First Alfine-11 Bike in N. America?
 

Vancouver, BC-based bicycle manufacturer, Brodie, has introduced a new model to their lineup; the Once.

http://i.imgur.com/vlJ5cl.jpg

The bike is equipped with Shimano's new Alfine 11-speed hub, which IMHO is a significant improvement over the Alfine 8. It also features curved seat stays, a semi-integrated headset, all the necessary eyelets/braze-ons for mounting fenders & racks, an eccentric BB to maintain chain tension, hydraulic disc brakes, and SPD pedals. While I prefer steel I think the bike has nice lines, and I especially appreciate the raked fork and the understated colour scheme. No idea on pricing as of yet.

Now, if only they'd offer a belt-drive option the bike would be perfect...

I like the "specializedish" frame, and especially the raked fork, but as you said, no steel no go.

Is it shipping or just listed on the website?

I don't see an "Available on..." message anywhere on the website, so I don't know. The 2010 website listed all the MSRP's but they're conspicuously absent here, too.

Co-motion has listed their new Cityview Alfine 8-speed for several months now. It's belt drive. They recently started saying that Alfine 11-speed would be available in December 2010, but I don't know if it's actually available yet.

In any case, they may have been first.

It's a beautiful bike:


http://co-motion.com/index.php/singles/cityview

$3595 as an 8 speed; $300 extra for the 11-speed.

No doubt that Co-Motion is drool-worthy. The Brodie offering, however, may be more attainable to the masses; since their Alfine 8-equipped 2010 Ocho retails for $1149 CAD, hopefully the Once will come in sub-$1500.

He he he he - with what I've spent on my Vesta thus far I could have just bought a Co-Motion! What a nice bike that is!

The Brodie looks nice too, if only they'd make a nice steel frame..............

Wow, I was going to look around at what other bikes they had but there's about 30 on there. They need to condense their lineup a little.

They have a lot of mountain bikes; Vancouver is ground-zero for much of Canada's MTB scene. Norco, Rocky Mountain, and Kona all have offices in Vancouver as well. AFAIK mountain bikes are their bread & butter, and the newer "urban" bikes represent their attempt to grab a part of this ever-growing niche market. I expect to see a lot more IGH-equipped (and belt-driven) bikes in the foreseeable future.

Vancouver is a container POE, for contract manufacturing
on the other side of the ocean.
so some delay, as they get the subcontract manufacturers to
fill the container and the export port loads it on the ship.

Thanks for the positive feedback. We're a really small company based out of Vancouver, BC and you're right we did come from the MTB background. The Once MSRP is $1449cdn and we've been shipping them out like mad! They're actually almost sold out already and the season has barely begun!

I'm holding off until someone makes road-style shifters for an Alfine 11. I think that'll be enough to make me get a new commuter.

What about the Versa 11-speed brifters?

The cost of the Alfine 11 itself plus the Versa 11s is already high in my opinion. My Gates Carbon drivetrain situation also adds a new Alfine-compatible Gates cog (~120$), smaller Gates chainring (~120$) plus I may need a different crank. I'll have to wait.

In the interim, I am going to get a 3-speed SA CS-RK3. $120 (+spokes/nipples) and I will be able to use my existing drivetrain components. Good enough for my commute while I dream of Alfine's and Rohloffs.

I have been riding my Alfine 11 equipped Seven for a month now. The LBS got the gear ratio just right and the hubs' gear spacing is great. I really love this bike.

Wow that's nice. Does that have S&S couplings too?

Sorry for always drifting off topic.

I'm not getting the "no steel, no go" attitude. I have steel bikes and aluminum bikes. I don't notice much difference between the two. IMHO, tires make the biggest difference in terms of overall comfort, followed by wheels, fork, saddle, and frame.

How is your hub holding up? Does it shift reliably, promptly and properly? According to Shimano the hub should "shift under any circumstance." I have had bad luck with two in a row -- waiting on the third: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...IGH-Strike-Two!!

Don in Austin

Yes, I want to use the bike for trips too, so I had Seven put in S&S couplings with changeable dropouts. It has Campy Record cranks, Phil Wood front hub, lupine headlight and Dinotte tail light.

Don, sorry to hear you have had issues. The hub has worked flawlessly for me. It shifts as soon as I flip the lever and does so when I pedal or when I don't. I'm really glad I went for this hub, I have another with a SA 8 speed hub and I wanted something with more gears.

Checked in at the excellent LBS who is handling the warranty this time. They are still waiting for a hub. I sure hope the third time's a charm!

Don in Austin

Initial reviews on the 11 speed have not been stellar so perfect would be a belt drive with a hub that was actually ready for prime time.

Shimano should not expect their customers to pay to do the beta testing on their new products... was going to use the Shimao 11 speed on some new builds but the reports of failures has made me hold off on this and wait for version 2.0.

LOL, it's starting to be another bash Shimano thread. One guy's cable isn't run correctly by a crummy LBS (twice no less) and it's Katie-bar-the-door. Guys, lots of people have been riding their A11 plenty of miles under extreme conditions. Some old geezer remembers how his 60's era SA never slipped (yeah, right) now we have his thread polluting every forum.

Here's an example of MTB'ing with an A11....hmmmm:
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=662054

I am always skeptical of new hardware and the Shimano 11 has not been out long enough and seen enough real world test miles for me to say this thing rocks... looks great on paper but some of us remember how awesome the Nexus 7 and 8's were... not.

Nicest thing about those old 60's 3 speed hubs is that most of them are still working.

With added range you get a more complex hub and with a more complex hub there is more potential for failures... compare this to a Rohloff which does cost many times more but has proven itself to be a fairly bombproof unit.

I didn't see that thread. Could you post a link to it? Or if you are referring to my posts, read again.

Thanks....Don in Austin

I doubt it's a strong as the A8 but for road use it looks to be the best IGH product out there. I've racked up ~3Kmiles on the much weaker im9, I keep hoping it'll break so I can upgrade to the A11. If it can take some percentage of riders using 32x22 on an MTB, road riding/touring will be easy.