I’m thinking about putting Alfine on my single speed. I just don’t use it enough as an SS but I like it as a bike. It’s a Cromo steel frame generic Taiwanese. Looks nice and it’s the right size and I really love the way it steers and rides but I’m no fan of fixies on the road. I did flip the wheel to the fixie side once but hated it.
So is the 11 worth the extra? What about Di2 11? Because cable adjusting is the biggest PITA with IGHs. My last IGH was a 3-speed Sturmey-Archer Malvern Star when I was in high school. 3rd gear would always slip so it was basically 2-speed.
If I got just the hub then I could twist the arm of a mate to build the wheel for me but I’m wondering if anyone has heard any reports about the pre-built wheels like the link above. A pre-built wheel gives me the option of going back to the SS hub if there’s a mechanical or a puncture I CBF fixing. I’ve already got a spare 28mm tyre.
Any comments or opinions at all about IGH are welcome. Any other brands or models worth mentioning? But you can only talk about Rohloff if you are prepared to contribute an extra $1000 to my paypal account.
What’s the terrain like? I have experience with the Alfine 8 and can vouch for its sturdiness. Perhaps the gaps 'tween gears can be a touch big sometimes, but it works really well. I would dispute the cable adjustment thing; it’s easy. Alfine 11 is quite a different design. It’s lighter, and maybe smaller? The range would be a big factor for me I reckon; if I’m going to be dealing with a fair few hills then I’d stretch the budget out to 11, otherwise, 8 is sweet.
I probably wouldn’t bother for that purpose. I’m curious to try out an 11 though, and am considering it for a friend who will tour with it, but for my commuter in Melbourne I’d run an 8sp I reckon.
I have an 11 speed in my commuter and I think it’s great. I have it geared for ~30-120 gear inches. I’ve had it for about 3 or 4 years but have only been riding it seriously in the last year and I haven’t had any problems. The trigger shifter is a really nice bit of kit too.
You’re welcome to try it out if you like, the frames a 58.
I had a different experience with the Alfine 11 than Yearofthecat.
The 11 has a key difference to the 8 in that it’s an oil bath rather than grease lubricated system. Which means it leaks oil because the Shimano seals are rubbish. Shimano Australia tried fixing it once and the bike store I bought it from another time. Neither worked. It emptied its oil in some rather awkward locations and was generally quite a messy thing, the hub was always coated in oil and resultantly always coated crap that the oil attracted…
The 11 and the 8 have the same gear range, so there’s no gearing advantage to the 11 except closer spacing.
The 11 can be quite finnicky to get the shifting adjusted right… of course you can get it right, but maybe I’m picky, it never felt great shifting.
I felt my hub gear sucked way too much power compared to a normal setup, it felt really sluggish. It was also freakin’ heavy.
The upshot is that I got rid of it and I’m happily back with a derailleur setup, but that doesn’t hepl you and your SS dropout frame, but thought I’d mention it.
That’s a fair criticism, I should have said that mine does weep oil and the drive side is always a little damp. Never enough to drip though. Definitely sucks more power than a derailleur setup too. But the 11 speed does have more range, 409% compared to 307% for the 8 speed.
