# Alfine Slip



## wheezee (Jun 23, 2008)

Friend of mine has the Alfine 8. Yesterday, powering up a steep hill, the hub just let go, bringing him crashing down in a heap. The result is a wheel so badly buckled, that the shop is ordering a replacement, and a nasty dent in his chest from the handle bar.

The hub worked perfectly well after, and he continued on his way, but the shop guy just shrugged his shoulders as to why it happened. Anyone got any clue as to why it might do this? Is it likely to happen again? Seems pretty dangerous to me...


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## Drew Diller (Jan 4, 2010)

Is the yellow tick mark perfectly lined up when in 4th gear?


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## wheezee (Jun 23, 2008)

Yep, poor set-up/adjustment seems to be it. Another guy at the shop made the same point about the yellow dots.


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## Drew Diller (Jan 4, 2010)

Glad it turned out not so mysterious. How long had he been riding it? There is the notion that it could have been set up correctly, and then cable stretch happened like with any other cable.


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## TheRat (Jul 26, 2012)

This exact thing happened to me today. I thought the cause was a broken chain initially, but once I had recovered from the pain of landing on the cross bar I noticed the chain was very much in tact. 

The Alfine had simply given way as if it had suddenly gone into "neutral" under considerable load bringing me crashing down on to the cross bar.

When I recovered, I got back on the bike and the Alfine funtioned correctly for the remainder of the journey home.

This is the first time it has happened, and I wouldn't like it to happen again.

Have any others experienced this?


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## TheRat (Jul 26, 2012)

I should add the yellow lines are perfectly lined up


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## dru (Sep 4, 2006)

This is a possibility, because it happened to someone here a while ago. Pull the cog off and check that it didn't slip. There's only three little tabs holding it on the hub. As I recall, the poster put a new cog on and all was well.

Rat, what gearing are you running?

Drew


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## TheRat (Jul 26, 2012)

Thanks for the reply. Something definitely slipped. Are you suggesting the cog slipped rather than the gearing in the hub? 

My gearing is an Alfine 8 speed, on the hub is has written

SG-S501


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## dru (Sep 4, 2006)

Yes, I'm saying the rear sprocket may have slipped/stripped where it attaches to the hub. You need to pop off the snap ring to check. It is very easy to do. Watch out though, it could fly up and hit you in the eye. I put my hand over it or use a rag. Lots of info here, just search, if you aren't sure how to check.

Your gearing is the front and rear sprockets' teeth count. 30 up front on the crank and 22 or 24 on the hub places a lot of load on the 3 little tabs on the rear sprocket, that's why I was asking. 

I'm not all that strong or heavy and I've had zero issues with my hub. I run 30/20 on a 29er. Probably have 3000 km on the hub.


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## TheRat (Jul 26, 2012)

Ok, I will have a look at that. I'm neither strong nor heavy. The incident happened about 50 yards after setting off. It was not while I was changing gear, but was already in gear and pedallng to get my speed up, when all of a sudden there was no resistance at all. I mean not just reduced resistance, none whatsoever, which saw me landing on the cross bar and in pain!

My gearing is not modified in anyway, just a bog standard Giant Seek 0.

This has been my only issue with it, and strangely after the incident I rode my usual 6 mile commute with no further issues and the usual smooth gear changes.


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## dru (Sep 4, 2006)

That's weird then. The factory gearing looks like 45/20 which shouldn't stress out the three tabs at all. Honestly I have no idea what else could be the issue. Someone else may have a suggestion though, since there are more that a few of us who post on the Alfine.


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## Yoreskillz (Feb 10, 2011)

Raises hand! I too have experienced the same thing on mine. Hub is only a couple of months old, not a ton of mileage and running 33x22 on a Pugsley. When it happens it's completely random as I can't replicate the situation but has done it to me a couple of times....

I've had nothing but problems in the short amount of time I have had mine. Considered sending it in for warranty but I am not convinced that I want to put it back on my Pugsley. Irritated me enough that I decided against it for my Moonlander build and went with a Rohloff!


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## Andy R (Nov 26, 2008)

It's worth checking that the gear change cable isn't suffering from any stiction, as this can cause a delay in operation of the shift mechanism, especially when changing down through the gears, as the return spring in the hub has to overcome cable friction as well as initiating the actual gear change.

Also, too short a cable or bad cable routing can cause small changes in cable tension as you turn the bars - like ghost shifting can occur with suspension movement on a FS bike if the rear mech cable is too short or badly placed. Not a very likely cause in this case however.


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## mjduct (Jul 31, 2012)

My alfine 8 on my niner one9 has had some minor slips and it was due to the hub being loose. I took the wheel in to be rebuilt (busted spokes) and the shop mechanic said he had to retension it (a cone wrench on each side did the trick), no slippage since!


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