Thinking of changing from standard Derailleur to Alfine 11

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Drago

Legendary Member
Theyre lovely. I wish I had a bike that would suit one.
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
They're OK but if the climbs are steep, you might want to use a site like www.gear-calculator.com to compare the gearing and choose what chainring and rear sprocket you want. You may find you sacrifice a little at the top end to keep your preferred climbing gear, although some say you can get away with a slightly higher gear if you're not using a tensioner wheel.
 
Location
Loch side.
They're OK but if the climbs are steep, you might want to use a site like www.gear-calculator.com to compare the gearing and choose what chainring and rear sprocket you want. You may find you sacrifice a little at the top end to keep your preferred climbing gear, although some say you can get away with a slightly higher gear if you're not using a tensioner wheel.
I don't get it. What has the tensioner got to do with gearing?
 

Spiderweb

Not So Special One
Location
North Yorkshire
Part of the commute home is off road and the gear gets clogged up regularly, also spending 60 squid every 7 or 8 months on a cassette and chain is a bit expensive, would i get more miles out of the Alfine?
I think a bit more regular cleaning of your drivetrain may be in order, a new cassette every 7 or 8 months is ridiculous.
Don't allow it to get clogged up in the first place.
 
OP
OP
Flossyrockstar

Flossyrockstar

Über Member
Location
Biggin Hill
They're OK but if the climbs are steep, you might want to use a site like www.gear-calculator.com to compare the gearing and choose what chainring and rear sprocket you want. You may find you sacrifice a little at the top end to keep your preferred climbing gear, although some say you can get away with a slightly higher gear if you're not using a tensioner wheel.
Biggest climb is 9.6% in the morning which is fine on the current setup (xt deore with 11-32 cassette) Im not exactly speedy gonzales on the fast bits anyway so the top end wouldn't really bother me.
 
My Alfine 8 is 10 years old and has covered almost 40,000 miles. It is a great system and the 11 seems to be better.I do a steady slope every day and it works fine.
You need to pay attention to the tensioning method,
sliding vertical dropouts
horizontal dropouts
eccentric BB
Spring loaded tensioner.

The spring tensioner is the worst, only use to retrofit an existing bike.
Sliding dropouts are probably the best.
Eccentrics vary in their reliability, some sieze up, the set crews can dimple and make fine tuning hard. External clamps and internal self-release wedges are OK.
Sheldon Brown has a gear chart to compare to your setup in gear inches.

Maintenance is reduced compared to derailleurs. The system runs cleaner, I do an annual oil bath change and usually an annual sprocket and chain change. I tried using thicker chains but cant see any advantage. I fitted Sturmey Archer thicker sprockets (you need to remove some metal thickness with coarse emery cloth) but again no real advantage.
 
OP
OP
Flossyrockstar

Flossyrockstar

Über Member
Location
Biggin Hill
I think a bit more regular cleaning of your drivetrain may be in order, a new cassette every 7 or 8 months is ridiculous.
Don't allow it to get clogged up in the first place.
It gets stripped down (including removing the cassette and chain rings) almost every week.
The whole lot is cleaned in a tank and then polished till i can see my face in it!!
I thought 3000 miles out of a cassette and chain was good going especially as about a mile is off road in the evening commute.
 
OP
OP
Flossyrockstar

Flossyrockstar

Über Member
Location
Biggin Hill
My Alfine 8 is 10 years old and has covered almost 40,000 miles. It is a great system and the 11 seems to be better.I do a steady slope every day and it works fine.
You need to pay attention to the tensioning method,
sliding vertical dropouts
horizontal dropouts
eccentric BB
Spring loaded tensioner.

The spring tensioner is the worst, only use to retrofit an existing bike.
Sliding dropouts are probably the best.
Eccentrics vary in their reliability, some sieze up, the set crews can dimple and make fine tuning hard. External clamps and internal self-release wedges are OK.
Sheldon Brown has a gear chart to compare to your setup in gear inches.

Maintenance is reduced compared to derailleurs. The system runs cleaner, I do an annual oil bath change and usually an annual sprocket and chain change. I tried using thicker chains but cant see any advantage. I fitted Sturmey Archer thicker sprockets (you need to remove some metal thickness with coarse emery cloth) but again no real advantage.

So tensioner eh, thats something that never occurred to me as i have vertical dropouts and would need to have something to tension the chain.
 
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