Problems with my alfine in deep snow…

Have not been encountered. 🙂

Each day i come to the shed and the bike is still covered in snow from the day before, go on another great spin (often hub deep in parts) finish and drop the bike in the shed with no cleaning/lubing etc.

In fact I've not cleaned the bike in 8 months (once in 12) and it's still shifting perfectly!

Hurray!

TBH i was looking for some complaints with the alfine, needless to say,
you could probably fill it with cement and it would still be awesome. 🙂

I want one, but if i think about it, i'll buy one. 🙂

No oil freezing issues? Impressive. But 1600g – bugger me that's heavy.

It'd gave to be a lots colder than this for the oil to freeze!

I thought you may have viscosity issues (often light oils really thicken loads in cold weather), and often moisture in with oils freezes causing problems.

I've only seen alfines on hardtails is this beacuse they can't be fitted to full sussers due to chain tension/sag/swing/whattevayoucallit issues?

I really fancy one for the reasons the OP pertains to.

Pics of your alfined bikes please.

excellent. I was out on my Aline/In-bred on Wednesday evening and I'll be out on it over the weekend.

I've only seen alfines on hardtails is this beacuse they can't be fitted to full sussers due to chain tension/sag/swing/whattevayoucallit issues?

Not looked at it, but surely you could still use a SS tensioner with one?

Yeah, works fine so long as it's a sprung tensioner. Shimano actually make one.

cheers ck and clubber, I've just found a 6 month old thread saying the same

Never had any major problems or did any maintenance on my Alfine. No amount of snow would cause problems with it, very cold temperatures might do though.

On a FS bike…

That what I want!

I realise I'm hijacking this thread a bit, but all the right folk seem to be here 😉

In simple terms ( I'm not mechanically minded, hence the interest in this 'leave it alone' system):
– doesn't the lack of a cassette, mechs and chainrings even out the 'extra weight'of the hub?
– as I understand it, the range of gears top to bottom is similar to the usual triple chainring and 8 or 9 spd cassette, am I right? I appreciate the steps between gears will be bigger, but there are a few 'redundant' gears in a derailleur drivechain setup, n'est pas?

No oil freezing issues?

Safe down to at least -30c according to a couple of guys on MTBR forum that have tested it as so!

But 1600g – bugger me that's heavy.

About a lb heavier than a full XT derrailleur setup once everything you add/lose is taken into account for. OK, it's all in one place, but you don't really notice it when on the bike at all.

Here's 2 more Alfined bikes for you to peruse… My GF Rig and my mates Kinesis

Have ridden mine maybe 10 times now, 3 or 4 times in the snow, every ride in the mud… Bike hasn't been cleaned since it was built. Everything still works fine! I just put a drop of wet lube on the chain before I ride and off I go…

No oil freezing issues?

You won't get any oil freezing issues because there's no oil in there like there is in a Rohloff. Just grease.

Unless you've stripped all the grease out and given it a dip in oil yourself. 😉

Coincidence… just gave mine a stripdown and gear oil bath ready for some fun in the Dartmoor snow. It's perfect for these conditions 🙂
BTW, haven't stripped it for approx a year and the bearings were as good as new, a bit of crap build up at the axle ends, the oil was a bit grey, but otherwise a fairly pointless service.

as I understand it, the range of gears top to bottom is similar to the usual triple chainring and 8 or 9 spd cassette, am I right? I appreciate the steps between gears will be bigger, but there are a few 'redundant' gears in a derailleur drivechain setup, n'est pas?

not with an alfine – i think its more similar to a wide ranging single ring set up.

to get a full range of gears (nearly) you need a rohloff, which currently new will set you back around a grand.

however, they work flipping brilliantly (ime)

tensioner wise, there are sprung ones – best i've found is, again, a rohloff one, but its near 50 quid. there needs to be throw in the jockey wheels to allow for chain growth on a FS – therefore regular ones such as DMR tension seeker and on one doofer don't work as they don't allow for enough change in chain tension.

this can be overcome in FS' with a pivot around the BB, such as a kona A (i think there is a knolly too, and a couple of others) whereby the pivot around the BB keeps the distance between the cranks and hub constant.

HTH

ok guys, I know the oil wont freeze, or the grease, but it can become much more viscous. However I'm mighty impressed if they run so flawlessly as everyone states. How do they cope with heavyweights mashing the pedals?

The bearings in mine lasted a year, needs some new ones now though…

Mine seems to be fine in this weather as well – geared right down low now ready for the puffer

Its me again, the annoying ignorant imbecile 😕

geared right down low now ready for the puffer

so there's some room for adjustment with the gearing, or you've put a smaller chainring on the front?

Thank you for your patience and understanding

With the Rohloff you can just add a bit of cleaning oil to the hub if temperatures get very low as it thins out the standard oil. Belt drives give the potential to save extra weight over a standard chain drive it's just a pity that it involves having a frame specifically designed to allow you to use one.

How do they cope with heavyweights mashing the pedals?

Don't exceed the lowest rated gearing combo (32/20) and fine… That rated gearing combo is I believe without a weight limit. Always advisable to lessen the pedal load when shifting gear though, otherwise it doesn't shift very smoothly anyway.

Again, courtesy of the wealth of knowledge on MTBR forum, you can go lower than the recommended 32/20 gearing but at your own discretion. One guy on there fitted a 26T ring with a 22T cog out back for some serious hill climbing action (and he stated he was fairly hefty rider too)… Anyway, he stripped the clutch on his hub! Not heard of it happening otherwise though…

Headfirst – you can alter both the rear sprocket and the front chainring so can end up with virtually any gear. I wanted a 23 rear sprocket to go with the 32 chainring but have struggled to get one so as a try out I have it with a 22 chaining and 18 sprocket. This is the equivalent of a 22 granny with a 11/34 cassette,

It is generally accepted that 32/20 is about as good as you'll get reliably.

alfine in whyte preston,, more to the conversion than meets the eye as it may be the only QR alfine set up just have to drop the cable off

ade.

What did you use to convert to a QR?

That's a photoshop of 3 different bikes right?

to make it into a qr
it uses the std whyte big gripper,, i had to turn up a pair of aluminium cotton reels then thread them M10 so they screw onto the axle,

then to counter the rotation of the hub I had to make a couple of plates which have a d shaped hole which the cotton reels clamp to the wheel

these plates then lock against a bolt head

to release the wheel undo the cable ,, then undo both big gripper levers and wheel drops out

or get a single speedable hardtail, like one of those funny konas i can never remember the name of….

Kona A

I'm on 32:20 because I'm pretty hefty and get to ride up hills. That gives you probably 2nd or 3rd in the granny to about 7th in middle ring equiv I've found. I spin out on roads and stuff but off road it's been fine. The weight is noticable when you lift the bike over gates and stuff but when riding I've never noticed it tbh. Love the fact it's totally silent too.

That preston is quite the maddest thing I hae seen… I'm not sure if I like it or not.

That preston is quite the maddest thing I hae seen… I'm not sure if I like it or not

Why thank you,,

ade.

Neat idea. Shame you can't convert to QR with a standard setup frame.

Ade – love that Preston, esp the paintwork/decals 🙂

That tensioner would get broken off in about 2 seconds for me. 😕

i suppose i am a gentle rider,, but that tensioner was on a ss fs marin mount vision i built in 1999 which i ran for 10 years then preston was built last year ,, and the mount vision retired

Just noticed there are a couple for sale on fleabay – search "alfine"

I found my Alfine robs the bike of a little of the 'zing' it has as a singlespeed but I can convert SS to Alfine in 15 minutes so the Alfine's kept for the occasional longer distance spinny rides now.

I found my Alfine robs the bike of a little of the 'zing' it has as a singlespeed but I can convert SS to Alfine in 15 minutes so the Alfine's kept for the occasional longer distance spinny rides now

my preston is the same it's either ss or alfine ,, the only downside is i havnt got a disc singlespeed wheel so have to change rear brake and lever

Great to hear all the good reports as i have just got in from a very cold garage after fitting a alfine fo my Cotic Simple, ready for a ride in the snow tomorrow

Am I the only person who runs there alfine cable down the seatstay rather than chainstay? I use the grey washer and the cable adjust arm points directly up to the seatstay then attach the cable to the top tube guides for a neater look :-). It's more out of the cack that way too.