Stu McGroos lets put this Alfine weight issue to bed once and for all thread! – Page 3 – Bike Forum

StuMcGroo · 2010-12-17T16:40:40Z

If you don’t care much for Alfine hub gears you’d better hit your back button and go and look at something more interesting. Right then, I built this [imgan On-One [s]gas pipe[/s] Inbred 29er with 30 speed SLX a few months ago with a view to switching to Alfine 11 speed when it came out. Now having put 2 or 3 hundred miles on it and never once leaving the middle ring I decided that the 8 speed Alfine would actually fit the bill coupled with the fact that I just couldn’t be bothered to wait any longer for the delayed 11. Now as there has been much talk and opinion, informed or otherwise, about the extra weight of an Alfine set-up over conventional gearing I wanted to get a direct weight and weight shift comparison between derailleurs and Alfine so decided to utilise as many existing parts on the bike as possible. So, to start, the weight of the bike with the 30 speed SLX gears was 29.63 lbs Then I removed; XT rear hub, XT skewer, 32 x 290mm spokes and stainless nipples, 11-34 10 speed cassette, 10 speed chain, SLX rear mech, SLX front mech, standard SLX chainrings, left and right SLX 10 speed shifters and cables and 2 zip ties. Added were; Alfine 8 speed hub with 20T Alfine Sprocket and fitting kit, 32 x 285mm spokes and stainless nipples, Alfine 8 speed trigger shifter and cable, BETD Goldtec 32T chainring, 4 x 5mm spacers (to get chain line and utilise standard chainring bolts) and SRAM PC7X Chain. Weight of bike with Alfine was 29.68 lbs However, that was all done at my mates (weighed with the gear cable wrapped round the handle bars), next day at home I came to set the gears up and found the gear cable was way too long, shortened it by 480mm and weighed in (at the post office) what I removed at 19 grams which converts to 0.04 lbs and brings the total bike weight down to 29.64 lbs So to summarise, my bike with 8 speed Alfine is 0.01 lbs (0.008 lbs or 0.13 oz or 3.68 grams to be exact) heavier than the when it was equipped with 30 speed SLX which I think you’ll agree is diddly squat. Surprised? Yeah me too. On reflection, you pick up an Alfine hub for the first time and you’re shocked at the weight and immediately start wondering if you’re doing the right thing but that’s because almost all of the complete system is there in your hands. As you’re removing your conventional components they weigh very little but put them in one box to carry to your van and viola, there’s all your weight! And yes, you could argue that compared to XTR the Alfine is heavy and rightly so but you’re in a different market altogether, Alfine was designed for a shopping bike not to win World Cup MTB races and [u]costs[/u] accordingly. Anyway, now the weight shift. Suspended the SLX equipped bike from the garage ceiling like this [imgwith a single tie to the top tube adjusted to find the point at which the bike was balanced horizontally, this was measured along the top tube at 190mm from the front of the seat tube. Did the same with the Alfine equipped bike [imgthis time the balance point is 157mm from the front of the seat tube. Not terribly scientific but showed a rearward shift in the balance point of 33mm. Again, because of all the previous talk this was a bit of a surprise too but in actual fact if you put an innertube and a few tools in a wedge pack under your seat you’ll get the same result! Actually, while I’m here I might as well talk about gear ratios. Fitted 32T chainring and 20T rear sprocket, this gives me the same range as a middle ring x 1-9 + granny ring x 2 on my previous SLX set-up. Though I’ve never used granny on the SLX I’ve erred on the side of caution just in case. If I find I’m not using the lowest ratio I’ll switch to 32:18 which will give me the full middle ring range equivalent albeit with 2 less ratios (i.e. larger gaps) which will suit me fine. So there you go, I’m gonna go and ride the thing now and let you lot digest and discuss. Oh, and here is the finished article. [img

Dibbs

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spokes and stainless nipples,

Stainless nipples?? Really??

Posted : 04/01/2011 9:18 am

rOcKeTdOg

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Which is why I'm stunned the bike in the OP weighs in at 29.5lb when it looks quite a mincer compared to mine.

his has rigid forks though and even if they are a bit portly they'll be lighter than your suspension forks

Posted : 04/01/2011 9:20 am

monkeyboyjc

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Soooo I just upgraded to an Alfine 11 - i did a similar thing to the op - takeing weights before and after and here are the results:-
Before - 1x9 set up, with xt / xtr parts
[img] [/img]
[img] [/img]
After - with Alfine (no rear rotor)
[img] [/img]
[img] [/img]

Obviously there are some diferances (no front mech etc), the Alfine 11 system is also slightly heavier than the 8 (by about 70g) - Shimanos Alfine 11 guide weight of 1600g is for just the hub (no fitting kit, sprocket or shifter).

Posted : 30/01/2011 8:53 am

ahwiles

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the alfine8 weighs 1690grams

the alfine11 weighs 1690grams.

which i thought was odd, so i weighed 'em a few times to make sure.

(no fitting kit or etc.)

Posted : 30/01/2011 9:02 am

monkeyboyjc

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interesting, the lists are Alfine 8 1500g and alfine 11 1600g.
My Alfine 11 weighs 1674g (on the kitchen scales), not the best pic though:

[img] [/img]

The 11 was ment to be smaller too (iirc).

There is a good comparison of the Alfine 11 weight vs a Rohloff here: [url= http://www.fahrradmonteur.de/systemvergleich.php ]linky[/url]

Posted : 30/01/2011 9:05 am

DaddyPig

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How does the 11 compare to the 8 speed performance wise?

Posted : 30/01/2011 9:48 am

thepodge

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Adam, you got an Alfine? what you running it on? I'm considering one for the trance

Posted : 30/01/2011 10:17 am

monkeyboyjc

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How does the 11 compare to the 8 speed performance wise?

Havent a clue at the mo - only built it up last night - however...

My commuter has an Alfine 8 on it so i'll be able to compare them pretty well. will lat teh forumn know later on if i get a chance (it'll only be a road test though as i need to shorten the hoses and put the rear rotor on).

Posted : 30/01/2011 10:32 am

monkeyboyjc

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been out on it (just on the roads) for an hour or so, and its great - just what i wanted .

In comparision to running 1x9 with a 11-32t cassette, and by feel, it seems to have the it has the low rage of some where around mid 22t and the high rage of the mid rage 44t ring.

There is noticable pause between 5th and 6th, just like the pause from 3rd to 4th on the 8 speed Alfine - This is due to the switching from 'underdrive' to direct drive.

Gear changes are incredibly smooth in comparison to the 8 speed - no crunching or noise, and are almost unnoticable (other than at the pedals).

Posted : 30/01/2011 12:51 pm

DaddyPig

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Sounds spot on. Less drag than the 8?

Posted : 30/01/2011 4:39 pm

monkeyboyjc

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TBH i never really felt any drag on the 8, i suppose as its on a road/hybrid (cannondale badboy) with slicks it feels quicker than my MTB any way, but the Alfine 11 is definatly a hell of a lot smoother.

Posted : 30/01/2011 5:23 pm

ahwiles

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Podge! i can't comment on the behaviour of the alfine yet, i've got to buy a fitting kit before i can ... er... fit it.

(wheel's built, i'm almost ready to go)

you'll be more than welcome to have a go with it when it's ready though - unless you're averse to fully rigid inbreds?

Posted : 30/01/2011 5:46 pm

DoctorRad

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The lovely people at www.justridingalong.com have 11sp Alfine hubs in stock and will build one into a wheel for you for little more than the retail price of a hub...

Posted : 02/02/2011 9:59 am

thepodge

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Adam, I'm currently building a fully rigid my self so that's fine, I'll just have to cover up the stickers on yours before trying it out.

thanks for the offer.

Posted : 02/02/2011 1:59 pm

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[Closed] Stu McGroos lets put this Alfine weight issue to bed once and for all thread!