Alfine 11 crankset substitute

[Clarky145]

Dear All

I have recently acquired a second hand Dawes Nomad with Alfine 11 hub gearing. I know that the Alfine crankset only come in 170mm. I thought I'd try a few miles with it but am suffering knee pain. I usually ride with 175mm cranks and have a suspicion that the 5mm short in the arms is maybe too much. I'm therefore looking for an alternative to fit the existing BB BC1.37 x 24 IL Road. The present set up runs with 45 x 23t front/rear but I am also finding the higher gears a little too high - I have trip in June and am worried I'll be struggling more than I need to . I'm thinking of maybe swapping the 45t for a 39t. Any suggestions anyone?

Andy Clark

[gerrymcm]

I'm fairly sure you can go down to 39 OK, see link below. I guess the Alfine and chainset is aimed at utility bikes so not a lot of options.
I assume the existing chainset is the Alfine one as below?
http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/shim ... aid:670759

A quick fix for your gearing would be a different rear sprocket? I think Alfine ones come in 18 and 20, Nexus versions (without a chain guard) come in more versions I think???

In the past I've swapped out my Alfine chainset for a regular MBT chainset and another time for a "Single speed" chainset and messed around with different square taper (ST) BB lengths to get the correct chainline. I did this mainly as I dislike HT2 external cups, preferring the the longer lasting STs. If you go this route you obviously get a lot more options re length of cranks etc but you have the pain of getting the chainline correct.

I'm sure I've read somewhere about someone fitting a Sora road triple to an Alfine bike and using the inner for their chain-ring and the outer position for the chainguard.

I know you can buy crank shorteners I wonder if extenders exist??

Good luck
Gerry

[MartinC]

Any crankset will do. It just needs to have a chainline to match (42mm IIRC). It will run with either a 1/8" or 3/32" chain. There will somewhere be a recommendation about the minimum ratio between chainring and sprocket you can use Again IIRC it's slightly less than 2:1 (e.g. a 45 chainring and a 23 sprocket would be OK). You can check the Shimano tech docs to find out.

[gerrymcm]

What about this
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=96129
Not my sale
Middle ring is 45mm I think so probably just need a set of spacers.

Gerry

[Clarky145]

Thanks guys. Some good food for thought and some good options.

[Brucey]

you could use a lasco ST chainset. Takes 130BCD chainrings, is available in 175mm.

cheers

[531colin]

Dear All

I have recently acquired a second hand Dawes Nomad with Alfine 11 hub gearing. I know that the Alfine crankset only come in 170mm. I thought I'd try a few miles with it but am suffering knee pain. I usually ride with 175mm cranks and have a suspicion that the 5mm short in the arms is maybe too much. ....................

Can you define "knee pain"...? (front, back, under the knee cap......)
I think knee pain is unlikely to be caused by cranks 5mm too short......more likely is gears too high, saddle position wrong, lack of fitness early season....