Alfine 11-Review upto 1st service

Pros:
-Change gear whilst stationary
-Hidden away from dirt and grime
-I run it with a single chainring 'up front' so it does away with a lot of gear component clutter

Cons:
-huge con:Doesn't feel confidence inspiring whilst cycling
- at times it skips and pops (even when properly adjusted)
-The adjustment guides for setting cable do not set the hub perfectly, on mine lining up the guides merely lands me in the area of perfect adjustment.
-I had trouble finding the service kit and when I did it was costly, and the oil is horrendously expensive.

I have just completed the first service on the Alfine 11; which was rather costly considering the official Oil cost £89 for a 'big pot'.

I built the Hub into a wheel for my newly purchased Surly 'Long Haul Trucker' frame. I mainly use this bike for commuting (5 miles each way), and most recently for touring.

Maintenence and Confidence

The most common 'pro' of hub gears that I was given was the lack of maintainence it required because it was hidden from grime and dirt. This is the case however, the time I have saved on maintainence has been taken up with the regular adjustments which my Alfine demands. It can be running absolutely delightful one moment and then start popping and skipping within miles, so you check the guide lines and they are spot on, but it still skips so you adjust it past the guide lines and it gets better until the next time it skips and pops; and repeat.

The service was easy but I found the service kit greatly overpriced, as was the oil. Completing the change was simple enough, I used the official oil but sourced a syringe from a friend and found some pipe in the shed.

I had read that drawing out oil from the hub as per the service instructions did not remove the small metal filings which appear within the hub during it's early life, the commentator suggested disassembling the hub in order to wipe out the remaining oil and with it, the iron filings. It was a simple procedure to strip the hub to the point where the oil can be wiped from the outer casing

Commuting

The hub was good for commuting, the ability to cycle up to a red light and then change down gear made the whole affair rather more relaxing.

Touring

The hub has not performed well over the 1300km of touring so far. The major problem is that you at times it pops and skips which gives you reason for concern, and additional concerns are not well received on a tour. The ability to change down a gear whilst stationary or upon finding a hill rather more difficult than anticipated has been fantastic. But, it has merely made some cycling more relaxing.

Conclusion

If you are going to using the Alfine for a shory commute, or gentle leisure rides then it is great. For tours or long distance riding I would recommend selling a kidney and getting a more durable Rohloff Hub or sticking to 'good ol' traditional gearing solutions.

FMA