# Replacement cable and housing on Shimano Alfine-8 makes a shocking improvement.



## b0bg (Apr 27, 2013)

Perhaps this should be filed under "duh, yathink?" but I'll post it anyway in the hopes that someone finds it useful. 

I've been riding an Alfine sg-s501 hub for the last 3.5 years as a daily commuter. Once a year I clean and re-lube it, and periodically clean/lube the chain, but otherwise take (perhaps a bit too much) advantage of the low maintenance requirements of this bike. Lately I noticed that shifting had degraded significantly, and started noticing skipping under load in 4th gear. This was especially pronounced in the 5=>4 direction vs the 3=>4, but was clearly a problem. I suspected an issue with tension/alignment, internal wear, maybe the return spring, or worse. My last clean/re-lube was ~6mo ago and I hadn't noticed any obvious damage at that time and the yellow alignment indicators were setup correctly as well. 

Before undertaking to do the "big take apart", it occurred to me to change out my graunchy old shifter cable and replace the no-name housing with something that hadn't been out in the rain for the last few years. I thought that maybe if it improved anything it would be helpful to guide further troubleshooting steps, and would be worthwhile anyway. What I didn't think was "this will fix the whole problem" but it actually did.

So if anyone needs reminding, and apparently I did, the Alfine hubs are very sensitive to cable friction, tension, and greatly affected by housing "compression" when the cable is tight. Just changing the cable and housing for new, quality replacements, and resetting up the alignment marks will make a world of difference. I was blown away by the improvement. I went from a mushy, vague shifting, gear grinder which I feared needed serious repair/replacement to a clean, precise shifting, reminder of why I love my low maintenance hub for a daily commuter. Plus, I didn't have to take the whole thing apart. 

PSA: Change your cables and housing, you'll be glad you did.


----------



## Velobike (Jun 23, 2007)

b0bg said:


> Perhaps this should be filed under "duh, yathink?" but I'll post it anyway in the hopes that someone finds it useful. ...


Yup, you'll find that applies to almost all hubgears - if there is a problem, then it's more likely to be because of the cables not the actual hubgear. It can be the actual cable, or it can be because the cable is attached in curves that are too tight.

If neglected, then that can subsequently lead to an problem with the actual hubgear.

The same applies to cable brakes. If you think your BB7s or v-brakes are not much good, improve the cables.


----------



## NYrr496 (Sep 10, 2008)

As an added note, try some Rock N Roll Lube's Cable Magic on your inners while assembling new cables. I just started using it. Stuff rocks.


----------



## PlutonicPlague (Jan 19, 2014)

Also, in my experience it pays to be really anal about keeping the cable length adjustment precisely adjusted...not off by more than approximately one tenth the diameter of the finest hairs on a gnat's ass. I'm talking about the necessity of being a total nazi when lining up the yellow marks in the little window on the hub. 
Whenever I notice the slightest glitch or clicking, I check my adjustment....hmmmm the marks kind of look like they MIGHT be off a bit...hmmmm.. I play with the adjustment barrels up on the gear shifter for a few seconds to see if I can line the marks up even more precisely... Aha! That was it.


----------



## Steveroot (Dec 15, 2011)

I have two wheels with Nexus-8 hubs, one standard and one "red band". One is for the winter and wears a studded tire; the other has a normal street tire. I switch these tires on my commuter bike, a Dahon Mu XL, at the appropriate change of seasons. I am able to drop the wheels into place and connect the gear shift cable without touching the adjustment. I replaced the shifter a couple years ago because the mechanism was destroyed by salt. I think I had to make a minor adjustment at that time, and haven't touched it since.
The Alfine-11 on my Tern VS11i is also pretty stable in its adjustment, needing a fraction of a turn of the cable adjustment screw once or twice a year. I think the adjustment may be more consistent when the shifter brings the adjustment marks into alignment by *increasing* cable tension rather than releasing it, because this minimizes the influence of cable friction and any weakness in the return spring. For my Nexus hubs, this means clicking up to the mark from lower gears; for the Alfine it's the reverse.


----------



## Rob_E (Nov 22, 2010)

This is good to heart. I’m currently skipping in 7 and 8. I’m due for a relube, but I’m also running the same cables that I started with when I built the bike up three years ago. I guess there’s a maintenance day in my future.


----------



## Nube on a Tube (Oct 25, 2016)

That's why I went with the Di2 system on my Alfine 11.


----------

