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:

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

There is a good comparison of the Alfine 11 weight vs a Rohloff here: linky

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 – 1×9 set up, with xt / xtr parts


After – with Alfine (no rear rotor)

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).

I bought an Alfine 11 on ebay today – bargain at 35% off the retail.

a 32t up front and 18 rear will give about the same ratios as a 24 granny, 32 middle 10 speed system.

i’ll be running mine with a 32t to start as thats all i have and i spent the spare cash on the Alfine.

I bought one of teh magicshine lights from dealextream just before xmas (end of November), it turned up mid Jan. But its one of the most reasent batches, and i can confirm after a full strip of it (right down to the LED driver its much better than the early reports and some reviews on the web.

There was no issues with stray swarf, and there was also thermal paste in all the right places.

Light out put is closer to 600-700 lumins but i think thats due to the basic reflector and lens. There is a fair bit of light bleading off the edge of the beam which will drop the lumin output as there is no direct cut off.

I've used it twice now on off road rides and about 10-12 times comuting, all of the time its been in the rain there has been no sealing issues, and its performed very well on the off road ride, however i have just put an order in for another (helmet mount version), which i'll prob mod the reflector to turn it into a spot.

For less than £50 its an amazing deal, and i can t fault it – for your mates £100 budget i'd but two and get a Y lead (dual up front) or 1m extension lead (for helmet mount)- both avalible on ebay.

heres a half built pic:

parcel 2go are good as are senditnow.com but both use parcel force for the items. Sometimes its just easier to use parcel forcedirect.
I’ve used the £10.99 48hr service to send both bikes and frames before.
The boxed bikes i’ve sent have always been larger than parcel force guidelines but the drivers pick them up anyway as they are quite light.

Have you tried conti speed kings, If you like the mountain kings i’m sure you’ll like these – they are the best allround tyre i’ve ever used anyways.