gholland

So I'm about to plunk down some money on a new Trek Soho (I don't mind being a guinea pig for the belt-drive) when the LBS starts going over the specs and I notice it uses a Nexus IGH instead of the Alfine. I assumed they carried over the same hub from the 2008 Soho 4.0, but I guess not. The LBS guy said the two hubs were the same internally, with the only difference being that the Alfine could accept disk brakes. I knew that the Alfine could accept disk brakes and the Nexus could not, but I had not heard that they were the same internally. After doing some research I have come up with a broad range of views. Everything from "They are identical except for the brake difference." To "The Alfine is lighter," "Tougher," "Smoother to shift," "Different internally," and "Holds gears better." The information at https://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/shimano-alfine.html seems to indicate the Alfine is an "improvement" over the Nexus.

I have an email in to Trek, but I'm kind of expecting a "salesman" type answer as opposed to some hard facts.

Does anyone have a definitive answer?

bbattle

ride the bike and if you like it, buy it.

Alfine is the newer IGH and it costs more than the Nexus. whether it's any better is beyond me; I had a thirty-something year old SA hub that worked just like new.

gholland

I would ride it if I could, but was informed it would not be at my LBS until about July 4 so that is a non-option. In fact, most of the shops in my area don't carry these kind of setups; e.g. Giant Seek 1, Specialized Globe San Fran 3, Felt X:City - heck, there isn't even a "red band" version to try. Some of us just don't have the luxury of trying a bunch of bikes and picking one we like. I have to made an educated guess and that is why I'm posting.

crackerdog

Have you checked hubstripping.com?

gamecat

Seems to me like some of the components on a few different '09 Treks have seen slight downgrades from their '07/'08 equivalents. Maybe execs at Trek were looking to stealthily widen margins slightly in anticipation of a down year and depressed sales numbers? Price points seems to have dropped ever so slightly, too. So maybe it's an attempt to keep sales up rather than make more per unit.

gholland

Thanks for the help. I did check "hubstripping," but I've got to admit - Most of that stuff is way over my head. Trek did respond to my e-mail and basically stated they wanted to put roller brakes on the bike in keeping with the little-to-no maintenance theme of belt-driven, internal hub, roller brake = no maintenance...just get on and ride. I guess that makes sense, but the respondent wasn't sure if it was "red-band" or not. For me, it better be - it would be a deal killer. I'd probably go a different route and go with a Trek 7.6fx or something like that. The weather is getting nice and I'm getting impatient. Oh well.

crackerdog

You could call a shop that services those hubs. I think Aaron's Bike Shop in Seattle does.