Shimano Alfine 11 - Longer term reliability

[rofan]

meaning it's currently too loose and I might have lost gear 1

Did you test turning the pedals in gear 1 and gear 11??

If that's the case, I have to put a new cable in there, because it has no extra length left at the IGH end (the shop cut it short after the anchor bolt),

one more (superfluous?) advice
The other way is to cut off a little bit of the outer housing of the shifting cable to win more length for the inner cable (eg just 5mm)

and it's fully screwed at the "speed adjuster" (don't know the correct word)

"in" or "out" ??

if "in" you can tighten the cable for gear 11

if "out" you can move the anchor bolt

[jb]

A point to watch out for:

I noticed that when changing into certain gears the pedals would spin freely for a couple of revs before the gear caught. I ignored this for a while but decided to investigate the other day. On taking it apart I could find nothing wrong but there was a metal sludge that settled out of the oil.
On re-assembling I quite by chance noticed that one of the roller sprag clutches was not springing forward like the others. On investigation a tiny coil spring under the cage had come unhooked. A simple trial showed this to be the problem as it did not grab instantly like the other sprag clutches.
Also, the cage being loose had been busy trepanning itself against the ring gear that it sat next to, hence the metal sludge in the oil.
Investigation showed that the with the spring reconnected and the sprag cage tensioned it was really easy for it to pull the whole roller assembly over the ramps and thus loosen the spring again - which is what must have happened on the last rebuild - so great care must be exercised when re- assembling these components.

I rebuilt it filled it with oil and so far alls good - and no leaks.

[Brucey]

sounds like you dodged a bullet there.

In N8 hubs they have used a few different ways of preloading the roller clutches; some have tiny springs and others use a drag spring mounted in the hubshell. I guess either could cause trouble if they got worn.

cheers

[rofan]

In N8 hubs ...others use a drag spring mounted in the hubshell.

called "slide spring"

could cause trouble if they got worn.

in worst case loss of gear 5-8

[ridesurlys]

I have just made a silly purchase I think of an alfine 11 genesis latitude. The bike seemed fine but when home it slipped in first. Unfortunately now I cant seem to get gears 9,8,4,3 and 1. Is this due to being really fiddly to adjust or like my bike shop said its knackerd? Thanks for any help

[Brucey]

gear 1 is an 'oddball' gear (it uses some parts that are not used in other gears) but IIRC 2-6 and 7-11 are 'the same gears' but with or without an additional reduction gear train.

If you are missing (say) 3,4 then logically is it likely that you will also be missing 8,9 also.

Now there may be a simple reason for this (possibly one component affecting all five missing gears) but offhand I can't think of what that might be (speculation; one sun clutch is bad...) . JB probably will know which it is though.

In any event losing that many gears (when the cable is adjusted properly and the shift mechanism/cable is in good condition is 'strongly indicative' of an internal fault of some kind, sorry!

cheers

[rofan]

Now there may be a simple reason for this (possibly one component affecting all five missing gears) but offhand I can't think of what that might be (speculation; one sun clutch is bad...

seems not to be simple: no sun clutch is active in gear 1, and two different, single clutches are active in 3(=8) und 4(=9)

But the second roller clutch is affected by gear 1,3,4, 8, 9
Maybe there is an issue

[JaccoW]

Are there any people around here that have any experience with the Jtek bar-end shifter?

I'm doing some research on a new commuter/light touring bike and I'm intrigued by this option.

[rfryer]

Thanks for spotting this, I've been waiting years for Jtek to get round to producing one of these. I can finally get shot of the annoying Versa shifter!

[JaccoW]

No problem. I don't really trust the Versa's but the rapid-fire shifter is kind of awkward on roadbars. Otherwise I'd have to look at split handlebars.
Besides, it looks nice and sturdy.

[brumster]

Thanks for spotting this, I've been waiting years for Jtek to get round to producing one of these. I can finally get shot of the annoying Versa shifter!

Available in the UK from SJS cycles

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/jtek-11-spee ... prod40234/

[hercule]

I've got two Jtek shifters, though neither are for the Alfine-11: one shifts a Nexus 8 hub, the other a SA 8 speed hub. Otherwise they are identical, solidly built pieces of hardware that work quietly and efficiently. They shift contrariwise to a "normal" bar end shifter but I have become used to it very quickly - that's a hub gear thing rather than a reflection on Jtek. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another.

[rfryer]

Great feedback. Thanks!

[niggle]

Are there any people around here that have any experience with the Jtek bar-end shifter?

I'm doing some research on a new commuter/light touring bike and I'm intrigued by this option.

A note on 11 speed: The Shimano Alfine SG-S700 hub has different gaps in the cable travel between each gear, this shifter replicates the movement of a Shimano rapidfire shifter precisely.

Interesting, does this explain some of the issues with the Versa shifter?

Meanwhile I have noticed that reports of reliability problems for the Alfine 11 seem to have tailed off over the last couple of years both here and on other forums, second hand hubs not withstanding, so should I be encouraged enough by this to consider buying one I wonder?

[rfryer]

The Versa shifter does have the required uneven cable pulls. I'm not in a position to accurately compare it to the Shimano offering, but I've no reason to think they got it wrong.

My problem with Versa is the big swing on downshifts, making it very slow to dump multiple gears at once. On steeply rolling terrain, that can be a liability.

I've not had a problem with Alfine 11 reliability, but I've been kind to mine with regular oil changes, frequent checks of cable adjustment, and sympathetic gear changing. I'd have another.