anyone using a belt drive or an alfine hub

feel
feel Posts: 800
edited December 2008 in Commuting chat
If so what are your views on them, pleased with them or not, have they been reliable, is there a wide enough range of gearing from the hub? cheers.
We are born with the dead:
See, they return, and bring us with them.

Comments

  • croggy
    croggy Posts: 116
    I have a Nexus8.
    Will that do?
  • amircp
    amircp Posts: 132
    Had an alfine hub for just over two months and 700 miles. Runs fine with little problem. Changes very well. A bit off noise in a couple of gears but no significant drag and much less cleaning. Range is easily wide enough for a 6 to 14 mile (one way) commute around Edinburgh - I have not run out of gears at either end of the range.
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  • feel
    feel Posts: 800
    Thanks for your views amircp
    croggy wrote:
    I have a Nexus8.
    Will that do?

    what do you think of it?
    We are born with the dead:
    See, they return, and bring us with them.
  • croggy
    croggy Posts: 116
    The Nexus is on a Specialised Globe hybrid that I bought because I wanted an alternative to the usual 10 speed cassette/double chainring set-up.I have converted the bike to drop bars with Campag Veloce shifter instead of the Shimano rapidshift and replaced the 42t ring with a 46t.I use this as a winter bike.
    So far I've done about 500 miles and am very pleased with the Nexus. I've been doing rides between 35-50 miles.I think the biggest difference is the getting used to the gear change which is not as positive (some might say clunky) as the Veloce mech on my road bike.This is not a critiscism ,its just different.To begin with I was also wary about using too much pressure,especially when honking, in case it slipped out of gear so I tended to spin a lot.However this was not the case and I now have total confidence in the Nexus.
    According io Shimano the Nexus is equivalent to a 12t-38t cassette which gives me a low gear of 32" and a top gear of 93" which spins out at about 28 mph, good enough for me.
  • landrew
    landrew Posts: 69
    The Alfine hub is very good. Shifting is extermely smooth and it is good to be able to change gear when stationary. Hub gears are less efficient and the range is not as wide as a derailleur which you will notice on steep hills (both up and down). Whether it is wide enough depends on what you use it for - it's fine for me when commuting (12 miles each way and hilly) but is harder work on the hills than my other bike. I wouldn't say that my hill climbing abilities are particuarly good so the Alfine should be fine for the average rider.
    Andy

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