Commuting - Shimano Alfine 11 Speed!! Pre-orders now

http://harriscyclery.net/product/shimano-alfine-sg-s700-11-spd-disc-brake-compatible-hub-36h-w-shifter-3225.htm?preview=yes

Pretty exciting stuff.

Anyone going to make the plunge?

I'm not sure who they are trying to appeal to, but $659 for the hub alone seems a little steep. I could buy two decent wheelsets for that price. I'll stick with EHG technology for now.

eff that noise, the price is really going to need to come down before this thing takes off.

what is it intended to be used on anyway, what frames are spaced @ 135 anyway?

I was hoping for a price of $500 or less. Maybe the price will come down in time.

$$$$ good googla moogla $$$$ -- makes the remaining jump to a Rohloff seem almost common sense. In for a penny.....

eff that noise, the price is really going to need to come down before this thing takes off.

what is it intended to be used on anyway, what frames are spaced @ 135 anyway?

My crosscheck, for one.

80% of the gears of a rohloff for half the price! I would totally consider that down the road (esp. if it's uh cheaper down the road...)

The pic there looks like a 6 bolt rotor but it says centrelock. I guess that is a problem-solvers adaptor in the pic?

I think I'll wait and see what kind of reliability people get out of it before I make the plunge. Right now I'd hunt for a used rohloff if I was looking at dropping dough like that.

My volpe is 135mm as well. Yeah $660 is pretty steep. I was really wanting to see a lower price. I am, however excited to see how OEMs will implement the hub.

Here is someone with it listed for $430 -- but they show as being sold out.
http://www.bikesonline.com/alfine-sgs700-32h-disc-brake-11spd-hub-black.htm

that's pretty neat. is this pretty much a commuter's hub? or is it worthy of heavy touring and mountain biking?

The centrelock rotor has a steel disc rivetted to an al splined holder. Thats what came on my Alfine 8.
Lots of IHG-compatible frames use 135mm spacing, My Dahon Cadenza for one.

I don't need this on my commuter bikes. Both my bikes are 3 X 8 and that's more than I'll ever need on my 34 mile commute. Thanks for the update.

Ride safe,

Jeff

Here is someone with it listed for $430 -- but they show as being sold out.
http://www.bikesonline.com/alfine-sgs700-32h-disc-brake-11spd-hub-black.htm

$430 sounds a lot more reasonable. 11 gears is plenty for commuting; it might even work pretty well for loaded touring.

that's pretty neat. is this pretty much a commuter's hub? or is it worthy of heavy touring and mountain biking?

The hub could be used on any bike. The Alfine 11 is (rumored to be) a more robust design than the 8 speed, and many Mountain Bikers are eagerly anticipating its release.

I don't need this on my commuter bikes. Both my bikes are 3 X 8 and that's more than I'll ever need on my 34 mile commute. Thanks for the update.

Ride safe,

Jeff

Food for thought - your 3x8 probably has no more than 15 or so useful/unique gear ratios (when you eliminate duplicates and chainline-limited combos), which comprise a total range not too different from a good IGH setup.
I for one live in snow country and spend time off road as well, and love the fact that my drivetrain is fully functional in the worst of conditions. In case it ain't already obvious, I'm an IGH convert after more than 30 years of "serious" riding on conventional drivetrains.
Nevertheless, what works for you is what you should use. Chances are you get mainly rain in Charlotte, which isn't a big deal for regular drivetrains except for the cleaning and oiling routine (which would be greatly simplified with an IGH system ;)).

The new 11 looks great, and it is nice to finally see it appearing on the web. I hope that prices will settle down after the in initial excitement subsides. $600+ seems steep, but not completely unreasonable considering that it is still only slightly more than half the cost of a Rohlhoff.

You can wait till early adopters have bought 1st shipment and they are more abundant ,
so retailers compete for low price leadership .

I am happy with my 7 speed. The low is just enough for the big hills and the high works great for getting up speed downhill. Now if they can bring this down to around $400 I may bite and convert my trusty gt to a city bike. I just wonder if it is as quiet as my inter7 or it it is more like the inter8?

Dang. I only paid $700 for my Giant Seek; albeit slightly used. For that price, I'll stick with 8.

11 is overkill IMO. I'm already a shifting fool with just 8, and despite some gnarly hills on my commute, I still never use my two bottom gears.

This will be a birthday present to myself in 2011. I hope prices come down a bit by July, but I'll be getting one either way. Yes, it's overkill... but have you priced out a Rohloff?

--sam

Adapter for Alfine to mount 6-hole on centerlock here (http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/brakes.html#disc-parts). Might work on the 11spd too

... but have you priced out a Rohloff?

Why, yes, as a matter of fact. Starts @ $926USD +shipping @ starbike.com

I've looked at this, but I think I'm leaning toward the SRAM Apex for the next build. At the moment I can't justify the drawbacks when compared to the alternative. But, I've never owned a IGH before so I'm willing to accept that I could be wrong.

It seems to me that the real maintenance/messiness win would be a Gates Carbon Drive model; a plain old chain model has its advantages but not nearly as many.

11 is overkill IMO. I'm already a shifting fool with just 8, and despite some gnarly hills on my commute, I still never use my two bottom gears.

I'm riding an Alfine 8 now (previously rode a Nexus 8) and agree that the available gear range is excellent. That said, the new 11 offers really even spread across the gear range (not as wide or sporadic as the 8) with a larger jump into first. Very nicely designed, IMO.

I'm not going to be making the jump for a while yet, but do plan to build up an 11 or 14 (or whatever might be available) speed rear wheel at some point down the road.

what is it intended to be used on anyway, what frames are spaced @ 135 anyway?

Umm, Mountain, cross, are 135 and a lot of others are set 132.5 so they'll take either.

Umm, Mountain, cross, are 135 and a lot of others are set 132.5 so they'll take either.

And the 135 can slot easily into a 130 steel frame as well.

I'll keep my derailleur/cassette/road hub... its easier for me to service, since I do the most of my own work.

11 is overkill IMO. I'm already a shifting fool with just 8, and despite some gnarly hills on my commute, I still never use my two bottom gears.

Ditto, I have a Nexus8 on one of my commuter bikes, and 99 percent of the time I use gears 3 to 8. My commute route has about 800' uphill and downhill in each direction, with few flat sections. There are a few short stretches of uphill where I drop into gear 2. Gear 1 is there as a bailout for rare occasions where I need to get over a brutal hill at less than 6 mph.

If the Alfine 11 could handle the torque and punishment of off road, I would consider it for a mountain bike hub (if the price were around $350). Mountain bike gear gets a lot of abuse and tends to break or wear out much faster than on-road components. I would not want to be in the first group of people to try one out on a MTB - I'll wait for someone else to see if it can survive such use.

...If the Alfine 11 could handle the torque and punishment of off road, I would consider it for a mountain bike hub (if the price were around $350). Mountain bike gear gets a lot of abuse and tends to break or wear out much faster than on-road components. I would not want to be in the first group of people to try one out on a MTB - I'll wait for someone else to see if it can survive such use.
Seeing as how Vin Cox just set the World Record for circumnavigating the globe on a bicycle using Shimano's Alfine 8, I'd venture to say the hub's reliability is a given.

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/vin-cox-sets-new-round-the-world-record-27795

Seeing as how Vin Cox just set the World Record for circumnavigating the globe on a bicycle using Shimano's Alfine 8, I'd venture to say the hub's reliability is a given.

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/vin-cox-sets-new-round-the-world-record-27795

Plus, many people have used the Alfine for mountain bike use with good results.
I've taken my bike on some technical singletrack and the Alfine was fantastic.

Seeing as how Vin Cox just set the World Record for circumnavigating the globe on a bicycle using Shimano's Alfine 8, I'd venture to say the hub's reliability is a given.

Seeing how the initial product introduction of Shimano's 3-, 7- and 8-speed hubs were all problematic, I'd venture to say Shimano's brand new design 11-speed hub is very much an unknown.

I find it very odd that Shimano didn't have a single 11-speed IGH equipped bike available for test at either Eurobike or Interbike.

Don't get me wrong - I really want this hub to be wonderful. But I'm not in any particular hurry to possess one, and the fan boys can put down their $660 (http://harriscyclery.net/product/shimano-alfine-sg-s700-11-spd-disc-brake-compatible-hub-36h-w-shifter-3225.htm?preview=yes) and beta test it for me, thank you very much.

Anyone know what the gear range is of this hub?

i'm excited about the actual release, but don't have the urge to rush out and buy one. i wonder if this will spur Rohloff into pushing the development of their hub in new directions, either in weight, price, gears or something else. the Alfine 11 really does fill a vacuum for IGHs in both price and range, but i'm not certain that that vacuum really needed to be filled (clearly, Shimano does think so).

i'm excited about reading a thorough, real-life abuse review (and not someone who has just purchased it and displaying new-install pictures while gumming ad-copy shill). honestly, i hope it does well, because i want all IGHs to succeed (nor am i worried that Rohloff will somehow lose its position as the preeminent IGH).

Anyone know what the gear range is of this hub?

~400% (vs ~300% for 8 spd, ~500% for rohloff)

How low a gear can it drive? I know Rolhoffs have a limit to the sprocket size.

20" - 80" would make for a versatile machine.

How low a gear can it drive? I know Rolhoffs have a limit to the sprocket size.

20" - 80" would make for a versatile machine.

The 8-speed alfine can run 23 in the back. So 42/23 on the 8-speed gives 26-80. I hope the 11-speed gives you the extra 2 or 3 gears down to 20.

More at http://hubstripping.wordpress.com/alfine-shimano/alfine-11/

How low a gear can it drive? I know Rolhoffs have a limit to the sprocket size.

20" - 80" would make for a versatile machine.

Rohloff has a listed limit for input ratio but internally have a MUCH lower first gear reduction than the Shimano Alfine 11 speed. This allows the Rohloff to run a low gear in the 18" range while staying within the factory specified input ratio limit.

Shimano is recommending an input ratio of about 1.9 for the 11 speed but this is just a recommendation per the documentation. With a 700c wheel this would give a low of 27" and a high of 110". It looks to me like they are trying to provide a similar gear range to a road triple.

I'll keep my derailleur/cassette/road hub... its easier for me to service, since I do the most of my own work.

I also do all of my own work, and have spent significantly less time and money maintaining my IGH drivetrains than I would have with a conventional setup. YMMV.

Wow. I like the video--it describes the functionality of this thing, which sounds like a big upgrade over the 8 speed.

I wonder if this will be as simple as the standard twist shift that I've got. I really like simple!

My Nexus 7 speed has a range of 240, which I feel is adequate but more is good. I've had 11K maintenance free miles on it and would love to upgrade my city bike at one point in time. I'll be paying attention to this as it shows up on commuter bikes. :)

The price certainly seems high, but if you price a set of decent road shifters, derailers, cassette and all its probably fairly comparable.

The Alfine 11 looks to be a nice alternative to the Rohloff for far less money. In my opinion, the biggest advantage this hub has over the current Alfine/Nexus 8-speed is not the number of gears, but the oil bath lubrication. The oil bath should significantly extend the life of the hub while making maintenance infinitely simpler.

http://www.ecovelo.info/images/alfine-11.jpg

The oil bath should significantly extend the life of the hub while making maintenance infinitely simpler.


That depends on how often you need to oil the hub vs how often you need to regrease it.

I like the look of the lever. It looks like a cespro shifter which I really like . I hate grip shifters.
I would love it if they offered it with a compactable 11 speed STI racing lever

I like the look of the lever. It looks like a cespro shifter which I really like . I hate grip shifters.
I would love it if they offered it with a compactable 11 speed STI racing lever
Hopefully Sussex Enterprises, the company that makes the Versa STI-type shifter for the Alfine 8 will develop one for the 11 as well.

http://www.sussex.com.tw/versa.html

Or perhaps Jtek will make a bar end shifter so that drop bar aficionados will have a choice.

http://jtekengineering.com/jtek_bar-end_shifter.htm

Of course it would be nice if Shimano developed all three types, plus maybe even a grip shifter for those who prefer them!

Compare the bodies on Shimano's SL-S500 (8-speed) and SL-S700 (11-speed) shifters. This is all pure speculation, but note the 11-speed has a much larger form factor. It probably contains a much larger take-up spool, which probably means the 11 requires much more cable travel to shift through all 11 ratios.

Like the aftermarket has found with the Rohloff and the iMotion9, large cable travel requirements are challenging to design alternate shifters for.

Hopefully Sussex Enterprises, the company that makes the Versa STI-type shifter for the Alfine 8 will develop one for the 11 as well.

http://www.sussex.com.tw/versa.html


Thanks for that

Now I am interested!

Lazzy question,just checking the 8 speed is not compactable with droped bar STI anyway?

My biggest beef with the Alfine 8 is the big gap between some of the gears, especially 5 to 6. Will the 11 bring those gears closer together, or does it just add more gears at the top and bottom?

My biggest beef with the Alfine 8 is the big gap between some of the gears, especially 5 to 6. Will the 11 bring those gears closer together, or does it just add more gears at the top and bottom?

From a random post from the internets:
" There's no direct drive
- First increase is 29.2%
- All others between 13.1 and 14.0%"

I'm pretty sure of number 3, wouldn't be surprised by number 2, but am kind of doubtful of the first one...

I've got mine on pre-order with my LBS.

Delivery date is in December.