[Closed] 11-speed Shimano Alfine

The Spinal Tap of gearing.

Awesome!

Will make sure I'm at the front of the queue when that comes out...

I'll fight yer for the first one!!

Well if that's the case...

I'll just let you buy it first, ride 50 whole miles on it then decide you don't like it, and sell it on to me at a loss... 😉

Damn you, you may well have a plan there... 😉

(Oh, and it's not that I didn't like it; I just didn't use it, which doesn't bode well for this new hub!)

Eagerly awaiting an update of your mightily brilliant IGH spreadsheet 😀

Damn you, you may well have a plan there...

LOL. In fairness the prospect of one with 11 gears and 409% gearing range for no extra weight, I'd forgo the wait for the few quid I think... That said, with gearing I've got on mine at the moment I've not ridden anything yet where I've either screamed for an easier gear, or longed for a taller one. Though I think summer trails and Welsh Mountains might have me longing for both...

Eagerly awaiting an update of your mightily brilliant IGH spreadsheet

Erm... Having asked everyone for feedback, and received just about none other than "seems fine", progress kind of stopped at v8 I think... I couldn't see any logical progressions forward... Though if you want to suggest any improvements, please fire away and I'll give it a go... Do it soon though, may be gainfully employed again sooner than later!

Oh I don't think it needs any improving, it's very, very useful as-is, but I think you should get the drop on everyone and add Nigel Tufnel's hub to it ASAP!

Good luck with gaining gainful employment gainfully 🙂

i'll be investing my hard earned pennies i dont have a problem with the bottom end on my current alfine whyte preston ,, but would like a bit more top end ,, have a bit of a time spinnning on the road sections that link our trails in the chilterns

but going from 300% to about 400% with and extra 3 gears will leave the gaps between the gears about the same,, i would like a slightly bigger range but with smaller gaps between gears,

I’ll probably get one…will have to see what else is coming out this year before saying for sure.

Wonder what we will see the old version drop in price to?

MB and Banana, neither of you will be first in the queue 😉

Interesting - I can't say that the gear spread for my Alfine - riding through the mud through the winter - for me requires a couple more gears. If they have improved the hub in other ways (smoother/easier servicing etc...) then I'd be interested.

Tonyg have you actually read the translated page?

The interior has also been completely redesigned: a gear box for now with oil lubrication system provides compared to the old grease-smeared, straight toothed gears for silky-smooth running, quiet and smooth gear changes and a further increase in life span.

Sounds great. I'll be really tempted to get one

I think it sounds great. I'm a Rohloff owner and I think I'd struggle with the current Alfine's spread to do the kind of riding I do as the gear range would be restrictive. Maybe struggle isn't the right word, but I'd find it annoying not being able to pedal downhill on the road if I had the gears to ride steep uphills offroad for example. The new Alfine is getting further towards a Rohloff hub in terms of gear spread, and performance (by the sounds of it), for a much lower price ~ £300 vs £1100.

i'm still waiting for the 3-speed version...

(up steep hills / up gentle hills / quick along the flats)

Sounds like it weighs the same as a paving slab.

http://road.cc/content/news/13981-shimano-alfine-11-speed-hub-car-park-test

typical, i've literally just received an 8spd alfine wheel today!

that's more like it, getting closer to 3x9 and only 260 quid, got to be worth a serious look.

a couple of [s]questions[/s] thoughts though

1. why don't they stop pissing about and meet rohloff head on on spread, and walk them on price (actually i'll answer that myself.. that'd probably spell the end to derailleurs, cassettes and half the shifters)

2. i'm not bothered about going flat out on the road so can an alfine set up be geared so that the lowest ratio is equivalent to the lowest in a 3x9?

The road.cc article suggests it'll cost more like 350 quid.

Irrespective it really does sound good.

And by my calcs it's the equivalent of 22x32 to 44xbetween 15 and 16t sprocket or a 36 and a 13 sprocket.

So you'll be missing one or maybe two of the very top gears that are usefull offroad (36x11 is all you need)

I'm not bothered about going flat out on the road so can an alfine set up be geared so that the lowest ratio is equivalent to the lowest in a 3x9?

Yeah, you can still spec whatever size chainring, and there's a choice of hub sprocket sizes to choose from, with the Alfine 8 anyway.

if you're right clubber then in the words of max and paddy "that'll dink dank do for me"

Why won't they make it so it can be centrally mounted and then we could finally get rid of the bloody mechs! Come on Shimano, you're so close!

that's a good idea, all the weight in the centre, no cables to disconnect to remove the wheel, you could probably run 1:1 chain ring, it'd look nice and clean, [s]the singlespeeders would be coming in their pants![/s]

EDIT: thought i better cross that out before i get called a gobshite again!

My give-a-shit-ometer is barely registering...

Just for balance like, before you all have an accident in your trousers...

Stu McGroo - Member
...[s]the singlespeeders would be coming in their pants![/s]

Aye, 11 times 🙂

frame mounted alfine isnt that a gboxxx?

Yeah, except cheaper, made by shimano (ie something that could be adopted by most of the industry) and cheaper. Did I mention it would be cheaper?

come on mansonsoul what's your point?

[url= http://www.srsuntour-cycling.com/SID=sifdaa50a324a07787e27961f2f63d5a/index.php?screen=sh.detail&tnid=2651 ]v boxxxxx[/url] dam heavy

if you can get 11 ratios in an alfine at 1.6kg it would seem that suntour need to try harder, it looks a bit of a monster too, i was thinking more alfine/rohloff size and built into the bb.

The oil bath should be a great improvement. I've got a Rohloff and servicing is a really simple job. Combine it with a belt drive and your looking at a drive chain weight very similar to a conventional set up. I think this will push a lot more people into trying the hub option. If this had been around 4 years ago when I bought the Rohloff I might have gone for this as at the time I didn't know whether or not I'd get on with hub gearing. In the end it was Thorn's 100 day trial period that convinced me to give it a try.

When did Shimano release Alfine 8? About 3ish years ago now? And Nexus was what 5/6 years before that?

So following the curve to it’s logical next point, it’s maybe 4 years till shimano release their ~500% ~14ish speed “Rohloff beater”…

Whichever “Big S” can get an affordable, durable Hub gear to market first with an equivalent range to a Triple X 11-32 Drivetrain will obviously steal the market, the mech won’t die overnight, legacy spares is a big market and weight weenies/Grumpy old giffers will take a long time to adopt…

Shimano are very close with this product now, bish on a Composite shell, and spanglier shifter and the letters XT (and possibly an R) and they would no doubt shift a crap load overnight…

SRAM have I think missed the masses with “Hammeredshit” Costs a small fortune has no real weight advantage, requires more fancy mounting features on the frame, and other than being a touch quicker shifting than a traditional mech (how fast do you need your front mech to change?) has very few advantages in the real world…

Why cant they just do it properly? Define a new BB size, or take the old ammerican BMX/MTB one, or even the EBB sixe, and build it into the BB.

Rode a rolhoff once, felt like I was dragging a 1.6kg rock arround with me over the rear wheel (which is what it was).

I'd accept a weight penalty at the BB, but not that far back. Either make it weigh the same as a conventional hub and cassette or shift the weight somewhere more central.

Belt drive and a carbon shell, and it's weight competitive with XT. Not long to wait for that I think.

thisisnotaspoon - Member
Why cant they just do it properly? Define a new BB size, or take the old ammerican BMX/MTB one, or even the EBB sixe, and build it into the BB.

Rode a rolhoff once, felt like I was dragging a 1.6kg rock arround with me over the rear wheel (which is what it was).

I'd accept a weight penalty at the BB, but not that far back. Either make it weigh the same as a conventional hub and cassette or shift the weight somewhere more central.

I ran a Rohloff for 2 years and that was pretty much my complaint. I learned a lot about chain retention, but the biggest issue was that it just made the bike feel a bit unresponsive and a lot less fun with all the weight over the back wheel. Which is a shame, cause it makes perfect sense as an idea (gears on the inside, not the outside).
That said, if I hadn't already tried a Rohloff, I'd be mighty tempted by this, even at 3.5lbs (claimed)

Rode a rolhoff once, felt like I was dragging a 1.6kg rock arround with me over the rear wheel (which is what it was).

1590g+however much single cog weighs vs 1100g for a derailleur rear hub etc. (LX rear derailleur, hub & 11-34 cassette) doesn't sound like that bad? Or is there something else that I didn't account for? 500-600g doesn't sound like masses of difference really, I mean it isn't like it is at the outside of the wheel.

Joe

500-600g doesn't sound like masses of difference

Is this a kind of physicists' 'in joke' 😉

I've never really noticed the balance issue but then I tend to keep both wheels on the ground. With suspension forks on my bike the point of balance is pretty much the same as a rigid bike with conventional gearing.

as a newbie, yesterdays ride was the first in real filthy conditions, several times the rear mech (xt) didn't change when i asked it to so i had to click again, then a minute later it changes on it's own. front mech (lx) wouldn't change up once it had got clogged in middle or granny. when i came to a halt on steep accents i couldn't rotate the pedals backwards for a good starting position because the jockey wheels were clogged. on top of that i was probably carrying the extra weight equivalent to 4 rohloffs on each wheel in mud. it was a good day for thinking about hub gears.

thisisnotaspoon - Why cant they just do it properly? Define a new BB size

+1 (i'd be at the front of the queue)

Wonder when it will be possible to preorder, i'm sold. I've only just converted to Alfine 8 and i love it but just missing a few more top end gears.