Originally Posted by
Smitty2k1
Thanks for the review! I'm looking for an upgrade for my Giant Escape 2 commuter and I've been pondering 8 speed IGHs (with or without belt drives). I've got an REI just down the street from me so I can go for a test ride on one of these guys to see how I like it.
My question for you is - do you do any longer weekend rides on this? 20-30 miles type of thing? How is the comfort for that? I'm trying to avoid an N+1 bike situation but it may be inevitable.
No, I have a bad case of N+1's, this is just my commuter. I have a road bike and a gravel bike (both steel frames with drop bars) for longer weekend riding. I think the longest I've ridden this bike is around 20 miles. With the stiffer aluminum frame, upright riding position, and limited hand positions this wouldn't be my first choice for a longer ride, but that's a more personal thing and other folks might find it a perfect combination. Also the gear range on the Alfine-8 is fairly small compared to derailleured drivetrains and you may find yourself wishing for either smaller or bigger gears, but that depends on the sort of terrain you are tackling. The Alfine-11 has a bigger range if you're looking at IGH bikes.
After a full winter and almost 1500 miles I still love this bike for commuting. I swapped out the pedals for something grippier, and chopped down the handlebars a bit. No problems at all and the only maintenance so far has been hosing off all the winter crud after the weather warmed up.