Hello,

I'm considering an alfine 8 on my mtn bike commuter ('94 yokota quicksilver)- what i think i don't like about this hub is the oddly-spaced jumps between gears.

is this really a big problem? i raced road for a while back in the 90's, and have been commuting on a 70" fixie for the last few years. my commute is mostly flat, with a couple of short steep hills on the way home that require standing and yanking like all hell to get up.

my point is, i have the leg discipline to not really need to shift that much anyway for my regular commute. however, were i to load this thing down with groceries i would definitely need a granny gear. also, since i've been riding a fixie, i've kind of avoided group rides, so it would be nice to get back out on the road with some people.

maybe i'm just overthinking this...

thanks in advance for the advice.

-steve

I don't think it's going to be a problem. If you need a 'granny' gear just set it up with a fairly large rear cog and sacrifice a little bit of top end speed. Top end speed is not really necessary for commuting since most people average about 15-17mph on their commutes.

I've got a couple Alfine8/Nexus 8 IGHs and they work well. I don't notice the jumps between gears. Having said that I don't mind varying my cadence.

I have put about 7000+ miles on a Nexus8 hub / Surly Crosscheck bike, mostly for commuting in an area with some moderately hilly terrain. This bike has upright Nitto Albatross bars, so it is set up for more comfort than speed, but I average about 13.5 to 14 mph on my commute rides (typically 20-25 miles round trip). I use a 42 chainring with a 21 cog on the hub. Thie gives me a low enough gear to climb some fairly steep hills at 5 to 6 mph, and also provides a top end that will let me keep pedaling downhill at speeds up to 26-27 mph. Beyond that speed on a long downhill, I tuck down and coast. The gear spacing seem fine to me whenever I ride the bike, but I am not too picky about cadence.

Fifth gear is direct drive with a Nexus/Alfine hub and suppose to be the most efficient. From a 1x9 deraileur set up I determined that the most common gear ratio used worked out to be 66 gear in. So I picked a chain ring/cog combination that gave me 66 gear in - in fifth gear on the Nexus. Suggest this approach for anyone setting up an IGH.

It's not the irregular jumps I find irritating, it's the 25% jump between 5-6. It's so irritating I went to an SRAM 9 speed for IGH'ing on the road. 15~18% jump is all the cadence range I can take without changing my speed to accommodate my prefered cadence range. I don't mind it offroad on my MTB, just on the road.

Ex-racer here, and a Nexus/alfine rider since 2006.
As Mr. IGH mentions the 5-6 jump is the only truly annoying jump - primarily because it is in the zone where you'll be cruising most of the time on flat terrain.

The jumps between gears are definitely larger than a tight racing cluster. If you've been riding fixed/single, you won't notice.

HOWEVER,
I love my Alfine 8. Mine is presently set up with a 29 inch low gear and a 90-something high gear, and it works for me.

If I were in the market now, I'd consider spending a touch more money for the 11 speed, which offers a wider range and a MUCH better gear spacing between the extremes.

I just got a new ride this year with an Alfine 8 and I love it. I average around 20mph on most commute rides. I find the low end quite adequate for the hills around my area (VT) when moderately loaded. The jumps between gears are more than you'd get on an 8 speed cluster but it never really bothers me. I've ridden primarily on single-speed bikes for many years so just having the 7 other gears available seems like quite a luxury to me.

This is my only complaint as well. I noticed it much more as I got into road cycling and started to use a different bike.