Ok after looking at the rohloff hub and trawling the internet over wknd have decided on the 8 speed alfine hub, had to admit that i was not going to tour for mths across the world on mtb, so could not justify the massive rohloff outlay.
I will be fitting the alfine on a sliding dropout orange p7, question, do i need different dropouts for the alfine as at the mo its got standard dropouts for qr axle. Where does the cable run from hub to shifter?
Any pics of orange p7 with alfine that can be posted up so i can look would be good. How reliable is the alfine hub after the few yrs that its been out? have there been any real problems? thanks

You might want to wait for the 11 speed alfine hub coming out anytime now… it looks to be a great improvement if you belive the hype…
The alfine 8 speed comes with 2 sets of grip washers with tabs so you can get it to fit pretty much any bike.
I have both a p7 (with rohloff) and alfine (the alfine is on my karate monkey so 700c)
I find the alfines range is fairly small and I tend to run it geared low as offroad you need the rpms.
Ive serviced quite a few alfines working in bike shops, they are strong enough for most mtbers i reckon.
by the way you can fit any nexus sprocket so dont bother with the alfine sprocket as its more pricy, you are paying for the crappy plastic chain guard with you dont need if you re not running a chain tensioner.
hope that helps a bit
Jim

Cheers for that, i will be running it in a sliding dropout p7.
Have been running p7 as ss for a few yrs now and fancy a few more gears,for the longer ride on rd between muddy lanes, to be honest i think for what i need 8 speed will be enough, guess the hub has proved to be strong enough in the last few yrs that its been running, the 11 speed is not tried and tested yet by the general stw users, and i am sure the will give their honest say on the new hub over the nxt few mths yrs to say how it behaves when its released. The 8 speed has been out for a few yrs now and i am not sure but have not read about one really failing in a big way.. so am thinking about the 8 speed as its been tested and its fairly cheap so thats got to be in its favor.. cheers

@jimsmith – How does the Alfine compare to the Rohloff in terms of weight and 'feel' in the balance of the bike? Have you put the Alfine on the P7 to compare with the Rohloff?

I love my Rohloff on the P7 but even a year on I still can't get over the weight and perceived drag. If the Alfine is available in low geared 11 speed version and is significantly lighter than the Rohloff then it could be my next purchase…

Ive never put the alfine on my p7 but have ridden quite a few alfine bikes, I reckon that the weight difference is pretty small in terms of feel. 247g aint much extra weight (for the shimano 11 speed) and Im not sure if the fixing kit is included in the listed weight.
Hub gears aint light lets face it…
Drag on the rohloff gets better over time as the seals and bearings/springs bed in. the alfine 8 seems to loosen up less in my experience, maybe cause its not an oil bath hub (tho the 11 spd one will be)
who knows about the 11
Ill be very interested and have had to try very hard not to put one on order 🙂