# IGH Weight Comparison



## Pete Gurney (Jun 18, 2006)

I built up an IGH wheel last fall with an Alfine 8 for my old Redline Monocog frame. I didn't ride it more than a few times before the snow flew, and I hadn't ridden it this season since early spring. Recently my singlespeed and regular geared mtb both suffered mechanicals so I took the IGH bike off the wall and have been riding it for about a week now. 3 rides of 32, 25, and 10 miles. Mostly singletrack and dirt roads. So far I'm really loving it. Plenty of range, albeit with a pretty big jump between gears. My one gripe is the weight. How big of a hinderance does everyone find the heavy rear end to be? It may just be psychological, but I can't stop feeling like I'm towing an anchor around behind me in the woods. Still, it's nice and quiet and the shifting has been pretty good too. Are the other options, Rholff or Nexus any lighter? Thanks in advance for the feedback.


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## Stuart B (Mar 21, 2005)

Once you are used to it it's fine. I have a rohloff on a full suss, felt odd at first with rearward weight shift but now it just feels normal.


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## fokof (Apr 24, 2006)

You'll get use to it

I have a rohloff on a HT and I just moved a bit my center of gravity to the rear.



When I try a normal bike , they feel so odd .....


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## -jes (Feb 6, 2011)

Feels normal after a while, plus stops you nose diving off stuff


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## bsdc (May 1, 2006)

All the IGHs seem to weigh about the same and none of them come close to the weight of a SS. I don't really notice the weight unless I lift the back end into the air. I appreciate SSing but find the Alfine 8 to have almost the exact same feel ... with the benefit of gears to get you up some steep inclines or get you really going when it's smooth and fast.


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## Pete Gurney (Jun 18, 2006)

Thanks for the feedback. While I was looking around before posting the original question, I noticed some posters mentioning that you couldn't shift the Alfine hubs while pedaling. I haven't really paid attention to my shifting while riding, but I know I've definitely shifted under a heavy load while going up steep hills. Will this really mess up my hub? Thanks again for the feedback on the weight issue, I'll just have to get used to it I guess.


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## Stuart B (Mar 21, 2005)

I don't think it will damage anything shifting under load, but the shifter will get harder to operate. I have learnt to just un-weight the pedals for a fraction of a second. You hardly lose any momentum and certain less that waiting for half a wheel turn like on a chain wanger (derailure) shift.

It is a different style of riding to a chain wanger, give it some time to learn it and I am sure you will like it.

I adore mine.


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## David C (May 25, 2011)

I think shifting under load isn't very good for a IGH as it's similar to a car transmission. It's gears on gears and when they shift they have to separate for a sec and then go back in gear, so shifting under load would be similar to grinding down the clutch on your car. At least that's how it feels when I try to shift under load or high power on my Nexus Inter-7. Mostly for the upshifts though.

And as said, you get use to shift without pedaling pretty quick and its extremely surprising to find yourself actually shifting faster and going faster with an IGH than standard derailleur setup.


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## I'm suba (Aug 24, 2012)

IGH's are great. You get used to the balance and shifting is fast and precise...at least that's true with my Rohloff. No load on the peddles and get your timing down. It's easy.


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## dru (Sep 4, 2006)

Pete Gurney said:


> My one gripe is the weight. How big of a hinderance does everyone find the heavy rear end to be? It may just be psychological, but I can't stop feeling like I'm towing an anchor around behind me in the woods. Still, it's nice and quiet and the shifting has been pretty good too. Are the other options, Rholff or Nexus any lighter? Thanks in advance for the feedback.


I found this really surprising blog:Stu McGroos lets put this Alfine weight issue to bed once and for all thread! « Singletrack Forum

What's more, I compared my 29er Alfine weight to the mostly XTR (everything except the hub) drivetrain weight of my 26er and found only a 339 gram difference.

fd 122
rd 235
cass 322
shift 252
hub 450
skew 70
24 t 35
44 t 90
cable 100
5 inner bolts 15
________
1691 g

alfine complete
shifters, parts kit, cables etc.
______________
2070g

shorter chain -40g

So, yeah, the weight thing is mostly in your head.

Both my bikes are XXL steel framed and weigh in at 30 lb Alfine and 28 lb XTR.

The 30 lb Salsa's frame is at least a pound heavier than my 26 er frame which was just shy of 5 lbs before paint.

Drew


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## pursuiter (May 28, 2008)

dru said:


> cass 322
> hub 450
> _______
> 1691 g


To be fair, a weight weeine would cut another 300gms from 1691gms with a lighter hub and cassette.



> So, yeah, the weight thing is mostly in your head.


I agree. If you're a weight weenie, you'll never get 1.8lbs out of your head. My lightest mountain bike is 33lbs, I weigh 220 with gear so an extra pound is less than 0.5%. And I never mash a $200 derailleur on a rock :thumbsup:


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