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25/1/11: Shimano Alfine 11 Speed hub has arrived

 

We've long been a fan of gear hubs, so were very excited when Shimano's new 11 speed Alfine hub arrived, along with our Genesis iO iD test bike.

We've done lots of custom builds with both the 14 speed Rohloff Speedhub and Shimano's previous offering, the 8 speed Alfine. The Rohloff is undoubtedly a fantastic piece of kit, and will last you a lifetime, but at over £1000, clearly quite an investment. At about a quarter of the price, the 8 speed Alfine is a great alternative if you're on a budget, but lacks a bit in gear spread and feels a bit slow.

Shimano have spotted the obvious gap in the market then, and brought out an all-new 11 speed version of the Alfine. At about £500 for complete set up, it's twice the price of the 8 speed, but still half the price of the Rohloff. Over the 8 speed set up, as well as the obvious extra 3 gears (say what you see!), it's got a much improved shifter, and runs on a open bath system, so should have better durability, be easier to maintain, and run with less resistance.

Giving our new test bike an initial spin around the block, it certainly feels like it should live up to its promises. We'll be giving it a proper ride and review in due course, but if you'd like to test it for yourself then give us a call or drop us a email. And you can read a bit more about the benefits of gear hubs in general here (it's written about Rohloffs, but applies to Alfines too).