Awesome!

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

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… 😉

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…

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!

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,

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

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.

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

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

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

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

that's more like it, getting closer to 3×9 and only 260 quid, got to be worth a serious look.

a couple of questions 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 3×9?

And by my calcs it's the equivalent of 22×32 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 (36×11 is all you need)

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

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, the singlespeeders would be coming in their pants!

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

Aye, 11 times 🙂

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?

v boxxxxx dam heavy

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.

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.

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)