[Closed] Versa VRS-11 for Alfine 11....

When I managed to find the Versa website just after X-mas there was nothing then about a version for the 11 speed hub.

I'm surprised the Big S haven't cottoned on, they aren't usually tolerant of aftermarket parts to fit their kit. Surely wouldn't be hard to adapt something like a 105 pair of units or even Tiagra. Then they could offer the hub with a selection of flat bar or drop bar shifter.

A bit of googling suggests there are American sites "selling" them as well - though none with stock

Surely wouldn't be hard to adapt something like a 105 pair of units or even Tiagra. Then they could offer the hub with a selection of flat bar or drop bar shifter.

I looked at this, and don't think it's realistic in a simple bodge - none of the current Shimano levers have 11 speed and the cable pull is very different. Modding a Campag 11-speed lever might be an option, but they are v expensive and come in pairs, whereas you only need a brake lever for the LHS.

Still waiting for the hub to turn up (come on Wiggle.....), but if the Ebay page is to believed the next batch of levers won't appear til May

Versa website:
[url] http://www.sussex.com.tw/versa.html [/url]
nothing on there.
However, at £180 for the 8-spd, £220 seems like a fair price...

I believe the VRS-8s are modified Microshift levers.

Agree, it's a fair price and exactly what I was hoping would happen. However, I think the 8-speed ones look a little 'industrial', hence I'd like to see a pic first 😉

bristolbiker - I wasn't suggesting it as a bodge. If you read the post I was attempting to say that surely Shimano could quite easily adapt a road STI for use with 11 speed Alfine and thus cut out a third party "hustling" their territory, which seems to me to be a Big S company principle.

shimano could produce a shifter very easily... but would they want to?

Shimano always only made the Alfine 8 with a flat bar shifter. That suggests they intended and would only really want people to use it on hybrids for short commuting and the like - low duty stuff in other words. Shimano probably don't officially sanction Alfine or nexus for anything other than light use. As some people have discovered with Alfine 8, it can be unreliable with use. Maybe shimano are waiting to see what lonng term durability is like on this concept before committing & sanctioning it for harder road- and off-road based usage?

Sod it - he's just dropped the price by £60, so I think I'll get a pair...... 🙂

I would want a little more proof that they exist before spending the money. However if they are genuine then that price is pretty amazing.

True, but it's paypal and I've had success in recovering the cash for 'goods not as described' or never turning up in the past.... plus I realy, really, really want to believe they are real, and everything on the internet is 100% factual, right 😉

Maybe I am just far too cynical. And I don't have a paypal account. Although that is probably a good thing as I am skint.

Well? Are they real?

[url= http://www.sussex.com.tw/versa.html ]Versa 11[/url]

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They are in production and we're gauging interest, but I have to buy them in 50's, so round up a few mates and we'll get them on the way.

They look exactly like the 8 speed version.

Apparently, the seller is 'having problems', but I'm now a bit more positive that they'll turn up within the week - the rest of the bike is done, so the roller-coaster ride of this build is on the up again! 😀

http://www.sussex.com.tw/news.html

Wouldn't have thought it was too hard to modify a 105 shifter, longer/larger pulley to increace cable pull, IIRC its ~double the pull of teh equivalent shimano mech) and an extra notch, as eluded above shurelys himano have a reason not to do it? Have the UCI banned it? I know from other sports that manufactureres can be reluctant to comit to a development if they know that realisicaly it'll be banned before it gets anywhere near making money.

TINAS - been down the bodge route. Better off starting with an 11 speed Campag unit then bodging a travel adjuster for the cable.... however, given the cost of the original lever, the Versa lever is a damn fine deal and tidier to boot.

Do On-One not use them on their Pompetemine 11speed Alfine jobbie?

Thanks for the update.

Mister P - I have now seen a photo of my actual shifters in an actual box with actual instructions and everyfink. Went in the post this morning. Crosses fingers.....

Any news? They turn up?

Don't keep us in suspenders.

Yes, they turned up yesterday - and very nice they are too!! All in original packaging with all the relevant cables/stops/barrel adjusters etc etc. There will be a polished alu or gloss black option on the retail versions - mine are gloss black, which will go nicely with the rest of the kit.

Gotta find some time now to do the last bits of fettling and connect up the hub to the shifter...... having never built an Alfine bike (or used a dynamo front hub) it may take a little longer than I suspect. Prepare for further questions, if the YouTube walk-throughs let me down!!! 😉

If I could get something like a drop-bar alfine roadrat out of it I'd be up for this sort of thing I think (subject to executive bike purchase panel approval, aka Mrs Atlaz).

aargh the suspense!!!

aargh the suspense!!!

Eh?? Shifters arrive - buyer happy - cut to fade, they all live happily ever after??

Having a few issues aligning the cassette joint with the frame to my liking, but that's another story, subject of another thread probably later today....

Looking at getting some, so was hopeing you will be able to tell how well they work. Ease of set up. Build quality? Basically asking you to do a mini review!!!
Cheers

Ah, I see - give it a week or so to get thing working and do a few miles and I'll post back. Still contemplating cable routing, but will have another night in the shed tonight.

The shifters look, and appear to functionally identical, to the 8 speed levers. Build quality isn't up to Shimano standards (a lot of the indexing mechanism is exposed inside the lever body) but I have no reason to believe this'll be a problem.

To get this far I've bought the hub, joint kit and the Versa levers. The only things I'm missing as a result of getting this combination of bits is the barrel adjuster to fit in the cassette joint and the long rubber sleeve that goes over gear inner cable as it approaches the hub. I imagine these two should come with OE shifter. I can bodge another barrel adjuster in the mean time, but something to be aware of.

Thanks for this, its a great help. I have ordered some, so waiting for them to arrive before getting the other stuff.

cable join kit available on wiggle
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-alfine-cassette-joint-and-fitting-kit/

cable join kit available on wiggle

Er, for 11-speed, not til June. I actually have a spare joint kit if that'll help you - I THOUGHT I'd order an 8-spd one by mistake, so ordered an 11-spd kit from Germany/Ebay..... only to find the orginal one was 11-spd! 😳 The German one is the basic OEM one though - not sure if it includes the non-turn washers and the hub nuts.

according to shimano tech docs for alfine 11, this fitting kit is the right one, judging by the product numbers. Also on wiggle the review says its for the alfine 11 as well.
Ordered vesa 11 from America, so will see if they arrive?

Ah, I wan't querying if it was the right one - I'm sure it will be. I was just saying that Wiggle are saying none in stock, and no stock til June - if you've bought on of these already, and it's sat aroudn waiting for the hub/shifter then you're good to go!!

EDIT: And one more thing about the Versa'a - I'm pretty sure you only get the gear cable inner with the shifter..... which is pretty useless if you were banking on getting a complete cable (i.e. outer as well), though, of course, [i]I[/i] wouldn't be that stupid 😳

oh yes didnt spot the out of stock bit!
Read your post quickly before heading out of the office.
Looking on shimano techs there seems so many extra bits you need to buy seperatley, why not just include all these bits in the package!! Awaiting the levers before ordering everything. As its quite an investment if the levers dont show!!

Finally put my Pompetamine together over the w/e with the 11-spd alfine and the matching Versa shifters. Did a few short shake-down tests on saturday and sunday, but tired it for the first time in anger commuting this morning. First impressions are that its lovely 🙂 Smooth as silk to ride, the Alfine works as I'd expected and the VRS-11 levers just make the whole thing make sense. There are a few tweaks to be made, but initial observations:

- started with 44/18 gearing to give the same spread as my geared 10 speed road bike. I've not noticed huge jumps between ratios, but I'm also not using the top few gears so I will go for a smaller ring in the near future.
- the BB7 caliper is a faff to align if the rear wheel is near the end dropouts.
- not noticed any drag from the Alfine, or the front dynamo hub - commute time was the same as for the geared bikes.
- yes the hub is a lump, but haven't noticed it while riding. In fact it "feels" like the weight is lower overall on the bike (I know this isn't actually the case) as it seems more nimble.

I have pics, but nowhere to host them 🙁

You can stick them on my photobucket account if you want? Do you have my e-mail address?

Very kind MrP - email me direct on gshort AT eatec DOT co DOT uk and i'll send you some pics back. Is that easiest?

OK, thanks to the very kind Mister P, below should be some pics of the new bike on a dull day, parked next to an industrial unit somwhere North of Bristol (i.e. - weeds, dirt, litter etc in shot are not my responsibility!! 😉 )

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EDIT: Blimey - it worked first time!

that almost makes me want a job i have to commute to (as opposed to roll out of bed at half 9 straight onto my desk chair...).

thats lovely! what was the cost (if you don't mind me asking?)

Hi
Could you post some close up shots of the hub setup and the inside of the shifter. Mine arrived from US, so done over with the customs plus parcel force charging £14 fee. Just awaiting my hub.
Bike looks great by the way.

Cost - The frame, hub (F+R), shifters and a few other odds and ends were full retail/through-the-nose price. The rest came from either sales, but new, or s/h off the classified and ebay. Total cost was a smidge under £1500 - all the Alfine gubbins was ~£600/650 of that.

shuhockey - email me to the addy above ^^^ and I'll send you a pic of the hub area. I had to, er, modify the cassette joint with a hacksaw and stanley knife to make it all fit neatly inside the droputs with cassette joint pointing up the seat stay on that size frame....

I have done the same thing with a slotted dropout Scandal which looks very similar about the back end, getting the shifter arm to run up the seatstay but in front of it was a real palarva, I had to fashion my own no turn washer setup from a chain tug. Bristolbiker, is it running ok, not jumping in 3rd and 4th gear? Did you use the supplied green and blue no turn washers? If so how? I'm using the supplied rapidfire shifter but it should be the same setup.

Yep, appears to be running ok - it has skipped a few times, but not consistently in any gear and I think it's more to do with me having to get used to the shifter. The Versa is no Shimano offering - the lever throw for the downshifts is way looooonnnnnggggg and the lever follows a slightly odd arc (to my mind) and is a teeny bit flexy in itself and at the pivot in the lever.

Yep, using the green/blue washers - the joint arm pops up just behind the seat stay (NB: in the photo, spotted I've wrapped the shifter cable around the seat stay in my haste fitting the wheel. Have sorted that now so it runs direct from the upper cable cable guide straight to the casette joint). As I say, the only issue doing this was that the 'lumpy bit' (technical term) on the cassette joint by the cable nut hole fouled with the joint of the dropout/chain stay/seat stay unless the hub was right back in the dropouts..... just cut off must of the 'lumpy bit', leaving enough of a divot to wind back the cable with my thumb when taking the cable off for getting the wheel out. Fits a treat now, even right forward in the dropouts - plus it's lighter 😉 (does any of that make any sense?!?!?!?) I did dither about this arrangement for a good few days as it didn't look quite like the pics of the straight bar build on the On-One website, but in practise it's been fine.

Yes that makes perfect sense, it looks exactly how I wanted mine to be but given that I am running a 32t chainring on an FSA external BB crankset, I've had to get a dished sprocket to get the chain line somewhere near, this leaves less space for the cassette joint arm to fit. I positioned the cable nut exactly the distance as stated in the fitting instructions and lined up the yellow lines but I'm getting a worrying snatching in 3rd, it is about 1/4 of a pedal stroke and goodness knows what internal damage it is doing. I'm waiting for some feedback via 18bikes and will be dropping it in soon for them to pull apart to see how many bits of aluminium fall out. 😥

Hmmmm - that doesn't sound good. Without preaching to the converted, it does shift smoother if you back off the power just before shifting and for the next half a crank revolution. Also the hub instructions say the hub should have its first oil change after (IIRC) 1000km (1000 km is only 4/5 weeks for me...) and then every 5000km after that - have you done enough milage/need an oil change?

Overall longevity is something I do worry about - more because it's a complete black-box, with no external mechanism that can be fettled, rather than any experience to suggest it'll be unreliable.....

You're right, it does benefit from a light touch but the jumping can occur anything around 30 seconds after the gear change. I've only done about 150 light miles but am going to get an oil change if only to see what debris comes out.