Fitting a Shimano Alfine

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shermer75
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Joined: 6 Jun 2010, 9:03pm

Fitting a Shimano Alfine

Post by shermer75 »

The better half is thinking about buying a Genesis Day One Drop Bar. It's a steel framed singlespeed cyclo-cross bike and costs £550. However, she is a little worried about the lack of gears and there is a chance we might use it to go cycle-touring so I have suggested we could buy and fit a Shimano Alfine at a later date (which is available on one of the Day One Models as a complete bike, but costs £999 which is well out of budget). I've priced the parts at a little over £200 on Chain Reaction. Am I being a fool? Has anybody had any experience at retro-fitting hub gears to a bike? Help! :-)
cyclingthelakes
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Joined: 13 Aug 2009, 2:34am

Re: Fitting a Shimano Alfine

Post by cyclingthelakes »

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=41124

You probably saw this thread on the hub in the other discussion area.
MartinC
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Location: Bredon

Re: Fitting a Shimano Alfine

Post by MartinC »

Yes, many people have done this. I'm assuming you're talking about an 8 speed not the new 11 speed. Things you'll need to resolve are (not exhaustive and in no particular order):

Price - you'll probaly get all the bits cheaper in Germany, try http://roseversand.com/bike-parts/hubs/ ... etail2=380 or http://www.bike-components.de/shop/cat/ ... r-Hub.html.

OLN - if the bike only has 120mm OLN drop outs then it won't take the 132mm or 135mm that the Alfine/Nexus requires.

Chain Tensioning - you may be lucky and the bike has track ends at the rear, if not then horizontal drop outs may allow enough movemant to adjust the chain tension. If they're vertical than you'll need to use a tensioner (there is an Alfine one), use a magic combination of chainring/sprocket, half link or some other way of getting the tension right.

Wheel build - often it's better to build the wheel 2 cross to allow for the big hub flanges - it avoids the spokes having to bend to wnter the nipple correctly.

Controls on the drop bars - the Alfine changers are made to fit to fit on the narrower diameter flat bars. You might be able to ream out a trigger shifter to fit drop bars but not the twist grip shifter. Alternatives are the Jtek bar end (http://jtekengineering.com/jtek_bar-end_shifter.htm) or Thorn's extra 'bar' (http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/thorn-thorn- ... prod11040/) or you could bodge a narrower section of handlebar at the end of the drop.

I'm sure others can add more.
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hubgearfreak
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Re: Fitting a Shimano Alfine

Post by hubgearfreak »

MartinC wrote:OLN -
Chain Tensioning -
Wheel build - often it's better to build the wheel 2 cross to allow for the big hub flanges


1, the proposed bike is steel and thus can easily be re-set
2, the proposed bike i SS, consequently the frame's set up for chain tension
3, i certainly wouldn't make the wheel 2x, unless it was for a moulton or 20" shopper. certainly there's no need in 622 rims
shermer75
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Joined: 6 Jun 2010, 9:03pm

Re: Fitting a Shimano Alfine

Post by shermer75 »

Excellent advice from all concerned here! :-) The biggest problem is definitely turning out to be the shifter. The Alfine trigger shifter, which is a mere £25, will only fit on bars with a max diameter of 32mm and I am starting to get the impression (but I could be wrong!) that this rules out drop bars. Everything else seems to be £75+. The alternative might be to buy an On-One Pompetamine Versa (http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/CBOOPOMPETVERSA/on-one-pompetamine-versa), which seems to fit the bill but it looks like you
can't fit any mudguards, which would be a problem. Does anyone know this bike?
MartinC
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Re: Fitting a Shimano Alfine

Post by MartinC »

hubgearfreak wrote:
MartinC wrote:OLN -
Chain Tensioning -
Wheel build - often it's better to build the wheel 2 cross to allow for the big hub flanges


1, the proposed bike is steel and thus can easily be re-set
2, the proposed bike i SS, consequently the frame's set up for chain tension
3, i certainly wouldn't make the wheel 2x, unless it was for a moulton or 20" shopper. certainly there's no need in 622 rims


Good, if it's a steel bike with track ends then life should be easier. I've found that putting an Alfine in shallow 26in Mavic rims causes the spokes to be at a too acute angle even for the Mavic correctly angled nipple holes. Like you I'd guess that most 700c rims would be OK unless they were really deep section. It's just that there's little harm in doing it 2 cross 'cos the large flanges provide plenty of tangential pull - don't want to start an arcane wheelbuilding debate though :)

I couldn't think of anything else the OP needs to bear in mind. I guess the shifter is the biggest problem - I'm sure I've seen a handlebar extension that puts a section or 22.2mm bar into the end of of a 23.8 drop but I can't remember where - don't know if you do.

While you're here can I pick your brains with something that may also be relevant to the OP? I'm just about to change a SRAM 3 speed to a Nexus 8 speed. The frame's a standard road frame with normal brazings and I'm tempted to run the shift cable bare along the dowtube through the normal route and connect a short piece of outer from the chain stay to the Nexus cassette. Do you know if anyone else's done this successfully?

shermer, just seen your latest post. I'd forgotten about those Versa shifters - looks like they're exactly what you want. Can't remember how much they are though.
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hubgearfreak
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Re: Fitting a Shimano Alfine

Post by hubgearfreak »

MartinC wrote:don't want to start an arcane wheelbuilding debate though :)

The frame's a standard road frame with normal brazings and I'm tempted to run the shift cable bare along the dowtube through the normal route and connect a short piece of outer from the chain stay to the Nexus cassette. Do you know if anyone else's done this successfully?


1. yes, let's not. :lol:

2. is this the sort of thing you mean? i've only used an outer cable from the handlebar to the top of the down tube, where you may or may not have something to attach a cable stop to, in any event, it's not hard to put on a clip/clamp at this point. mine used the hole left by the scrapping of the rod brakes. at the bottom of the seat tube, there's a pulley, and straight from there to the hub. what happens at the hub/cable interface on a shinamo hub, i've no idea, but clips/clamps are available to guide the inner and stop an outer moving that are spcific for chainstays. if you need anyclips/clamps, oldbiketrader.co.uk is the first place to go

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MartinC
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Re: Fitting a Shimano Alfine

Post by MartinC »

Hubgearfreak, thanks, that's very much what I was planning. On the Alfine/Nexus the gear cable's a bit like a SRAM i_Motion one - there's a short arm with a cable stop where the cover stops and the cable runs into the change mechanism from the front. It means that the entire cable runs in an outer and removing/moving the wheel doesn't change the tension. I was thinking (and the OP might want to as well) of running outer to the DT cable stop then bare cable down and under the BB through the guide to the cable stop on the lower side of the chainstay. Then connecting the chainstay stop to the hub gear change with a short piece of outer. The advantages of this would be less friction and no need to find a tidy way to clip a covered cable to the DT and chainstay.

Problem may be that the chainstay stop may be too close to the hub and not allow room for enough outer for a sensible cable run and an old fashioned clip on stop may be required.

I don't want to run bare cable all the way to the hub 'cos adjusting the tension on the road after taking the wheel out is a lot more tricky than with an SA type 3 speed indicator rod.
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7_lives_left
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Re: Fitting a Shimano Alfine

Post by 7_lives_left »

shermer75 wrote:...The alternative might be to buy an On-One Pompetamine Versa (http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/CBOOPOMPETVERSA/on-one-pompetamine-versa), which seems to fit the bill but it looks like you
can't fit any mudguards, which would be a problem. Does anyone know this bike?

It won't take mudguards? That is a problem. I retract what I said in the other thread, this bike is bonkers.
irc
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Re: Fitting a Shimano Alfine

Post by irc »

shermer75 wrote: The alternative might be to buy an On-One Pompetamine Versa (http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/CBOOPOMPETVERSA/on-one-pompetamine-versa), which seems to fit the bill but it looks like you
can't fit any mudguards, which would be a problem. Does anyone know this bike?


Or the Pompetine Alfine 11 Speed?

http://www.on-one.co.uk/news/products/q ... ne-out-now
No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?
dwp1938
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Joined: 30 Jun 2015, 12:09pm

Re: Fitting a Shimano Alfine hub to a rim

Post by dwp1938 »

I have just built wheel using a Alfine 11 Hub and a Mavic CXP 22 36 hole rim,all was ok till i tensioned the spokes.The washers in rims are positioned to line up with the centre of the wheel the spoke is offset 46mm from centre,this causes the spoke to bend at the nipple end thus causing fatigued at the position where the thread ends.
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