Have to say have been toying with hub gears for ages, rohloff was going to be my first choice but being a ression an all its just to costly to justify. So nxt best thing i thought was the alfine 8. Purchased complete wheel from wiggle 250 pounds fully built which i didnt think bad. Very easy to install into my bike and up and running, inital impressions are very good. Have been running bike as a ss for a number of yrs and now its got 7 more gears, its very usefull to have gears for the rd work in between the muddy lanes that i ride. I chose to ride ss after getting fed up of chain suck and cleaning, i love the simplicity of ss but at the mo am liking the extra few gears for the in between rd sections. May be i should have waited for the 11 speed version but as of yet its not been thrashed by the stw riders to find any weakness.
I chose the 8 speed because from trawling through the forums have been impressed by the general comments and its nice to see wheels and hubs going strong after a few yrs in the mud. Ta

why not also use the gears on the trails now?

who says he wont? 😛

I am 😛 trouble is i keep forgetting i have them!!!

Can I ask the weight weeny question?

How do the weights compare between a 1 x Alfine setup and a 2 x 9 XT setup?

I can’t stand maintaining rear mechs, so the Alfine really appeals.

If I bought a Nexus would I be miserable?

Alfine hub is heavy, you can feel the weight when you ride – payoff is limited maintenance – I wouldn’t use one in the summer and wouldn’t use one on a full suss bike

humpf

lucien – iirc its lighter than a rohloff so it shouldnt be heavier than a 2 x 9 set up , how ever its more concentrated and this means the bike is less skippy over bumps and alot more is transmitted into your backside

Yep i can say i felt the weight of the alfine since converting the bike from ss, but to me its been a bonus as i find it grips so much better than the ss wheel its replaced. I swapped out the rear tire from the ss wheel and put it on the alfine wheel, when i stand up and peddle it gives more weight over the rear wheel hence more grip. For what i want the hub for its great i can see its going to be a bonus for the winter, if you are into drops and generally jumping and humping on the trails then i guess you might notice the weight ,)

I like skippy over bumps, see.

Some sort of Hammershcmidt style device with more than just an over-drive gear would be a better solution, then. Or a carbon fibre shelled, titanium geared, ceramic bearing’d Super Alfine hub, with carbon rims to keep the weight down.

I’ve been impressed by how smooth it is compared to the Rohloff. The shifter takes a bit of getting used to a bit like going to rapid rise, but there’s a new one with conventional setup on the way with the 11sp version.
Good kit on the whole.