[Closed] Shimano Alfine - Next Update??

The alfine disc brakes were single pot xt relabelled, were pretty good in the 23k km I used them for.

If I'm being honest, narrow/wide and a decent 1x gear range killed alfine for me.

Lighter, cheaper and with regular spaced gears.

It kinda works as a commuter but the cup and cones die about the same time as a ragged drive chain.

I had an On-One Pompetamine with 11spd Alfine gear as my commuter. The idea was sound but the implementation left something to be desired.

The gear indexing required constant, as in daily, adjustment. It seemed that the cable run was prone to picking up dirt in part of its run along a groove in the actuator arm and this would throw it out. Despite looking after it and keeping to the maintenance schedule it died after about three years.

I may just have had a Friday afternoon example but reading around at the time it seems that Shimano had pushed the boundaries of that design as far as they could and reliability became an issue for many. The consensus back then was that the 8spd was more reliable.

I too had an Alfine 11 pompetamine as a commuter, albeit with a better experience than Whitestone. Again, about three years before it got stolen. For most of that time it was pretty solid- oil change is easy, the most frustrating piece of maintenance was that by the time I needed to oil the chain it was so covered in road gunk it was a right pain to clean it.

It did eventually start going ‘soft’ though- freehub not as positive to engage, shifting increasingly difficult to keep nice. That was after maybe 2.5 years of riding nearly every day, but I’m inclined to agree with the position that the whole thing was maybe an engineering stretch and tolerances etc started to wear down.

If you wanted alfine plus drop bar hydraulics I’d be tempted to see if one of the tanpan or travel agent cable pull adjusters could be modified to run an alfine from normal road shifters. You’d have to measure the cable pull of the alfine pretty precisely.

Alfine 8sp?

Mine has been flawless in 10 years, 2 cable changes.....

Thanks for the feedback, DI2 option seems more reliable in shifting terms. The gear spacing is not uniform hence generic cable shifters not an option and converters or other manual options aren't cost effective against DI2.

Come on Shimano, release a 2019 update 🙂

I run an Alfine 11 speed hub in a Sanderson Soloist frame. Has been fine so far, but the cable has to be kept in tip-top condition or the indexing goes out. Most of the Alfine problems with indexing can be traced to the cable, as the indexing is done at the shifter end (unlike Rolhoff). I reversed the non-turn washers (vertical drop-outs) which allowed the cable to be routed up the seat stay (rather than the chain stay) which seems to have aided cable health.

Shimano brought out a new version of the Alfine 11 recently, with stronger internals (ready for the Ebike market). My hub is the older version, which were being sold off (very) cheap due to the release of the new version. Note that the only way to tell old from new is by the model number.

Shifting technique is important; ease off the power (or briefly stop peddling) during shifts and all will be well. Grinding on through shifts is a good way to create problems.

The old CTC forum (now CUK) has loads of stuff about Alfine hubs on it. There is a person there called Brucy who knows all there is to know about hub gears. He may have some ideas about shifters and will certainly be able to tell you what the pull through on an Alfine is.

Did the same as the OP, wanted hub gear, drop bar shifter and hyrdo discs. The only you are going to get all of these is with DI2.
Gears are fine (I'm 8sp), although the hub bit of the hub is rough, if you know what I mean, bearings and things not up to Hope/Chris King standard but fine for my commutter. Using Ultegra brakes which I've not been very impressed with, not the most reliable (compared to my Formula R1s and Hope Race and Tech X2s)
Would I do it again?
No. I would go singlespeed for the commuter, keep it simple (and a LOT cheaper) but I have changed jobs and my round trip is now 26 miles/1,700ft rather than 52 miles/4,000ft, didn't fancy the latter ss on a crap winter's day and this bike was fine for that.

Thanks, do you know the new model number? I can't find any reference to it, or in fact may shops even selling it at all. Evans, Wiggle, Chain reaction all draw blanks...

Thanks for everyone's feedback, will nip to CUK forum for more info.

Ah, Google fail on my part! Here is info on the updated version!

https://bike.shimano.com/en-EU/product/component/alfine-s7050s705-di2/SG-S7051-11.html

SG-S7051-11

SHIMANO ALFINE - DI2 Internal Geared Rear Hub - CENTER LOCK - Disc Brake - O.L.D. 135 mm - 11-speed

The SHIMANO ALFINE S7051 hub offers a wide 409% gear range actuated by SHIMANO DI2 electronic shifting and an improved internal structure for better gear engagement. It is approved for E-BIKE and non E-BIKE use and is available in black and silver.

BENEFIT

Improved internal structure for better gear engagement
Smooth shifting performance
Improved performance for both E-BIKE and non-E-BIKE usage

I was wary of the 11 spd from the start - based on seeing an exploded view. My wariness turned out to be justified.

However the fact that it has been revised and approved for eBike use must mean it's been strengthened considerably because eBike users are less likely to be enthusiast cyclists so the hub is going to get some harsh gear changes under load.

If it's built for that it's bound to be good for normal cycling.

I'll be watching with interest.