So I’ve built my commuter bike with alfine 8 and thumb shifter and new outer and inner cable. I’ve measured the cable length at 100mm, and the yellow lines line up at 4th gear. So I thought I’d nailed it…However the gears slip around 4/5/6 under load. Not sure where to go next, any thoughts?

Wheni had an 11 i found it best to consider those marks to be a guide rather than a hard alignment tool.

Once i had it nailed i scored a tiny scratch and used that for future adjustment

Is your cable running freely? No tight turns? If there’s any friction, it can cause that problem.

When I adjust, I then run through a few gear changes and then back to No 4, and check again. That usually shows up cable problems.

Almost every problem I’ve found with hub gears is because of cable or shifter faults (unless ridden far mal-adjusted, then the fault is the rider’s 🙂 ).

I haven’t checked, but isn’t it 101mm?

I recently rebuilt an Alfine 8 into a wheel for m hardtail.
First ride out it was slipping and very noisy. Checked yellow lines lined up, fiddled with the cable tension, no joy.

Then I took the cable out cleaned and oiled it and the outer, pulled the innards out of the hub (very, very easy to do!) and dipped/cleaned it in ATF and then re-greased it.

Two rides on it now after all that. and it’s quiet as a mouse and not skipping at all.

So I’d say if it’s not the cable, then maybe am oil and re-grease of the hub might be in order.

spooky_b329

Member
I haven’t checked, but isn’t it 101mm?

It doesn’t really matter – what matters is that the yellow marks line up in 4th gear. The cable length is only a guide to get you in the ballpark.
Check alignment, both shifting up and down to eliminate sticky cables.
Re. relubing, the best stuff I’ve found is Rocol Aerospec 100, which is a semi liquid grease.

!
Premier Icon
Fantombiker

Subscriber
So I’ve built my commuter bike with alfine 8 and thumb shifter and new outer and inner cable.

The Alfine shifter or an actual, like from back in the day, thumb shifter?

The most common issue I’ve found is kinks\bends in the inner\outer\ferules (which could happen on new stuff by accident when installing).

On any gear system if there is a kink it will usually straighten out as more tension is added so the gears might be fine at one end of the range and not at the opposite.

The Alfine shifter or an actual, like from back in the day, thumb shifter

Microshift actually make an Alfine 8 speed thumbshifter.

Experience with numerous Alfines has,for me, shown that the yellow marks are “indication” only. One of my hubs is a full line thickness out. Stripping the hub shows the two prongs that the selector drum attached to have slightly twisted in the direction of cable load. So the position required by the internals no longer matched the lines. Pedal around gently & twiddle the adjuster, chances are it will need more winding out

Please can someone post a link for the Microshift thumbshifter. It doesn’t immediatley come up when I search.

Microshift SL-N08.
But pricy on eBay, and OOS at SJS Cycles.
I’m waiting for them to get it back in.

Looks good. I have also put myself on the list. Anyone using one and have a comparison to a standard shifter?

Anyone using one and have a comparison to a standard shifter?

Aye, had one* for a couple of years now, it’s ace if you want a thumbshifter instead of rapidfire. Mine is mounted as a bar-end shifter on a pair of drops, reliable, easy to fit and fettle so it’s a thumbs up from me.

* Well a BS-N08 which is the same actual shifter but in bar end mount instead of for flat bar.

Are your bits all new?
Mine slipped like crazy, spent ages trying to fix it, to the point of buying a new hub and swapping the internals over rather than rebuilding the wheel.
Turned out to just need a new sprocket…