I'm going to look over a used bike tomorrow which has and Alfine 11-speed rear hub gear. Is there anything I can look for to tell whether i's been looked after or a failure might be imminent etc? The bike has the aftermarket drop-bar shifter.
Thanks,
Dr. Matt...
Used Alfine 11 - what to look for?
Re: Used Alfine 11 - what to look for?
well, make sure it all works first of all.
The drop bar shifter -if It is an STI-alike- is likely to be a Versa shifter, which is essentially a special type of Microshift shifter AFAICT. These are not entirely impervious to breakage but don't seem too bad.
Looking at the bike will tell you an appreciable anount, but the bike can't talk. The owner can though, so you are likely to find out as much by talking to them as you are looking at the bike.
I would hope that they
-understand how to shift
-understand how to adjust the gears correctly
- know how often the oil needs changing
- know when it was last done
-know which LBS has worked on the bike.
As a proxy for mileage, each 1-2% of chain wear roughly corresponds with the kind of interval at which it is a good idea to change the oil in the hub. If the bike has horizontal dropouts, you can tell how worn the chain ever was (whilst correctly adjusted) by looking at how far back the marks on the paint go.
Worth looking at the 'Alfine 11 long term reliability' thread BTW
hth
The drop bar shifter -if It is an STI-alike- is likely to be a Versa shifter, which is essentially a special type of Microshift shifter AFAICT. These are not entirely impervious to breakage but don't seem too bad.
Looking at the bike will tell you an appreciable anount, but the bike can't talk. The owner can though, so you are likely to find out as much by talking to them as you are looking at the bike.
I would hope that they
-understand how to shift
-understand how to adjust the gears correctly
- know how often the oil needs changing
- know when it was last done
-know which LBS has worked on the bike.
As a proxy for mileage, each 1-2% of chain wear roughly corresponds with the kind of interval at which it is a good idea to change the oil in the hub. If the bike has horizontal dropouts, you can tell how worn the chain ever was (whilst correctly adjusted) by looking at how far back the marks on the paint go.
Worth looking at the 'Alfine 11 long term reliability' thread BTW
hth
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Re: Used Alfine 11 - what to look for?
The chap put the distance to the next oil change in the advert, so that's very clear, fortunately. His communication around the bike in general has been very good too, so I have some faith. I will look him in the eyes and ask about the reliability of the hub, though, for sure.
It seems that setting the hubs up can be less than easy (to say the least), and trawling through a lot of anecdotes about problems is making me have doubts. Assuming I decide to take the plunge, is there on the 'net anywhere a practical guide to setting these hubs up written by experienced users rather than the manufacturers?
It seems that setting the hubs up can be less than easy (to say the least), and trawling through a lot of anecdotes about problems is making me have doubts. Assuming I decide to take the plunge, is there on the 'net anywhere a practical guide to setting these hubs up written by experienced users rather than the manufacturers?
Re: Used Alfine 11 - what to look for?
FWIW I tried to summarise my thoughts on this hub here
http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=102818
which you might find useful.
Sheldon Brown http://www.sheldonbrown.com/nexus-mech.html is worth a look too.
With any shimano hub gear the vast majority of the faults reported have their origins in the cable; when setting the hub up if a downshift to gear 6 produces a different alignment of the marks vs an upshift to gear 6 it invariably means the cable is getting a bit draggy and trouble is likely imminent. As I mention in my write-up, it is possible that the optimum setting is not quite as per the marks in perfect alignment; it can be a little to one side or the other.
cheers
http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=102818
which you might find useful.
Sheldon Brown http://www.sheldonbrown.com/nexus-mech.html is worth a look too.
With any shimano hub gear the vast majority of the faults reported have their origins in the cable; when setting the hub up if a downshift to gear 6 produces a different alignment of the marks vs an upshift to gear 6 it invariably means the cable is getting a bit draggy and trouble is likely imminent. As I mention in my write-up, it is possible that the optimum setting is not quite as per the marks in perfect alignment; it can be a little to one side or the other.
cheers
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Ivorcadaver
- Posts: 116
- Joined: 26 Oct 2013, 9:36pm
- Location: Bolton
Re: Used Alfine 11 - what to look for
DoctorRad wrote:I'm going to look over a used bike tomorrow which has and Alfine 11-speed rear hub gear. Is there anything I can look for to tell whether i's been looked after or a failure might be imminent etc? The bike has the aftermarket drop-bar shifter.
Thanks,
Dr. Matt...
Mmmh I am very suspicious of hub gears having wasted £300 or so on a nexus 8 spd conversion. You need to be competent mechanically to fix them if they go wrong. Quite a faff to fix a rear wheel pu*ct*re.
Re: Used Alfine 11 - what to look for?
Brucey wrote:With any shimano hub gear the vast majority of the faults reported have their origins in the cable; when setting the hub up if a downshift to gear 6 produces a different alignment of the marks vs an upshift to gear 6 it invariably means the cable is getting a bit draggy and trouble is likely imminent. As I mention in my write-up, it is possible that the optimum setting is not quite as per the marks in perfect alignment; it can be a little to one side or the other.
I had picked up on the 'YMMV' nature of the marks and am happy to experiment with cable tension, but assuming the current owner has things dialled in properly, I will probably leave well alone. If that's not the case, how should I proceed? Adjust one way, decide if it makes things better or worse and repeat until things are dialled in? I have 25 years of tweaking 6-8 speed dérailleur gears but have only ever owned 3-speed IGHs before.
Re: Used Alfine 11 - what to look for?
DoctorRad wrote: ...I had picked up on the 'YMMV' nature of the marks and am happy to experiment with cable tension, but assuming the current owner has things dialled in properly, I will probably leave well alone. If that's not the case, how should I proceed? Adjust one way, decide if it makes things better or worse and repeat until things are dialled in?....
that is probably easiest. But do keep an eye open for draggy cables as I have mentioned.
IGHs of any kind are not for everyone, but then neither are derailleur gears....
Re punctures; removing the rear wheel is faffsome when you have not done it much before but comes easier with practice.
However if you are in a rush, just use aerosol sealant and repair later.
If you repair by patching the tube, of course the wheel doesn't have to come out.
cheers
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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breakwellmz
- Posts: 1982
- Joined: 8 May 2012, 9:33pm
Re: Used Alfine 11 - what to look for?
Ive used/am using various IGHs as well as derailleurs, and by far my favorite is the Nexus 7. 
Its quite a leap in the dark/expense to go for a an 11 hub geared bike, have you ridden one?
If this guy has looked after it as well as paid a few quid, it would suggest he was pretty keen, if that`s the case i would wonder why he is selling it.
Its quite a leap in the dark/expense to go for a an 11 hub geared bike, have you ridden one?
If this guy has looked after it as well as paid a few quid, it would suggest he was pretty keen, if that`s the case i would wonder why he is selling it.