# Alfine 11 + Maverick ML-8



## fellsbiker (Jun 17, 2006)

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Sooooo, my Alfine 11 has arrived :-D
This is my initial setup. The chain is my old 9 speed, I haven't replaced it yet because I'm still playing around a lot with length and tension. I have a singlespeed 32t ring on the way, right now it's still my ramped 32t. It's 32t-20t btw. So far I have to say the hub has been flawless. I've done two solid rides, one in the Fells and one in Lynn, and it's been a champ. Lots of steep technical climbs where I'm mashing the **** out of it. No issues at all. Shifting is a little stiff but I feel like that's coming from the shifter more than the hub itself.

So weight-wise, I'm currently at less than one pound gained. I'll loose a few more ounces when I get rid of that front derailer mount, and replace that old bash guard with a plexi one. My old setup was 27 speed with a monster bash-gaurd protecting my big ring.

The Alfine has GREAT range too! I used everyone one of my gears in my 27 speed setup. And while I definitely miss my extra high high gear, and my extra low low gear, it still has a very wide range. I'm sure almost everyone could get by with the range you get out of this hub.

While I've had no issue with the hub itself, turning my bike into a singlespeed hasn't gone as smooth as I hoped. As you can see, my chainstays hang awfully low relative to my bottom bracket. I had to make a little shield to reduce chain slap. And if you think my chain is too long, you're right. BUT, if i take out a pair of links, the guides on the tensioner hit the guides on the cog when I compress my suspension. What you really can't tell is that the chainline is a little off. I'm going to try taking the cog off and flipping it outward, so its better aligned with my middle ring, and at the same time take it's guides off. that will let me take a full pair of links out of my chain. The tensioner will also function a lot better when it's higher up. Right now it's hanging too low. I figures theres really no way to get around the chain slap, so I'll just make a plastic shield and wrap the chain-stay and plastic in black bar tape. I could upgrade to something like a 36t chainring and 22t cog which would give me a similar gear range, but I'd rather not do that.

So once I get the ideal chain length and routing figured out, I'm going to buy a singlespeed chain, maybe a BMX chain.

So one last comment. Aside from chain slap, it is super solid. The bike feels more maneuverable because you don't have pounds of metal just bouncing around back there. Everything is tight and solid, and it really lets you move the bike around a lot more.

I wasn't paying attention too much when they put the hub together, anyone know how to pop this cog off so I can flip it?
Also anyone know if there will be any issues if I remove the plastic chain guides around the cog? I assume they do nothing else and would be fine to remove?


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## LukeSPOOK (Aug 27, 2007)

Nice looking ride fells.
Your chainstay does look a bit lower than I've noticed on other bikes.
To remove cog is done by popping off that circlip/steel ring thing with a couple of screwdrivers I think, if the 11 set up is same as the 8 Alfine.
:thumbsup:


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## fellsbiker (Jun 17, 2006)

My BB is in the middle of the monolink, that links the rear triangle to the front triangle. Thats why it's so high. If i had a pic from the other side, it would be clear. There's two pivots down there. But yeah that low hanging stay is probably going to be an ongoing problem. Still not as much of a problem as derailers used to be! hah.


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## sealcove (Apr 26, 2004)

Does the Maverick exhibit any chain growth throughout its travel? If so, about how much? Half-link could work to get the chain tighter, but you may still need to contend with chain growth. I've seen some duallies, mostly the 4-bar types, that need all the extra chain they can get, but the Maverick looks almost URT-like, perhaps less growth exists with that design.


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## fellsbiker (Jun 17, 2006)

The Maverick does have less chain growth than a normal bike. I thought about a half link but I'm not a fan of putting a pin back INTO my chain. They make halflinks with cotterpins but that wouldn't fit between the guides. But if I can flip the cog and remove those guides, then I should have enough clearance to remove a full pair of links (no need for halflink).


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## fellsbiker (Jun 17, 2006)

So I did what I kept saying, I flipped the cog around so it's lined up with my middle ring, giving me a much straighter chain line. I also removed the plastic chain guide, so my singleator can get way more up there without hitting it. Then I removed two chain links. The chain is much tighter now, I'd say it is ideal at this point. Except the shorter chain pulls the tensioner up, which raises the bottom side of the chain, and puts it even closer to my chainstay. I think chain slap is simply my new reality. Once my new parts come, I'll take some final pics of the whole setup. 

Maybe Maverick will start doing an offset chainstay, like specialized does on some of their bikes. They could raise the one on the drive side so it would be better suited for singlespeed use.


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## 2na time (Feb 15, 2008)

Nice rig! I have had the ML7 and 7.5 run as an ss using a rohloff tensioner and agree with your sentiments after the build regarding solid feeling and mostly quiet. One question - what do you do with that thing with the Maxxis Hookworms?


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## fellsbiker (Jun 17, 2006)

Ride on rocky new england trails. Hookworms grip amazing. Sure they aren't so great on loose gravel but knobbies aren't so great on solid granite. For where I do most of my riding (Fells & Lynn Woods), hookworms are the way to go!

Anyway, I did a very technical ride today which revealed a new problem, my tensioner is also slapping the chainstay, pretty hard, on the really rough high speed stuff. But looking at where it's hitting, it should be very easy to pad that up.


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## fellsbiker (Jun 17, 2006)

Here's some new pics. I got my new Surly stainless steel 32t chainring, and a white plastic bashguard. I also removed a pair of links from the original pics. I made some slight modifications to the hub including flipping my cog around. Now the Singleator doesn't hit the hub at all. And my chainline is much straighter. The only thing left to do is get rid of the front derailer mount, install my new chain once it arrives, and replace my duct-tape chainstay guard with something else, probably just some bar tape over a thin piece of wood or plastic.

Also you may not be able to tell from the pics, but I took the toothless chain wheel out of an old KORE chain tensioner I had and slipped that around the arm of the Surly so there will be no more metal on metal slapping from the tensioner. The Kore tensioners are designed for bike frames of the mid-90s and simply don't work on modern bikes with their large tube diameter. You would think that they would come out with a new design, because a tensioner that holds the chain in the middle like that would be optimal but oh well.

Whole Bike


Closeup


Suspension Compression Video with Singleator:


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## Stopbreakindown (Jun 27, 2011)

Nice duct tape mod!

Are using an adapter (centerlock to 6 bolt) for the rotor or is it a centerlock rotor? Did you have to use a spacer for the rotor in either set-up?


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## fellsbiker (Jun 17, 2006)

It is a 6 bolt adapter. It's actually the shimano centerlock to 6 blot adapter. So no spacer or anything, everything just slid right together. Also that duct tape has since been replaced with zip ties and tube fragments. I still need a better tensioner though, the singlator doesn't cut it for FS


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## Stopbreakindown (Jun 27, 2011)

fellsbiker said:


> It is a 6 bolt adapter. It's actually the shimano centerlock to 6 blot adapter. So no spacer or anything, everything just slid right together. Also that duct tape has since been *replaced with zip ties and tube fragments*. I still need a better tensioner though, the singlator doesn't cut it for FS


Nice!


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## 2na time (Feb 15, 2008)

fellsbiker said:


> It is a 6 bolt adapter. It's actually the shimano centerlock to 6 blot adapter. So no spacer or anything, everything just slid right together. Also that duct tape has since been replaced with zip ties and tube fragments. I still need a better tensioner though, the singlator doesn't cut it for FS


Try the Rholloff (sp?).They make 2 different ones. I used the XC version, which does not require you to take off the tensioner to remove the wheel. I have also heard about YESS tensioners...


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## dundundata (May 15, 2009)

hooray for the Fells!


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## fellsbiker (Jun 17, 2006)

I'm bringing back my old thread!
The chain as pictured above was very tight.

But then my rear triangle cracked. They shipped me out a replacement, but the replacement was just a fraction of an inch longer than the original. Long enough, that I no longer had enough chain. So I added a half link, and now the chain has a lot of slack. A lot more slack than it had on the old triangle.

I never drop my chain, it's really just an issue of chain slap. Sever chain slap, with the chain stay so close to the chain.

I have looked into YESS tensioners. Particularly their bottom bracket tensioner. Having the tensioner connected to the BB instead of the very weak derailer hanger would be a massive improvement for this bike. Bit their BB tensioner pushes the chain up. For me to make it work, I'd have to reverse the sprint so it pushes down. My chain may end up hanging very low with that kind of setup though. I'm going to have to experiment.

But with a rear triangle that was made to be used in a single-speed situation, a BB spring loaded tensioner, and nothing hanging on the back derailer area, would be a perfect setup!

If YESS' BB tensioner doesn't work:
ETR/B / bike chain tensioners and other goodies / your friends at yess labs

Then I'll probably go with one of their others. They seem to be much higher quality than my Singleator. But I'm a little concerned that the YESS tensioners are going to put too much pressure on the hanger, making it break more often. They strongly recommend I go with there dual-pulley tensioner, but I much prefer a single pulley model, so we'll have to wait and see how it goes.


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## fellsbiker (Jun 17, 2006)

So I'm currently running a 32/20 gear setup. But I was thinking of switching to a 36/22 gear setup instead. That would give me almost the exact same overall ratios (yes, I did the math), but that should give me a little more chainstay clearance to play with. Assuming my bash guard can protect a 36t chainring. I think I'm going to end up with a rear derailer-style tensioner whether I like it or not, and I think the larger gear diameters will help with the ML8's clearance problem. This frame was really designed for a derailer. A long cage derailer.


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## Jenda (Jan 20, 2010)

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