Originally Posted by
Mr IGH
Nexus 8 and Alfine use the same shifters. If you want a stand alone thumb shifter, the Alfine works on the Nexus. The Alfine thumb shifter I have is a single step, 7 pushes for full range. I run a Nexus gripshift in all my Alfine/Nexus bikes, never knew I was a grip shift guy until I went Shimano IGH.
To be clear, Nexus and Alfine use
compatible shifters, but the "Nexus" line of shifters is not the same as the "Alfine" line of shifters. Specifically, the Nexus line includes a twist/grip shifter with or without brake lever and a "Tapfire" shifter with brake lever, while the Alfine line consists of just a "Rapidfire" shifter.
I have the Alfine "Rapidfire" shifter. I thought I would like it because I've used similar "trigger" shifters (ie shifting is done with the index finger, as if pulling the trigger of a gun) on derailleur equipped bikes, but I don't because the Alfine Rapidfire shifter is just too big and takes up too much space on my handlebars.
So I'm considering the smaller Nexus tapfire or grip shifters. However, if the tapfire shifter isn't a trigger shifter (and I'm pretty sure it isn't) then I don't want it, which I guess by default makes me a grip shift guy too. Truth be told my only problem with grip shifters is that I can't always get a good grip when wet, but I guess if I want to save handlebar real estate while preserving my ability to shift quickly I'll just have to start wearing gloves.
Originally Posted by
MichaelW
The Nexus Tapfire ST-8S20 uses the brake lever as the shift lever (STI style). I like to ride my brake levers a bit so would be worried about unintentional shifts.
I use the Alfine rapidfire levers SL-S500 and they are 1 shift per click but you can shift 3 or four clicks pretty rapidly (maybe all that clarinet practice payed off).
Im not sure if you can use the Tapfire on Alfine but in theory they should work.
I don't think the Nexus Tapfire is quite like an STI shifter. While it does have a shifter lever located in a similar position to STI, the lever only upshifts (downshifting is accomplished with a separate button).
My question is, which finger does one use to operate the Tapfire upshift lever?
Originally Posted by
Mr IGH
The range is ~300%, that means you can have 30" to 90", 35" to 105" etc. The issue with the Alfine/Nexus 8 hubs is the steps, they aren't consistant and the 5th-to-6th gear step is huge. My wife, an experienced rider, hated it so much she made me put a derallieur back on her bike. The SRAM i-Motion 9 is better in this regard, the steps are consistant, has the same ~300% range.
Doesn't bother me because I'd ride a 3 speed with a 300% range if they made one. As far as I'm concerned the uneven steps are stepover land.