Shimano Alfine 11 - Longer term reliability

[nippynoo]

I would be surprised if shimano were not heading towards oil lubrication. It is a far better system than grease especially now seals have improved

and new numbering system for the 2015 Alfine 8. Could be Shimano marketing department saying "7=oil" and "5=grease" ...

[rofan]

Could be Shimano marketing department saying "7=oil" and "5=grease" ...

NO

hubshell seems to be the same like S50X
weight 1660g



also the SG-8xy and SG-7xy got new numbers -> SG-C6000/6010 SG-C3000

[Winfried]

Hello

I'll take advantage of this thread to ask a question about the Alfine 11.

On a brand new Alfine 11 + Gates belt drive-based bike bought last summer, I got my first puncture on the rear wheel last Sunday, so went through the procedure to remove the wheel:

1. Unhooked the IGH cable
2. Undid the two bolts and removed the wheel
3. Changed the inner tube
4. Put the wheel back
5. Redid the bolts
6. Rehooked the IGH cable.

It runs OK, but I noticed that, even when set to the 6th gear, the two yellow marks are no longer aligned:


By default, the tension screw next to the speed shifter was already screwed all the way so couldn't go any further to align the yellow marks.

Any idea why the two marks drifted, and what should I do?

Thank you.

[niggle]

Have you checked that outer gear cable ferrule is seated correctly at both ends?

[rofan]

Does it really work fine at EVERY speed?

How was the alignment before?

Is the shown alignment 7 -> 6 or 5-> 6 ?

[TonyR]

Looks like it's one gear out. Did the shifter get knocked while you were working on it? Otherwise is the cable properly seated in the guides on the hub? Any change from changing the wheel should only be small - the width of the yellow line or less.

[Brucey]

Have you checked that outer gear cable ferrule is seated correctly at both ends?

-that would be the thing I'd check first too.

cheers

[Winfried]

Thanks for the tips.

I don't remember if I took the picture after switching from gear 5 or gear 7.

Everything worked fine until I had to remove the wheel after that puncture. Now, I'm having the following issues:

1. Speed six (starting from the right) is now displayed as speed seven, ie. I have to shift to 7 for the two yellow marks to be aligned
2. Speeds 10 and 11 are often reversed: Speed 11 is softer than speed 10 (ie. 9-10-11 becomes 9-11-10)
3. I sometimes lose a speed on speeds 9 or 10 (ie. while riding, if suddently gets softer) and sometimes hear a crack
4. I know the Alfine 11 is known to leak, but It leaks a lot more since I removed the weel, to the point where there'll be a lit bit of oil left on the ground after just 5mn sitting upright.

None of that used to happen before

Incidently, I had to apply lot of strength to undo the bolts before removing the wheel: Since I don't have a torque spanner/wrench, I simply screwed it back strong enough to hold the wheel instead of applying the recommended "30-45 N.m". Would that make a difference?

I'll pump the old oil out and pump some fresh oil in, and see how it goes. I'll also check that the outer gear cable ferrules seated correctly at both ends, but I can say it's a brand new bike and I didn't mess with the shifter-side at all so they shoud be OK.

Too bad, because everything worked fine for three months until I had to remove the wheel because of that puncture. Grrr…

[blinkered]

Thanks for the tips.
[*]Speed six (starting from the right) is now displayed as speed seven, ie. I have to shift to 7 for the two yellow marks to be aligned
[*]Speeds 10 and 11 are often reversed: Speed 11 is softer than speed 10 (ie. 9-10-11 becomes 9-11-10)
[*]I sometimes lose a speed on speeds 9 or 10 (ie. while riding, if suddently gets softer) and sometimes hear a crack
[*]I know the Alfine 11 is known to leak, but It leaks a lot more since I removed the weel, to the point where there'll be a lit bit of oil left on the ground after just 5mn sitting upright.[/list]
…

This happened to me when I did something daft with the cable run on my bike when I had to remove the wheel IIRC it was under rather than over the chain stay or something similar. I could get it to line and run but with similar symptoms to yours up but not in the right gear. I realised sorted it out and it was fine.

The leaking oil I don't know anything about ... I've never had a problem with mine and I'm not sure why fixing a puncture would affect that. There are plenty more intelligent people than me here who will no doubt be able to explain!

[jb]

You need to get used to removing the wheel regularly. Punctures are not something that only happen if your unlucky, they are a part of cycling. Granted tyres are a lot more reliable these days but punctures can still happen anywhere. And Alfine 11s don't leak unless they have been messed with.
You seem to have the cable a complete Gear out, I'd take it out and start again.

[Winfried]

This happened to me when I did something daft with the cable run on my bike when I had to remove the wheel IIRC it was under rather than over the chain stay or something similar. I could get it to line and run but with similar symptoms to yours up but not in the right gear. I realised sorted it out and it was fine.

Funny that you mention that, because after putting everything back together, I didn't remember if the "arm" that holds the cable should be above or below the stay:

As shown, there are two yellow dots which are not aligned when the two yellow marks are aligned.

I'll experiment tomorrow to see if it makes any difference.

[breakwellmz]

The lower pair of yellow markings that don`t meet up are only used for cassette assembly purposes aren`t they?
The upper pair aren`t too far appart as i see it.

[Winfried]

The lower pair of yellow markings that don`t meet up are only used for cassette assembly purposes aren`t they?

They don't move at all, so I guess they don't need to be aligned but I was wondering if it mattered.

The upper pair aren`t too far appart as i see it.

Because I was holding the two parts together while taking the picture While on the bike, they only align in gear 7, as I said above.

I'll check the ferrules and the "arm" tomorrow. It's hard to believe the cause would be the shifter or the cable proper.

As for the oil dripping: Google shows that a lot of Alfine 11 users have the same issue, especially when leaning the bike for a while, but it's definitely more pronounced since I changed the wheel.

[breakwellmz]

They will only line up in one gear position.That will the gear that you use to align the two small yellow marks to ensure that is correctly set up using cable adjustment On the 7 speed it`s gear 2.

[Brucey]

re the 'dots that don't line up'; the lockring is assembled with the dots lined up, and then turned ~1/6th of a turn CW to lock the cassette joint onto the hub. Once locked the dots don't line up, they are not meant to, it is perfectly normal.

I am 95% certain that you have unseated the cable housing/a ferrule at one end; it is easily done (and it isn't obvious especially at the cassette joint end) and will put the shifter out by about the amount you see. Don't worry about the 'gears being in the wrong order now'; if the cable adjustment is wrong you will get all kinds of weird things going on where you will effectively be trying to run the hub 'between gears'. The hub is designed not to easily lose drive entirely but it is not the case that you will always get either of the gears you expect in the 'inbetween' positions.

So check that the cable housing is fitted into the ferrules and that the ferrules are correctly seated. The ferrule in the cassette joint must sit 'in' not 'on' the end of the cassette joint and the housing must sit 'in' that. Same at the shifter end.

cheers