Alfine 11 Pros and Cons
The Alfine 11 is probably the best hub gear you can get for under £500. The Alfine 11 Pros and Cons are numerous. Perhaps when you are reading about Afine 11 Pros and Cons below, you may think of some extras! Well we would love to hear about them, please leave a comment.
These comments relate to the SG-S700 model (pre-2019) the SG-7000 models may be different.
Up Front Summary
In short I have found the Alfine 11 to have more cons than pros. When I first reviewed this Alfine 11 out of the box, and perhaps for the first 1 or 2 years it was beautiful, but after this honeymoon period the skipping problems (in gear 5, 6 , 7) become more prevalent, the oil change process is poorly designed, and the seals are over simple and prone to leaking.
In short I would not recommend an Alfine 11 even though a derailleur system requires more cleaning, and higher frequency of chain / cassette replacement this does not outway the poor reliability, and tricky servicing of the alfine 11.
For me the worst of all cons is the skipping in gear 5, 6, and 7. I don't mind that the hub requires servicing, or needs oil leaks fixing. But after you do all of this it should work well. But no matter how much I fiddle around with the indexing the gears still skip, this spoils the ride. And for me the ride is a valuable de-stress mechanism.
In my experience, the Alfine 11 lasts 2 years before it starts becoming very annoying. And to spend £400 on bike part that only last two years is not a good return on value.
Alfine 11 Pros
Here are some good points that would perhaps encourage you to get a bike with an alfine 11 hub gear. Please note that this is quite short list!
Mud
My typical riding involves cycling 10 to 20 miles along country roads that are covered in mud, and animal dung. Even with full mudguards (plus additional mudguard flaps), you end up with a lot of mud going on drive train. The alfine 11 is quite good in that all of the gears are hidden away in a clean oil bath, so mud and grit does not go on them.
 |
| Alfine 11 Covered in Mud |
Of course the chain, chain rings and sprockets are still exposed, but you could run a full chain guard to prevent mud going on them. Mud on you drive train shortens its life span.
Noise
The alfine 11 is very quite. This is a major pro for me. There are no freewheel noises when you coast, and the gear changes are (unless skipping) just a little click.
Shift at Standstill
Unlike derailleur gears you can change gear without pedalling. This is quite handy, but of course most derialler uses shift before they stop.
Alfine 11 Cons
Moving in to the 3rd, 4th and 5th year of riding, this hub has become more and more troublesome.
Skipping
The nail in the coffin for me is the skipping gears in 5, 6, 7. This happens when pedalling hard up a hill, and there is a horrible crunching noise, and the gears slip. If you are "floating" in the saddle at this point, then you drop down on saddle with a bump, and hurt your testicals. It is also a shock, and as you are normally pushing your self to get up the hill, it can be stressful.
Forums are FULL of people trying to fix this, but in reality the variety of things that people claim to work suggests that the problem is hard to diagnose, and often something one has to live with. From memory things that people have tried include:
- Changing Oil
- Adjusting Bearings
- Replacing Cables
- Adjusting Indexing Away from Recommended Yellow Lines
- Different Oil (Rohloff for Example)
- Cleaning Hub Shift Arm Assembly (Small Parts Kit)
- Use of Cable Length Tool - TLS700
All of these thing may work. The derailleur alternative I know I could get to work 100% perfect, but with this hub, it relies more on the manufactured system, so harder to fix when it malfunctions.
 |
| TLS700 Cable Tool - One of many "cures" discussed. |
Oil Leaks
I keep this bike in a shed. But if you put it in a car, or keep it in your flat, then the oil leaks will not please you. For me, I had the bearing cone come loose (???) and this causes seal to move position and all of oil run out on to chain, trousers and shoes. I investigate this in the below video:
Chain Length
It took me about 3 year to figure out the correct chain length. This is my fault really. You can either use sprockets with odd number of teeth, or a half link chain. For example, your eccentric bottom bracket or horizontal dropouts do not have enough travel.
In short you can only really diagnose chain length with very careful measuring (???) or trial and error. A worst this costs a new chain (half link) or but and extra sprocket (23 tooth) to experiment with. We explore this more in the below video:
Sprocket Life
If you are not using a full chain cover, then mud and grit will still go on the chain, chainwheel, and sprockets. You are saving wear on a cassette (as the most likely alternative) but not the rest of the running gear.
Conclusions
Please see the summary at the top of page. There are many Alfine 11 Pros and Cons. I wouldn't recommend a 700 series Alfine 11.
Where next:
- Alfine 11 7000 series - how much better is this?
- Box 8 Speed Derailleur Groupset - Neat but non-standard cable pull
- 9 Speed Shimano Derailleur with Sun Race Wide Range Cassette - pretty good option
- 8 Speed Shimano Hub - Less range, better reliability
