 11sp, it's almost 2x9 gear coverage now iirc which makes it a much more useful spread than the 8 (although my 8 is a fine spread for commuting and touring without changing sprokets)
coffeeking - Member
Doesn't look like it's actually heavier per-se,350g hub
250g rear XT cass
300g rear xt cass
extra chain - 75g?
900g totalalfine - 1600g
so only 700g extra.Never ridden it but..
too much or not enough coffee this morining your highness?
oops, I meant mech 
3rd cup since 8:45.
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