rydabent

I guess IMO if synthetic ATF can protect the gears in a cars automatic transmission it would be great for an IGH. After all ATF fluid prevents wear in automatics that run as much as 5 or 600 horsepower thru them. They also flow at low temperatures. Not too many cyclist generate that much horsepower.

Winfried

Thanks.

Apparently, Shimano uses mineral oil:
Factory Fresh: Shimano SG 700 Alfine Oil For 11 Speed Hub 50Ml - www.AVT.Bike - Bicycle Parts & Accessories

A two-liter bottle of mineral 75W80 is only 12€, or 6€/liter:
Huile TOTAL Transmission Boite de Vitesse 75W80 2 litres : Norauto.fr

Winfried

If there's some 3D printer expert in the room… how hard would you say it'd be to create the two threaded ends of the tube (red + silver)?

sweeks

No need to 3D print. The metal end ("silver"... mine is brass) is a "hose barb" with a M6-1.0 thread. The red item is a female "luer-lock" fitting; these are very common in medical I.V. equipment. You might be able to get one from your physician or a hospital lab. I broke down and bought a kit with the syringe, tube and fittings, and enough oil (50ml) for one oil change. The equipment lasts indefinitely with care.

I was put off by the high price of the "official" oil. This oil is quite a bit thicker than ATF... more like gear oil. Regular gear oil is potentially corrosive to the "yellow metals": brass, copper, bronze. I didn't know if there are any of these metals in the Alfine 11 hub. I found a synthetic gear oil that claims to be non-corrosive to these metals: Royal Purple "Max Gear" (Max Gear Synthetic Gear Oil for Max Protection | Royal Purple) 75W-140, which costs about $25 for a liter. This sounds like a high number (I mean the "140"... the price is not dirt cheap, but about 20% of the Shimano oil), but it has about the same viscosity as the original Shimano oil. Since it never reaches a high temperature, such as what might be experienced in an automotive application, the "140" doesn't apply; it's basically a 75W oil. Of course, it's purple, not green! I got a friend to run magnetic resonance scans on samples of both oils... this did not confirm they are the same, but they seemed similar. The bottom line is that after my first oil change, using the OEM oil, I have used the Royal Purple. The hub has run almost 4,000 miles on this oil and still performs flawlessly.

I have 2 Nexus-8 hubs for another bike; one is "regular" and the other is a red-band ("premium"). I use the regular one in the winter and the red-band in the better months. Between them they have 12,000 miles on them. Once a year I open each hub and "dip" the innards in oil. I was using ATF, but when I had good luck with the Royal Purple I switched over to that. I do put "Nexus Grease" on the bearings. Neither hub shows any wear on the bearing races, and the hubs shift perfectly.

Does anyone know if the Alfine 8 runs in oil, or is it greased like the Nexus 8? I really like being able to do an oil change without taking the hub apart.
Steve

Reynolds 

Zombie thread but anyhow.
My Nexus 8 is still working like new after 28000 kms with ATF.

saggyboy

You are discussing the use of a viscometer, can you recommend a good viscometer brand? What about SI Analytics?

sweeks

I used the "eveball viscometer" to compare the small amount of "official" Shimano oil with the Royal Purple substitute. They pour and feel about the same; not very scientific. FWIW, my Alfine 11-speed is coming up on 10,000 miles, all but the initial 1,000 or so have been with the Royal Purple oil.