It seems that after researching there is an overwhelming number of users having reliability issues with the Alfine 11.

A lot of the issues seem to pertain to a design flaw of some description with many users completely frustrated with the performance of their Alfines.

Have Shimano officially acknowledged the inherent problems with the Alfine?

The reason I ask is that I’m considering an IGH and the rohloff is out of my reach for bikepacking purposes.

What are peoples opinions.

Alfine 8…

The new ones or the old ones?

I have no knowledge of the new ones. The old ones are supposed to be very reliable. I have one with a couple of thousand miles on it and it hasn’t missed a beat. The new one is supposed to be the same but the gearing is the right way up?

Running a couple of Alfine 11 with no problems, but not huge mileage. They are much more sensitive to cable setup than the 8, so you start getting “missed” changes, but quick fiddle with the barrel adjuster and away you go.
Having a the standard shift direction is great and the oil port makes oil changes easy if only the shimano oil wasn’t £60 a litre.

Shifting has always been fine on Katie’s but it’s never been able to keep the oil in the hub.

I use quite a few of them on Bromptons – never had any issues at all. Perhaps it’s just that the Alfine 11 isn’t really up to the abuse of MTB use.

I might be wrong, but I thought the Rohloff was the only hub that was specifically recommended for MTB use?

Running a couple of Alfine 11 with no problems, but not huge mileage. They are much more sensitive to cable setup than the 8, so you start getting “missed” changes, but quick fiddle with the barrel adjuster and away you go.

That’s been my experience too. Never had any leakage either.

I had an Alfine 11 for about four years, serviced at the required intervals but about two months ago it began to skip gears then miss gears then gear changes went weird – click to go down a gear and it would shift up three type of thing – nothing would make the indexing stick. Finally on a ride home from work it just began to make an awful grinding noise so I gave up on it. Had done about 8000Km at this point.

A good idea but I think that the 11spd has pushed the technology a little too far, the 8spd seems to be much more reliable.

I’ve just serviced my 8 via the ATF method. It was spotless inside and the Shimano grease was all present and correct (if not a little sticky). It changes betterer than before apart from the stupid Versa 8 lever trying to drop 3 gears in one click :-/

My Alfine 11 (DI2 version) has been faultless for almost 14k miles. I found the cable sensitivity coupled with the Versa levers to be a proper PITA so swapped to the Di2 version and r785 levers. Utterly flawless since.

Ooh I’d forgotten about the di2 version, did you upgrade with the motor or was it a new hub?

New Hub. I wasn’t certain that it could be upgraded, and though I did intend to investigate whilst both were in my possession…I didn’t.

The Di2 makes a huge difference. No ghost shifting, no requirement for constant fettling. It just works…so long as you remember to charge the battery… 😳

I’ll echo scotroutes’ and riddoch’s experiences; pompetamine with about 4K road/path miles over three years- just sensitive to cable tension. Used Rohloff oil change kit for an oil change as it was cheaper than all the Shimano kit!

I run rohloff, alfine 11 & 8.

So Alfine 11 seems a more sensitive to torque than the Rohloff and Alfine 11 but I am running a 34 x 23 chainring and sprocket.

As above cable tension is very sensitive but managable, however two areas that affect performance are

1. The cleanliness of the cassette joint, can get gritty if ridden off road.
I keep a spare joint as they are fairly cheap and just clean and rotate.

2. Cones/bearings need to be on the tight side of correct, any play can cause major shifting issues, even if there feels as though there is no play but very free spinning yoh can experience shifting issue.
I also experienced oil leaks when the cones became loose despite two previous years of trouble free running.

However Rohloff if the bomb proof solution.

So the Alfine 11’s are not fit for purpose with respect to bike-packing. Could somebody tell me if the new 8’s are grease or oil lubed.

Looks like they are grease lubricated:

8th post down, last paragraph

Alfine 8-spd hubs are greased, 11-spds have an oil bath like the Rohloff.

Yes greased but some put a teaspoon of gear oil in there to help out. I left a bit of ATF gloop in as a lube plus waterproof grease in the obvious places when I serviced mine.

Could somebody also tell me why the Alfine 11’s leak oil and is there a permanent fix or mod to increase durability and reduce maintenance time.

The more I ride the more I appreciate the almost zero maintenance approach.

11s leak oil because they use oil. 8s don’t leak because they use grease.

I haven’t heard of a way to fix them….

The oil seals don’t… sometimes. As they run an oil bath, this then results in a leak.

Apparently there’s no 100% way to ensure they don’t leak. You could just store the bike in an area where a slight leak doesn’t matter and ignore it. Or buy the 8.

So to what extent do they leak. I’m kind of trying to factor if the cost of replacing the oil so frequently is worth it over the long haul.

The Rohloff is starting to sound more and more appealing.

I saw a post somewhere saying that if they leak the oil ends up on the rotors. Yuck. Although that may have been when people put ATF in an alfine 8

Rohloffs seep a little oil so that the sprocket and shift box pick up some dirt. Katies Alfine covers the disc and spokes I oil down to the rim.

I have had the 8 for 2 years and use it for winter off road abuse. I send it down some pretty gnarly trails and my Torque is way past the limit (32 x 23). What can I say – it just works. It is noticeably draggy compared to a normal drive but your not going to be racing it and the smoothness and convenience (I never wash it and haven’t serviced the hub) make it a winner for me. When/if it eventually dies for the price I’ll just buy a new one.

I built one up last autumn and also have the 32×23 gearing combo for winter gloop, add to that the fact that I’m a proper fat knacker and it’s doing pretty well really.
Fair enough, I’ve not yet taken it anywhere particularly gnarly (Sherwood Pines red, which I’ve also done on a cross bike) but I’m not particularly gentle with it and the only issues I’ve had have been keeping the axle and chain tight due to my massive power!
You do get used to just stopping and being able to shift before setting off…

Is the Sturmey Archer S80 worth considering if the alfine 8 is in the running?

Hey, has anybody tried the new Alfine 8? I think it’s SG7000? (as opposed to SG700 for the 11. No chance of confusing those two…) I know that the shifter’s changed, but is everything else pretty much the same?

I have used the Alfine 8 speed SG7000 for some time and the only real difference is that the shifter is now reversed and easier for the cable to be connected / disconnected. Some people have said that it shifts slightly better but the innerds are the same. You will need the shifter specific to the new model. It is filled with grease like the previous Alfine 8 models. I also have the 11 and although it is very smooth and shifts very well, I have found that when climbing steep hills 2nd gear can be difficult to obtain or it starts slipping. This goes back to normal when I get to a less steep section. It also weeps oil, not a lot but I have never managed to fix it. It is important to keep the gear selector cassette mechanism clean and keep the gear cable lubricated. The eight seems more robust, but if you really want robust, then it is a Rohloff. I have had my Rohloff for 8 trouble free years…and it does not leak oil.

Thanks! 🙂

I’ve had a 8 for about 5 years now. Been faultless. I’ve serviced it once, which involved stripping it, overnight soak in diesel and brushing it to clean out the grease which had hardened slightly, cleaning that, then dunking it in ATF. Drip drain for a few minutes and refit.

It shifts way better than before. Significantly less drag under load when plodding along.

The bike can sit for weeks at a time unmoved. Its not dropped a single weep of oil in all that time since the service ( about 2 years ago )