Alfine vs Derailleur

[vernon]

Hi guys,
I just happened upon this thread by accident and found it interesting as I've always been interested in hub geared road bikes. A couple of years ago at the Cycle Show in Birmingham I saw some road bikes with a 14 speed hub gear. At the time they were hugely expensive so I couldn't even consider one.

When I've looked online what I tend to find is that many of the bikes with discs, hub gears and drop bars are cyclocross types with heavyish frames. Ideally I'd be looking for a road bike with lightish frame, drop bars and disc brakes.

For those of you who have switched from a bike with derailleurs to hub gears, what was the range of gears like with the switch? At the moment I have a bike with 700 x 23 wheels and a gear set up of 52 / 39 with an 11 - 27 cassette. I find that going up some hills I could do with a slightly lower gear than 39 / 27 and I never outrun the top end.

Any thoughts..?

Thanks.

If you want a lower gear for your derailleur geared bike, fit a mountain bike cassette with 34 teeth and buy a rear MTB derailleur. It's a lot cheaper than buying a new bike.

 

[Upstream]

Hi Vernon - I understand what you're saying there and I agree - either an MTB cassette which would be cheapest or change to a compact up front. My main motivation though is the simplicity of hub gear systems and that disc brakes look really cool ;-)

 

[Pale Rider]

I have an Alfine 11-speed on my Rose trekking ebike - single cog at the front.

The bottom gear is barely low enough, and I rarely go higher then sixth.

Lots of stuff online from users who found the same with the hub fitted to touring bikes.

My bike is fitted with the largest Alfine 11 rear sprocket, but I'm told larger sprockets are available for the Alfine 8-speed and they will fit, although you lose the little plastic chainguard.

The hub works quite well, but it won't change cleanly under load, so you need to stop pedalling for a moment.

 

[Moodyman]

Well,I can tell you my findings after 3 years of riding my hub geared bike. Yes,it's lower maintenance than dérailleur bike, but it's not maintenance free. The chain and cogs still need cleaning and oiling every 100 miles or the dirty chain becomes noisy. The chain needs tensioning every 300-400 miles, I could go longer in between tensioning but I'm a perfectionist.

The hub needs servicing every 1500-2000 miles.again I could go longer but I'm fastidious.

The gears - whilst my Alfine gives a good range, there's big gaps in between gears and I spend a lot of my time in not quite the right gear. So am often not in my optimal cadence. Otherwise no regrets.

 

[Upstream]

Well,I can tell you my findings after 3 years of riding my hub geared bike. Yes,it's lower maintenance than dérailleur bike, but it's not maintenance free. The chain and cogs still need cleaning and oiling every 100 miles or the dirty chain becomes noisy. The chain needs tensioning every 300-400 miles, I could go longer in between tensioning but I'm a perfectionist.

The hub needs servicing every 1500-2000 miles.again I could go longer but I'm fastidious.

The gears - whilst my Alfine gives a good range, there's big gaps in between gears and I spend a lot of my time in not quite the right gear. So am often not in my optimal cadence. Otherwise no regrets.

Hi,
I hope you don't mind me asking but do you have the 8 or the 11? Also - is hub maintenance expensive? Do you consider yourself a convert or are there circumstances under which you would go back to derailleurs?

Thanks.

 

[Moodyman]

I have the Alfine 8.

I'm no convert, because my three other bikes have dérailleurs. But for urban commuting/utility riding hub gears make a lot of sense. Dérailleur bikes have their own advantages - lighter, easier to maintain for the novice mechanic, cheaper as more individual parts which can be mixed and, they give a broader gearing range. It really depends on your requirements.

If I could only have one bike, it'd be a dérailleured bike with a triple chainset. It ticks the most boxes.

 

[Upstream]

I may check out my local cycle shops to see if any stock something like the Genesis 8 or 11 (the drop bar model) to see if I can take one for a quick test spin. Might be a little difficult though as most tend to be available via online stores.