# Shimano Alfine SG-S7000 8 speed reviews



## gorman2040 (Oct 23, 2014)

Hey,

I did not found any thread on this new IGH so I thought I start one...

Did bought this for my 29+ Motobecane SS (see my other posts).

I will skip the building part unless someone has questions about it.

My experience with IGH is a new SA 3 speed and a very used and rusty Nexus 8 speed with coaster brake.

I have around 100 kms on this hub.

It really feel like rolling good from the start, doesn't seem to need any bedding to me. No noise on any gears.

I don't like the new "top down" shifting. It is not natural since most system use the tension to gear up and release to gear down. Also when you stop and leave your bike, you either need to shift to 8th to release coil tension (which I read somewhere is better for durability of the coil). Or leave it as is and keep the coil tensioned.

I also don't like trigger shifter since you are not able to multishift. When you ride in city you need to multishift when you stop quickly and start again. I have grip shift on my old nexus and prefer it for quick gear change and simplicity.

Apart from these 2 things I had very little slipage of misengage of gears. Let say once per 2h00 riding with intense shifting (city use and I always use my gears when starting). I need to lube the shift cable and cut it shorter as I suspect this can cause some actuation problems.

I really feel the difference between my old nexus. The freewheel on this one is totally silent.

I also like the sealing plastic cap on the right (cog) side which is both easy to dismount and seal much better than the clip-on on the old hubs. I added some boat trailer grease to keep the water out as I felt Shimano didn't put enough.

I will update this post when I have more mileage on the hub.

Oh and I am geared 33x20 which I think is below Shimano recommendations but since I'm a light rider (140 lbs) and not a super athlete, it should be ok.

I cut the cable and sleeve to fit my bike. I also put some oil inside the sleeve. Shifting is now easier than before and feel really instant.


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## Rob_E (Nov 22, 2010)

gorman2040 said:


> I cut the cable and sleeve to fit my bike. I lso put some inside the sleeve. Shifting is now easier than before and feel really instant.


Some grease? Oil? Marshmallow fluff?

Thanks for the review. I recently got this hub, too. I don't know how much I've used it, probably 2 or 3 hundred miles. I'm hoping it proves reliable because right now it's on my touring/commuting bike, and I'd like to use it on my Troll when I get it.

The shifting direction isn't an issue for me because I wasn't used to the old way. And I've never heard a recommendation to move the shifter to its most slack state. Because it's geared kind of low for my commute, it's usually in the upper range anyway, but because I live at the top of a hill, the bike is usually in the middle of the gear range overnight.

4th gear feels a little "crunchy" to me. It works fine. No shifting issues. But I get a little vibration through the drive train and think "I must be in 4th gear." and sure enough.

But over all, I'm very happy with this hub so far. I'm coming from a Nuvinci, and you just can't beat Nuvinci's shifting: shift under load, shift to any point in the range, not just a particular gear. But this hub is lighter, which I appreciate, and removing the wheel is easier as well. I'm already in the market for a 2nd one, so that I can have two wheels running the same hub to facilitate swapping between them.


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## gorman2040 (Oct 23, 2014)

Rob_E said:


> Some grease? Oil? Marshmallow fluff?
> 
> Thanks for the review. I recently got this hub, too. I don't know how much I've used it, probably 2 or 3 hundred miles. I'm hoping it proves reliable because right now it's on my touring/commuting bike, and I'd like to use it on my Troll when I get it.
> 
> ...


Sorry I wrote this a little to quick. I corrected my previous post.

I think you are correct about leaving the shifter wherever you want.
I take great care of my stuff and I read somewhere that stuff need to be "unloaded" when not in use so it made sense to me for this hub 

I still prefer "loading" the coil for gearing up and "unloading" for gearing down. I think most derailleurs work this way too.

Still going strong on my bike. The hub is not performing perfect but it is quite close and no crunching in any gears. I need to check the indicator to know in which gear I am.

Also I read the user and dealer manuals and it state the "recommended" chainring to cog ratio. there is not statement that you must not use one out of the range


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## spectastic (Mar 10, 2015)

I want to see more reviews too, particularly comparing with the older s500


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## lesoudeur (Nov 3, 2005)

I have been running the SG-S7000-8 for a while and the comparison with the previous version is pretty much based on the routing of the cable to emulate that of the 11 speed. In that respect it is easier to work on taking the wheel off / on. I believe the internals are the same so did not expect or detect any change from the 501 which is what I had before going single speed in the meantime. I have had no problems with the SL-S7000-8 Rapidfire Plus shift lever either but it only allows a single gear change at any one time as opposed to the 11 speed shift which allows two. The SG-S7000-8 still uses grease for lubrication so I have not had any problems with leakage unlike the 11 which constanty weeps a little (but is smoother overall).


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## Agwan (Feb 16, 2011)

Yeah, the internals are proven on these hubs, and more or less unchanged. The shifter/ gear selector and a few little bits have been changed, the shifter was indeed changed to emulate the 11 speed, which itself was designed to emulate a normal derailleur shifter.

tiny changes must have been made to help with drag as well, because I've seen enough 500 series Alfines, and the two S7000's I just set up for a customer were the least draggy I've ever handled. and I love that the shifter doesn't feel dead and backwards anymore.


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## gorman2040 (Oct 23, 2014)

Agwan said:


> I love that the shifter doesn't feel dead and backwards anymore.


Do you mean that you prefer the new shifting up/down ?

I did a small trip this weekend, around 150 kms. Bike was pretty heavy and going on steep hill. No problems with the hub. Still love it


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## PlutonicPlague (Jan 19, 2014)

I've got over a thousand K (over 700 miles) on my sg-s501 and its running smooth and quiet. Better than ever, now that its broken in. 
I was going to have (and am still considering it...have an order ready to call in) a second set of wheels made for my Pugsley... some 29+ Rabbit Holes, so that I could roll as a Krampugs. The beauty of that idea depends on being able to do a quick wheel swap.
But Shimano kind of pulled the rug out from under those plans by changing the shifter along with the upgrade to sg-s7000. 
Now, a "quick" wheel switch is not possible, since I would have to remove the R-hand grip, brake lever, and shifter from my bars, as well as the cable (only 5 zip-ties), and then re-install the other shifter and cable and stuff, just to swap wheel sets. That looks like too much faffing around. I wanted a quick swap.

So now, I am looking for a new-in-box SG-S501, so that I can go ahead with my plans to set up a Krampugs. Otherwise, it looks like I'm going to save some money and not purchase an extra wheel set. My Marge Lite wheel set are really all the wheels I need.
I had so much fun on an 18 mile ride over varied terrain yesterday (capped off with a 5+ mile downwind sail on the beach at low tide, finishing up as the sun was setting), that 3" wagon wheels couldn't have added even a tiny bit more pleasure...might have felt slightly different, but I couldn't have had any more fun than I did on my current wheel set.
Now I'm thinking: why even try to improve on what's already working perfectly?

This gives me incentive to save up for a Carver Ti O'Beast Pinion!


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## gorman2040 (Oct 23, 2014)

Completely agree with you. Why change something that works well ?
I don't understand why Shimano switched gear change. That and the fact they don't offer twist shifter anymore...

For the Pugs, I guess if you don't always ride concrete your current wheelset is good, if you don't mind a little extra drag from larger tires.

But as always, it comes down to personal tastes


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## PlutonicPlague (Jan 19, 2014)

I am doing OK right now by simply altering my tire pressures. I started out yesterday's ride with a quick 1.5 mi sprint up the highway with 9 lbs F (no self-steer at all at 9 lbs), and 11 lbs R, and then rode some singletrack without letting any air out, since I had another couple of miles of pavement after that before I hit the next trail network (where I was again lazy and didn't let any air out or the tires...I prefer 7-8 F and 9-10 R for these trails), followed by a brief dash over more pavement to the beach, where I aired my tires (Fat B Nimbles) down to about 6 F and 8 R for the mainly hard-packed sand closer to the water (was low tide). 
The FBNs roll smoothly on the pavement at the higher pressures, although they howl a bit.
My SG-S501 has been running flawlessly ever since I fine-tuned the cable adjustment.
So, I can just alter my ride with changes in tire pressure.
I'm going to swap my rear cog the next time I have the wheel off. Going from a 20 t to a 19 t. I'm running a 26 t chainring, and the 20 t cog I'm now trying seems just a tad too low. I might need that if i went on a hilly bike tour. The 18 t cog I started with worked fine, and I might go back to that, now that I'm recovering more from my heart failure and getting stronger again.


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## Rob_E (Nov 22, 2010)

PlutonicPlague said:


> But Shimano kind of pulled the rug out from under those plans by changing the shifter along with the upgrade to sg-s7000.
> Now, a "quick" wheel switch is not possible, since I would have to remove the R-hand grip, brake lever, and shifter from my bars, as well as the cable (only 5 zip-ties), and then re-install the other shifter and cable and stuff, just to swap wheel sets. That looks like too much faffing around. I wanted a quick swap.
> 
> So now, I am looking for a new-in-box SG-S501, so that I can go ahead with my plans to set up a Krampugs. Otherwise, it looks like I'm going to save some money and not purchase an extra wheel set. My Marge Lite wheel set are really all the wheels I need.


I think, and I could be completely wrong about this, that the shifter will actually work, but it will work in reverse. That may not actually be helpful for a quick wheel change, because it means that suddenly the "gear up" lever will gear down and vice versa. Could get confusing. But my understanding is that the cable pulls are the same, as long as you set it up remembering that 8 on the shifter means 1 on the hub. Although I have also read somewhere that the pinch bolt at the end of the shift cable is also different. So swap out the wheel, swap out the pinch bolt, and remember that your gears are backwards now, and you're good to go. Still not as easy and far from ideal, but maybe possible. Also your little, yellow dots would have to line up when the shifter shows 5, not 4.

I do feel like there are still new SG-501s to be had. I am in the opposite situation. I bought my wheel completely ignorant of the changes to the hub, but I got an s7000. I haven't used the other to compare them, but it seems to work fine. But now, because I also want to do easy wheel swaps, I have to confirm that I'm buying the new hub rather than the old one.



gorman2040 said:


> Completely agree with you. Why change something that works well ?
> I don't understand why Shimano switched gear change. That and the fact they don't offer twist shifter anymore...


I don't know the reason for the change, but I expect it hits us harder because we're at the transition point. Going forward the new way will likely become the standard. My understanding is that the twist shifter was technically a Nexus part. Since the hub internals were pretty much the same, they were interchangeable. Technically, I think you could still use a Nexus twist shifter, but the numbers would be backwards and the rotation direction would be the opposite of what it'd be when used on a Nexus or S501 hub.

It seems like preserving that compatibility between the Nexus and the Alfine hubs would be desirable, and it seems like if the reversed shifting is somehow beneficial to the Alfine hubs, then it would also be beneficial to the Nexus hubs, so perhaps Nexus hubs will be similarly changed, and we'll get a proper twist shifter again.

I did buy a twist shifter for my S7000 before I realized that it would be backwards when compared to my hub. Fortunately by the time I got it, I had grown accustom to the trigger shifter, so I never had the irritation or confusion of trying to install it and having everything run backwards.


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## PlutonicPlague (Jan 19, 2014)

Thanks for the info, Rob_E. I'm just going to maintain my Pugs in its current configuration. Its awesome enough, already! I have no complaints about my SG-S501. I am not expecting it to fail. 
If I don't go for a Pinion bike (probably with Gates belt drive), my next bike will likely have an SG-S7000. 

I've toyed with the idea of starting over with a SG-S7000 and another rear Marge Lite wheel build, and then springing for a set of Rabbit Holes on top of that, so that I can go ahead with the Krampugs plan, but the Pugs I have is awesome as it is, being a dedicated Pugs.
I'm now stepping back from the 29+ bandwagon, and squinting hard.:skep:
I know that I don't need one. 
I might have to save my coin for the category killer.


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## gorman2040 (Oct 23, 2014)

Well, I read that the 5th is a longer pull but you could be right.

Anyway it's too complicated for me, I'll stick with the trigger shifter for now and eventually try the new SA rotary 5 speed hub when it will be available.


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## Rob_E (Nov 22, 2010)

gorman2040 said:


> Well, I read that the 5th is a longer pull but you could be right.


From what I've read, the cable pull from 4th gear to 5th gear is a longer pull than any of the other gear shifts. But that's the same for both hubs, 501 and 7000. And the 4th-5th transition is in the middle of the shifting sequence, so when the hub is going from 4th to 5th, the shifter reads that's going from 5th to 4th. Same amount of cable pull either way.


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## PlutonicPlague (Jan 19, 2014)

I 'm pretty sure that the longer push is from 5th to 6th on my SG-S501. 
I did locate a nib 501 on the net. Might have to go for it, as the price of admission into pinion/ti/carbon/gates is downright humiliating!:eekster:



Rob_E said:


> From what I've read, the cable pull from 4th
> gear to 5th gear is a longer pull than any of the other gear shifts. But that's the same for both hubs, 501 and 7000. And the 4th-5th transition is in the middle of the shifting sequence, so when the hub is going from 4th to 5th, the shifter reads that's going from 5th to 4th. Same amount of cable pull either way.


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## PlutonicPlague (Jan 19, 2014)

I'd better go for a ride...


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## Rob_E (Nov 22, 2010)

This is where I most recently found info about the shifters: CTC Forum ? View topic - Alfine 8 query

They did some measuring of cable pull to confirm that it should work in both directions. Not sure if anyone is actually running that set-up, though. Apart from the case where you wanted to swap out wheels, there's really not much need, I guess. Just find the shifter that matches your hub.


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## Agwan (Feb 16, 2011)

The old shifter doesn't work at all. I played with it during our customers installs. (We had it in stock, i fiddled with it while waiting for shimano to send us the s7000 shifter)

My 501 works ideally, but I like the 7000 much, much more. They fixed pretty much every complaint I had. The new shifter feels a lot better.


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## PlutonicPlague (Jan 19, 2014)

Thanks, Agwan!


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## gorman2040 (Oct 23, 2014)

This is interesting, I hope IGH renewed interest will make manufacturer go for more products.


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## maciejas (Dec 8, 2013)

Agwan said:


> The old shifter doesn't work at all. I played with it during our customers installs. (We had it in stock, i fiddled with it while waiting for shimano to send us the s7000 shifter)


This!

I am just replacing the S500 with S7000 and tried to re-use the old lever, cable and the inner cable fixing bolt. Comapring to 500 series I have found that:
1) The bolt is different (cable within the bolt is routed differently) - probably due to the fact that the cable is routed from the top
2) The distance between cable stop and cable bolt is different (145 mm vs 101 mm according to the spec)

However I am somehow having the troubles to have the gears adjusted properly - the recommended 145 mm does not seem to work in my setup. 

How did you guys install the bolt with your S7000 hubs? Did you take some measurements (as recommended by SH spec) or did you experiment the correct bolt position?


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## Rob_E (Nov 22, 2010)

I used the 145 mm measurement, tweaked the adjustment to get 4th gear lined up, and all was well.


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## Agwan (Feb 16, 2011)

We don't have the cable length tool yet, S I just aligned the yellow marks, put the cable and nut in position without tightening it down. marked position with a sharpie, removed it. tightened the nut down, and then did my final adjustment of the cable. 

then I ran it through the gears, checked adjustment, test rode, checked again. and was done.

It's not the most efficient way to do it. but it worked.


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## Rob_E (Nov 22, 2010)

Is there a cable length tool? I just measured with whatever I had. Actually, I measured out the distance on an old spoke and cut the spoke to length. Now that spoke is in my tool pouch so I can use it to hold the spring-loaded shift mechanism in a position to give me enough cable slack to remove the cable bolt, and, if necessary, use it to measure out the cable length if I should have to replace the cable.


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## Agwan (Feb 16, 2011)

these, the 500 and 700s have them, not totally sure if they make an s7000 specific one.


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## maciejas (Dec 8, 2013)

Thanks, so apparently I must be doing sth wrong if 145 mm doesn't work in my setup. 

I didn't know about that tool. Shimano seems to have a tool for everything


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## wschruba (Apr 13, 2012)

The tool is only really necessary in a production environment (ie: a shop). Otherwise, a good machinist's rule and a few turns of the barrel adjuster will get you there. Follow the instructions for length in the manual for the cassette joint/hub.


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## Agwan (Feb 16, 2011)

The tool is not really necessary in a production environment (ie: a shop). But it sure as hell is handy.

The dust cap wrench, that thing is worth it.


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## Velobike (Jun 23, 2007)

I'm disappointed they still quote a chainline of 41.8mm. 

I hoped that with the move to fatter tyres there would be some change in this to around 48-50mm.


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## Agwan (Feb 16, 2011)

The "move" is for mountain bikes. And it's a move that rots on our sales floor. Never, ever, ever selling.

I think, since this is an "Urban/Commuter" hub, That shimano doesn't care to accommodate the three guys every year who want to put this hub on a Krampus.

Now, we all know it works perfectly on a mountain bike. But modifying a niche product to work for an opposite niche product leaves you with a very limited Venn diagram of interested customers.


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## gorman2040 (Oct 23, 2014)

True ! So that's why it's so hard for us to build our dream bike :-(

@Velobike: I mounted it on my Motobecane 29+ SS. No problems with the 3" tires.
Not sure if it will be possible to had a chaincase though.

One interesting thing is that Rohloff built the speedhub XL for fatties so I guess they thought about it before doing it. So I guess there is a market develloping for this.
I think all hubs are not all very sturdy so annoucing it for mountain biking could be risky.

Also, Shimano does their hubs for 32 and 36 spokes. To me it means it is for standard and MTB wheels, but I could be wrong on that. Look at Sturmey-Archer who does only 36 holes versions (that's my main rant, I mean MTB rims only in 32 holes version).


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## Higgins17 (Dec 6, 2009)

Rob_E said:


> This is where I most recently found info about the shifters: CTC Forum ? View topic - Alfine 8 query
> 
> They did some measuring of cable pull to confirm that it should work in both directions. Not sure if anyone is actually running that set-up, though. Apart from the case where you wanted to swap out wheels, there's really not much need, I guess. Just find the shifter that matches your hub.


Can someone please confirm with real world experience whether or not a Nexus Revo Shifter will work with the Alfine S7000-8 hub? I'm not loving the reversed shifting and am looking for alternatives.

Thanks!


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## PlutonicPlague (Jan 19, 2014)

My Alfine sg-s7000 is still working flawlessly. So is my sg-s 501. Both hubs are smooth shifting and quiet running. The sg-s 7000 feels just a tad quicker.
Swapping from one bike to another, I have to remember which bike I'm on at first, but I quickly get into instinctively shifting correctly after a few gear changes. Its just takes a little presence of mind at first.
My older sg-s 500 is also quiet and smooth running, but it suffers from that infamous lag/drag after a shift.

I'm still messing around with input gear ratios, trying to find the one which is optimal for me.


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## gorman2040 (Oct 23, 2014)

Hi guys,

Just to let you know my SG-S7000 still works 
It's getting around 5000kms and it got through the Montreal winter outside everyday.
Since I installed slick tires for summer I can feel a little grinding in 4th gear.
I'll try to do an oil bath soon to check if it improves anything.

I still don't like the top-down gears and the trigger shifter, this will be something I will check in the future if I'm going to buy a new hub.
Trigger is too slow to change a couple of gear at once.
Top down gears are sticky when I need an easier gear on uphill (not sure if it is top down or the downshifting mechanism).

Also center-lock is not very good if you don't have Shimano gears.
What I mean is a proper center-lock rotor and fixing ring.
It's a shame Shimano don't give center-lock ring with the hub.
I was coming from a six bolt rotor and had to buy an adaptor, I think it was from reverse.
Eventually the lock ring came loose, the six bolt on the adaptor prevented the ring getting screwed all the way. It sheared the lock ring and the rotor was loose (but it still worked as the caliper prevented the rotor from falling off.
I found an used Shimano lock-ring but I didn't had the special tool to screw it.
So I used a wrench and it is still holding after a couple month.

Bottom line, I didn't liked the proprietary design :-/


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## Drew Diller (Jan 4, 2010)

Centerlock on its own is sweet. Centerlock with adapters can be really really bad for a number of reasons -- IF you buy the wrong adapter. Which one did you get? Was it the Problem Solvers adapter? They generally make good products but their Centerlock adapter doesn't embrace the way Centerlock is really designed. Unfortunately this means you should get the more expensive adapter from Shimano. It's supposed to be a flange sort of design, and some of the adapters treat it as a C-clip design, which causes disc rotor warp.


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## gorman2040 (Oct 23, 2014)

As I said I think it's reverse brand.
You are correct about adaptor but the new part I have is Shimano and it's not better (apart from the metal quality).
The problem is the protruding bolts to secure the six bolt rotor.
I think it is flange sort but I'll try to post a picture.

Anyway, it's not critical since I have two brakes, but being forced to use something non standard with no easy replacement feels bad.

Another good point for Sturmey Archer / Rohloff


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## gorman2040 (Oct 23, 2014)

Update: now more than 14000km on this hub. 4000km on a loaded bike trip on the trans Canada trail which can be quite rough in some provinces. I am now using it for mountain biking in British Columbia. I would welcome more low gear for climbing but only for the steepest hills.
Recently bought an old Nexus SG8R31 and now I can feel the difference in drag while pedaling (SG-S7000 better).


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

Hey Gorman,
I'm MTBing a 7001-8 on Vancouver Island. Your hub internals look really really clean. I had mine serviced, then I pulled mine apart after 2 rides on some local singletrack and the drive side bearing cage grease was turning brown. I did clean it out and regrease the hub. I'm wondering if the guy I paid to service the hub did a crap job. The hub seems to make a little more noise than it should when it freewheels. It's also below zero so I'm wondering if it's the grease getting solid and the roller clutch doesn't like that . I was thinking of putting some kind ATF or alfine 11 oil in it next time I service it.


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## gorman2040 (Oct 23, 2014)

Hey Nube,
Nice to know you're using that hub too !
It's hard to know what happened since it's not rocket science, I do know that i take my time putting grease in every spot I think water may enter.
Shops have to be profitable so they can't take as much time to service everything.
Also the air might be more salty on the Island than on the mainland.

I thought the same about grease in winter although I never heard any difference.
Maybe using some winter grease ? Don't know is that even exist.
You don't do an oil bath when you service your hub ?

I plunge mine in ATF and spin it a few time so oil penetrate better. I then let it stay for an hour so heavy particles would go at the bottom.
I then put it on the side for a few hours so the excess oil sips out.
Last step is putting a bit of grease on cogs on putting everything back together with grease on threads and contact areas.


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

Well, this was the first time it was serviced and the shop that serviced it had told me that they had dipped it. So I didn't bother with it. I did clean and grease it up really well, especially around the external bearings as I don't like the idea of water getting in. It's just dumped a ton of snow here so I don't think I'll be riding it for a while so I might just pull it apart again and give it another dip. The other problem I had was trying to separate the planetary carrier from the axle. The 7001 is in 8th gear with no cable tension so I'm assuming the 3rd planetary pauls were extended and catching on the carrier. I did get some extra grease inside the planetary cage though, just for good measure.


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## Bram1982 (Jul 8, 2020)

Chiming in to say my Alfine 8 Speed (SG-7001-8 Disc) is still going strong after 10.000+ km's. It's on a touring/city bike that originally came with a Nexus 8-speed from 2017, but that one would sometimes slip half a pedal turn. I was never able to pinpoint the cause and the third time I opened it up I went to far with disassembly and un-seated the return-gear spring. This is kinda impossible to put back without specific knowledge/tools, so I ended up deciding to install the Alfine 8 speed and keep the Nexus 8 for spare parts. The Alfine has been in this same bike since and working great.

After 1000km I decided to remove all the Shimano grease and add Dexron VI ATF (automatic transmission fluid). Amount about 15ml, so there's always a little pool inside the hub. Switching gears became even quicker, but the hub also became a tiny bit noisier. My guess is the ATF was a bit on the thin side. After another 1000km I switched to Gearbox Oil Type: MPM Gearbox Oil Semi Synthetic API GL4/5 75W90. Amount also 15ml. This made the hub even quieter and gear change is still lightning quick. I think this is the better choice.

Note: From what I've read elsewhere: Avoid gearbox oil with a single GL5 type indication since that has supposedly additives that might react with certain metal parts. Another source argued however it only causes slight discoloration and only with high temperatures. Anyway, the mentioned oil should be safe for metal and for plastic as its been in my hub for 8.000km and counting.

Last week I opened the hub for inspection and everything looked absolutely pristine. Planetary gears, roller clutches, plastic ball bearing holders, the inside of the shell.. all looked like new. I even did a side by side comparison with some of the old Nexus 8 parts (with had less then 1000km) and I could not see or feel any difference! Picture shows left Alfine internal and right Nexus.








p.s
These parts are interchangeable, tried it.

The one thing to double check when re-assembling these hubs is to NOT over-tighten the nut that holds/clamps the internals into the hub shell. If you do, it will have a lot of drag because of extra pressure on the ball bearings and your back wheel will maybe only spin for a rotation or 2 when you give it a swing with your hand. Getting it just right is not hard though. Tighten the nut with your hand only and feel there's no wiggle/play in the axle. If done correctly your wheel will still free-spin at least 15 rotations.

I also put some ball bearing grease on the ball bearings left and right to stop any oil from leaking out. Also added some grease tot he big round plastic screw-on cap for anti-leak. And as others have mentioned: Gear shift cable calibration is critical. Get the marks aligned in 4th gear and re-check once in a while.

Although I don't climb up big mountains or do wild off-road MTB, I do stand on the pedals and even pull my steering for extra force when the green light shows and I generally go 30km/h and up. But with the proper attention I think this hub will do another 10.000km easily.


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## Rob_E (Nov 22, 2010)

This is one thread I'm glad to see getting resurrected from time to time. Good to see how these hubs hold up. My original hub is not in service, but not because of any problems with the hub. That bike died a literal, fiery death. The hub never stood a chance, but it worked flawlessly for the 6 or 7 months I had it. Built up a 2nd wheel at the end of 2015. After 3.5 years with that as part of my main wheelset on my main bike (probably around 10K miles), I finally decided I better do the "annual" service. I can't remember if there was an issue with the hub that made me think it was time. Possibly there was, or possibly I messed up reassembling the hub after giving a dunk in the Shimano hub fluid and lubricating it with the Shimano bearing grease, but around a month after finally servicing it, it froze up. I tried figuring out what was frozen and if it was fixable, but I had so many pieces out, wasn't sure I could remember how to put them back properly, and still hadn't unfrozen whatever had gotten stuck, so I gave up. I picked up a replacement on eBay, pulled the guts out, and replaced the guts of my hub. That was last September, and it's been running fine since then. Probably another 3000 miles at least.

Meanwhile, towards the end of 2016 I built up a secondary wheelset with the same model hub. Those wheels get used often enough, but not as much as my other set. I serviced them last summer as well. That hub has been trouble-free for going on 4 years, and I really don't know how many thousand miles.

Also, kind of related, got a bike with Nexus 8 in the summer of 2016. It's my back-up bike, so it doesn't get a lot of miles, but it's also a folding bike, so it's the preferred bike if I'm traveling but not touring, so it does get some miles in. It also hasn't given me any trouble, but I do want to swap it for an Alfine because it's always an adjustment with the "backward" shifting.

So, so far, 5 years on 3 different Alfine 8 hubs. Only one failure, that may have been my own fault, and along the way I've commuted 5 days a week on them, run errands and goofed around on the weekends on them, toured on them, etc. I rarely drive, so the bikes are my primary means of transportation. I'm still very happy with the hub, and the fact that I was able to swap the internals of my broken hub without even needing to rebuild the wheel is also a plus. I probably need to do another servicing some time this summer, but I have no qualms about using this hub for just about anything. Also, while I wouldn't mind a larger gear range, I've been pretty happy with that aspect, too. I think I have them geared close to the ratio that gives me the lowest gear within the recommended specs, and that's low enough to get me up most of the hills I have to deal with, and high enough that by the time in top gear, I'm happy with my speed. I'm not a fast rider, though, and don't mind coasting on the downhills, so I can see where someone looking to push themselves might want more range. It's been working great for me, though.


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## Bram1982 (Jul 8, 2020)

Short update: Now at 12.500km, still on gearbox oil. No problems whatsoever. Very quiet and very quick shifting.

From all the years now with this hub and disassembling it multiple times I did learn that:

A) It's important to tighten the 2 axle nuts very securely. If you don't, the Alfine might rotate back and forth a tiny bit while pedaling. This will mess up the shifting alignment. The axle nuts are made of a softer metal compared to the axle itself, so don't worry too much about ruining the Alfine axle by overtightening the nuts. I used thread lock generously to make sure everything is as secure as possible.

B)
The nut that is holding the Alfine internals together should only be hand-tightened. Anything more that that will cause a lot of drag because of too much push force on the ball bearings. If your wheel isn't free-spinning smoothly (and it's not the brakes) it's probably this.

This hub is still a great value to me, but I do think the way it's mounted is a bit 'under designed'. The amount of rotating force on the axle can be very high. A torque arm (like on a Rohloff) to mitigate this force would be the prettier option instead of those anti rotation washers that always seem to have a tiny bit of play.


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## pucko1 (1 mo ago)

Thank's a lot for this interesting article. I will certainly save it for future reading.

I've now travelled some ten years on my Alfine 8 touring bike, and it's beginning to "slip" a little (about half-a-turn), so I guess it's on it's last legs.

I'll order a new one from Bike-Discount in Germany, and have an experienced mechanic in Ho Chi Minh build a new wheel for me (Mr Van, at "Saigon Bikeshop").

He's a total Alfine IGH professional, and they are not easy to find in SE Asia!


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