[Closed] Genesis Day 01 Alfine

my m8 has one, ive ridden it and its nice.
good ride, gears work well, brakes work well, geometry seems sorted (i only rode it for about 15 minutes)
but, the gear levers do feel, er, a bit cheap, and it needs to be said its not by any stretch of the imagination, a light bike.
would i buy one? not at full retail, my mate got 500 quid off his tho, only paid 1099 for it, at that price i maybe would buy one.
should have mentioned, my comments relate to the alfine 11 speed version.

^^^that maybe comes across a bit negative, its not meant to be, its a lovely bike, but when i had the cash i got something else.
ymmv.

I think it'd have to be the 8 speed version for me, but then my 8 speed iO is great

Heavy, solid, dependable,nice ride.

If you're fast you'll run out of gears.

Hmm, just seen the Boardman Cx bikes; might be more flexible due to the gearing then?

mrs has one - she complains the gear range is pretty crap for touring but its fine for commuting - 25 miles a day along the railway line

For me:

its heavy

its dull to ride.

Bonus is the hub action is better than my rohloff , bomb proof and comfortable.

Youll need to change the tires ASAP the conti raceking CX are made of duck spit and toilet paper and puncture easy. - the 35C is too big for the fork and a mudguard also .

Fitted a mudguard and a 35c on my day one no problem, I assume the frame is the same? Great daily commuter with zero maintenance but a tad on the lardy side.

Anyone care to compare it to the On-One Pompetamine Versa 11 for me?

[img] [/img]
http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/CBOOPOMPETVERSA11/on_one_pompetamine_versa_11_speed_pro

which mud guard was that then cupra ?

i was using SKS bluemels - tbh before i even started fitting it i could see it wasnt going to fit.

Solution - 28c tires.

bodge - hack the nose off the mudguard

Arghh!

This is turning into quite a mission! Charge Filter, On-alone, Boardman, Genesis.....

Really pumped now to getting a utility tourer/commuter....!

Having ridden both the pompetamine and day one alfine my brief review would be the pompemtamine is heaver and more road focussed, the day one is lighter and better for light off road duties. Is the pompetamine still available?

Ive just got a day one and its back at the shop after its second ride. Versa shifter went loose on me and inspecting the gear cable has loosened and the plastic gubbins that sit around the alfine hub have all come loose. Not the best of starts. But I thought it felt great when it was working but its a heavy old boy!

Is the pompetamine still available?

Not at the moment, but you could build to a similar spec. Thanks for the review. Hmmmmmm....

Are we talking "heavy" by mountain bike standards (given my current bike is an 853 steel hardtail) or heavy by carbon road bike standards?

Not heavy by mtb standards but yes, by road standards and not too bad once rolling. In fact if anyone is selling a 56cm day one alfine...... 😉

if i was a guessing man id say it was 30+ lbs easy its certainly not light mtb territory. Its almost on par with my fat bike in weight.

Pompetamine/Alfine 11-spd here.... "heavy" as in '.... I don't fancy riding this, unless it's dark and I have no visual references for how slow I'm actually going".

Don't get me wrong, its great for what I use/built it for - an all winter, tough-as-old-boots, commuter that you can just sit on, pedal, and it will plough through anything..... but I will, in all other circumstances, choose not to ride it as it so heavy, slow.

I think the road.cc review sums it up quite nicely:

http://road.cc/content/review/48378-one-pompetamine-versa-11

Oh dear, that's pretty damning. 😕 Thanks bristolbiker.

Hmmm, sounds like a more conventional bike required. Have my eye on a Charge Filter Med.

bristol biker has nailed exactly why i bought mrs tr one ......

it aint heavy it aint cool but its bomb proof....

To be fair, as the road.cc review says, it's not really the frames fault - the hub is a big lump of mass, which seems to take ages to wind up to speed (...and then gives up that speed at the mearest hint of an incline - false flats and/or a draggy headwind are soul destroying) and even then anything beyond ~20 mph is but a dream without a downhill to help. The fact that you WILL run a puncture proof rear tyre (started with a Marathon Plus, but have relented to 'just' a Durano Plus which has improved things noticably) to avoid changing a rear flat 'in the wild' just adds to the general feeling of not going anywhere fast. The speed differential is measurable - my typical total daily commuting time is 1:35 on my 105/10spd bike (nominally the same build as the Pomp, bar the obvious differeneces), and I have NEVER been quicker than 1:45 on the Pomp.

Overall, I have a very love-hate realtionship with it; it is genuinely bomb-proof (I have had zero road-side issues in 18 months/two full winters/ ~7000km of riding), but everytime I sit on, after cresting the first hill of the day, I wish I was riding my geared bike.

This is pretty interesting - I'm looking at fitting an Alfine to my Pompino so now I'm in two minds. Currently running it fixed and fine(ish) for the 50 mile commute but a killer if I want to go further.

I also don't seem to have any issues with toe overlap on the front 'guard but mine has the mental raked-out forks...

flange - am thinking of changing the rear wheel and experimenting with a single speed set-up next winter, just to see how much difference/easier it is to ride without dragging the Alfine around.

Again, just to be clear, I am impressed with each element of the bike on its own/for what it is - it just doesn't seem to add up tot he sum-of-its-parts somehow....

Again, just to be clear, I am impressed with each element of the bike on its own/for what it is - it just doesn't seem to add up tot he sum-of-its-parts somehow....

This +1 for the pompetamine

am thinking of changing the rear wheel and experimenting with a single speed set-up next winter, just to see how much difference/easier it is to ride without dragging the Alfine around.

I'd say give fixed a shot. I've got a fairly hilly route to work, 25 miles each way and ride it fixed. The simplicity makes it much more fun and being fixed rather than SS makes it much more of a work out, especially when I ride with lads from the office on geared bikes. I actually enjoy riding SS more but it makes me lazy

I'd say give fixed a shot. I've got a fairly hilly route to work, 25 miles each way and ride it fixed. The simplicity makes it much more fun and being fixed rather than SS makes it much more of a work out, especially when I ride with lads from the office on geared bikes. I actually enjoy riding SS more but it makes me lazy

Good stuff - may give it a whirl. I got a very dirty look/strong words from a guy on a fixed earlier in the week who I sat on for a good 5 miles on the way to work at ~22mph while riding the Pomp. That's slightly faster than I can sustainably go on the flat on the Pomp - pretty sure he thought I was taking the p!ss when I said I could come through and do a turn, but we'd have to go ALOT slower!

A colleague has one for commuting. Nicely put together - great colour! Has two racks and a stand, and it weights a lot (it's a 60cm frame, but that probably isn't the issue). However, you want a [u]commuter[/u], something that won't let you down in the morning, that won't leave you by the road side in the dark and rain. Whether you need gears or not is only for you to decide. If you do need gears, then an Alfine 8 speed is a good option. If you don't, then I'd choose fixed wheel bike for ultimate reliability (no freewheel to trash over the winter months).

And as per bristolbiker, tyres make a big difference and I second Durano Plus. No issues in 18 months of commuting here either.

Me: I ride a Kona Paddy Wagon fixed with a rear rack and dedicated pannier/briefcase, SKS mudguards and permanently fitted lights.

this thread got me thinking about the weights of cx bikes...

Just weighed my Jake the Snake, which is pretty standard, a few yrs old, with Spesh Borough 32's on it - it's 22.5 lbs, so where do these pretty similar ones get all the weight from ?

but, the gear levers do feel, er, a bit cheap,

I thought this when I had an Alfine hub. Both the twist grip and the trigger shifter felt horrible, cheap and flimsy. Doesn't seem to be any logical reason why.

I'm after another Alfine hub but hesitant because of the poor shifter.

Just weighed my Jake the Snake, which is pretty standard, a few yrs old, with Spesh Borough 32's on it - it's 22.5 lbs, so where do these pretty similar ones get all the weight from ?

road.cc say the Pompetamine is 12.5kg (27.5 lbs).

Given that it is steel (DN6 double butted 4130 chromoly) instead of the Jake's butted 7005 alu, and it has hub gears and disc brakes, I don't think 5 lbs difference is actually [i]that[/i] bad?

(still heavy mind)

Graham - right enough 😳 they just sound pretty heavy to me.

My fixed Pomp weighs either 24 or 25 lbs - can't remember which

Heavy wheels, heavy frame and forks. Simples

I wondered a bit about an alfine but the truth is, once you stick full mudguards on there the drivetrain is saved from a lot of spray anyway. My road bike has now been through two winters on the same drivetrain/freewheel/BB without any issues whatsoever despite some pretty horrendous weather during the commutes.

Okay, fixed sounds interesting! Does that have any adverse effects (I.e. knees suffering) other than the fact that you've got no gears?!!

Running fixed needs a different riding style but the answer is to try it and see if you like it.

Joint problems can occur but usually down to poor technique / inappropriate gear choice rather than the riding fixed.

I don't suppose anyone has the real weight for the Day01 Alfine 11? (58cm if possible). It's currently on the "what bike next?" (ever growing) shortlist.

I've been looking at the Cannondale CAADX Disc but the Day01 would be usable for commuting and touring as well as some CX.

How does it compare with lighter weight CX bikes off road?

I built a Salsa Fargo for £850 but did have the 29er wheels and tyres already, love it and deft fun to ride to work and then away for the day on and offroad at the weekend 🙂

I aint weighed jaynes 8 yet but ill make a note to do it when i get in tonight that should give an indication

What i will say is my road rats lighter in a non scientific pick up test

Ill also ask her what its like off road tonight as she is off to her first cx training session club ( shes a non serious racer she just wants some practice on dismount and remount for the knockburn cx )

Fibre- my Day 1 frame in a 58 was just on 5lbs I think. Not light, but not ott for what it is. It's a fair bit stiffer laterally than the roadrat as it has larger tubes. Has similar tubes to an MTB, if it's slimmer it gets flexier and if it's thinner wall it dents easily. It's a tough bike.
Lighter Al CX bikes whup it off-road if speed is a concern. But I had more fun on the Day 1 (mine's a SS CX set up).

"It's a fair bit stiffer laterally than the roadrat as it has larger tubes"

Agreed ! - ps got the vrs8 shifters james- working a treat on my rat.

id probably have had a genisis day one also if i could have got it on C2W but the 1150 price point was just outside the range so i looked else where and im very happy with my road rat - reality is itll do no cross races but it will ride off road on the old railway lines and dirt tracks round here

Cheers jameso, the 853 version should drop a smidgen off that too. Does anyone have the full bike weight for the Alfine 11 version?. I'm guessing it's going to be 25+ lbs, I think I would be tempted to go OTT and replace most of it to get the weight down a bit and the look I want (retro modern). Would be nice if it was available as frame only.

I want my Day01 Alfine 11 weighing next time I'm in the shop, so I'll post up then.

I had my first proper ride on it on Sunday up at Kielder - It feels heavy when you pick it up, but I didn't notice it at all when I was on the bike, I climbed surprisingly well on it.

I agree about the Versa shifters, not getting on with them at all. Just feel cheap and I don't like the shifting action on them.

I've got a Pompetamine Versa 8, and it is indeed a heavy thing, I suspect mostly because of the concentrated weight of the rear hub. If the weather is nice, I would of course much rather be riding my light road bike.

However, if the weather is crap (as indeed it mostly has been this summer), then it's a zero maintenance bike (hose off and lube the chain). I use it as a summer "bridleway" bike, and a bad weather road bike. It's pretty good fun on the twisty bits with the cross tyres it has fitted.