# Alfine 8 cable routing options?



## eugenemtbing (Nov 16, 2010)

First, thanks to everyone for the advice on hub/shifter choices in previous threads.

Now: Just put my Alfine 8 wheel on my Inbred 29er frame for the first time and am looking at my shifter cable routing options.

The frame has braze-ons along the top tube and seat tube to the drive side of the rear hub. When I put the wheel on with the correct non-turn washers, the arm on the cassette joint bracket is oriented in a horizontal orientation.

Should I just route the shifter cable along the down tube and chain stay with zip-ties?

Thanks for the help!


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## vikb (Sep 7, 2008)

I ran my A11 cables up the seat stays and along the TT on my On One Scandal 29er, but either way is just fine. No functional difference. I'd go with whatever you prefer.


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## dru (Sep 4, 2006)

OP, just switch the washers you've got around (left to right, etc.) and your cassette joint will be pointing up along the seat stay. Many of us have already done this so it's well proven. Many of us (me included) have slightly bent the cassette joint arm out slightly to clear the chain and sprocket. Just be careful you are bending the metal part as there's a lot of plastic you could break by mistake. There's numerous threads on this subject too, just search away!

Drew


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## eugenemtbing (Nov 16, 2010)

I can use the other non-turn washers and orient the hub like this, but it creates a big chainline conflict with the cassette joint bracket.


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## dru (Sep 4, 2006)

No it doesn't, you're almost fine. Just bend the joint about 2 mm and you're good. I've had mine like that for 5 years now (as have lots of others)


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## eugenemtbing (Nov 16, 2010)

Ok, I will do so. I'd rather route the cable this way. Thanks for the input and photo from your bike.


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## dru (Sep 4, 2006)

Try green on the right and blue on the left too...

edit: yeah, I had mine running down the DT and just hated how it looked.

glad I could help out!


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## eugenemtbing (Nov 16, 2010)

Will do. Thanks.


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## eugenemtbing (Nov 16, 2010)

Dru, yes I should have done some searching first. Usually I am good about doing that. In this case, I was busy reassembling this bike and jumped online for some answers before thinking about it. Thanks for the help!


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## eugenemtbing (Nov 16, 2010)

First spin on it. Shifting was super smooth with the exception of some clickety-click in gear 7 (this is an 8 speed hub). I think the low gearing will be great for bikepacking (32x23). Thanks, Vikb, for advice on that area..

A couple things I wonder about:

@ my yellow dashed-line alignment in gear 4 is a little off (see pic below). The dashed lines are basically side-by-side instead of in line. The risk of this and possible fix?
@ the tiny anchor bolt on the cable end seems really flimsy and somewhat difficult to dislodge when removing the cable to pull off the back wheel. I left the cable way long for now until I can get a feel for how much you need to grasp while getting the anchor bolt out. On the other hand, once I cut the cable to its finished length, I don't want it catching on anything.
@ I played around with various washer setups and different orientations of the cassette joint bracket. I ended up going back to the standard horizontal orientation because this seemed to be the most protected location for the bracket and cable housing end routing. Down side is zip-ties and a cable path down the down tube. Oh well, this bike is meant to be functional above all else.


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## vikb (Sep 7, 2008)

- Use the cable tension adjuster at the shifter to fine tune the yellow bands so they are perfectly aligned.

- that anchor bolt is bomber if you tighten it down properly on the cable. I've never had one come loose.

- I leave my excess cable relatively long and just bend it so it's out of the way. Makes for easy removal of the cable.

- the horizontal position for the cable is just fine.

Enjoy the IGH.


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## eugenemtbing (Nov 16, 2010)

The yellow dots/dashed lines.


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## eugenemtbing (Nov 16, 2010)

Great, Vikb, I will do so. This first run at installing an IGH reminded me of when I first started tearing apart/building up bikes years ago. Some new territory!


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## dru (Sep 4, 2006)

Make sure those lines are lined up in 4th. If you need to reposition the clamp on the inner cable so be it. I'd guess you'll hurt the hub otherwise. I wouldn't ride it any more until you make that adjustment correctly.

Drew


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## PlutonicPlague (Jan 19, 2014)

I'll be delving into this soon enuff, so I'm perusing all these Alfine setup and adjustment threads. Lovin' the wealth of knowledge and great advice I'm finding! There's absolutely nobody in my area that I know who has an Alfine hub. My LBS proprietor remarked that he knew of their existence, and could order me one, but not much else. My friend with a Pugs is still running a derailleur, so he's no help in this regard.
Mucho thanks to the forum!


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## eugenemtbing (Nov 16, 2010)

My brief spin today on this Alfine conversion was my first time on an IGH, and I gotta say I was impressed. So quiet and smooth when shifting and a wide gear range. 

I've got to do some fine tuning of the hub, and the install was educational. But now I'm thinking this would be a great hub to put on my Mukluk -- impervious to sand, mud, muck, etc.

Yes, thanks to everyone for the help.


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## eugenemtbing (Nov 16, 2010)

Oh, and just a few turns of the adjustment knob on the shifter brought my yellow lines together, just as Vikb said. (I'm beginning to think I should pay him consult fees.)


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## eugenemtbing (Nov 16, 2010)




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## Andy R (Nov 26, 2008)

I check that the yellow marks line up every time that I take the bike out or after I've washed and lubed it - it only takes a few seconds but is a pretty vital adjustment is you want Alfines to have a long and happy life.
I'm running the same gearing as you (32x23) for the last three years with absolutely no problems. I recently stripped/re-lubed the hub and everything inside was as clean as a whistle and that's over a year of riding in some pretty wet, sloppy conditions.
Although a lot of people swear by ATF as a hub lubricant, I've been using Castrol SHL-800, which is a semi-fluid synthetic grease.
Seems less draggy than the original Shimano grease and probably has less chance of migrating past the seals than ATF. It's used in a lot more demanding applications than a bicycle hub so I have no doubt about its ability to do the job.


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## Agwan (Feb 16, 2011)

Does anyone know if a bolt on chainstay mount will fit a cross check type chainstay?

something like this?


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## thasingletrackmastah (Nov 15, 2005)

When you use the black and white non-turn washers, the cass.joint is positioned richt between the upper and lower chainstay.
This gives a very nice cablerouting.

Or ride singlespeed


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## John Serkaian (Oct 11, 2013)

*Castrol SHL-800?*

I'm converting my 1983 Trek 720 to a slightly narrowed Nexus 8 red-band and, since the internals are the same as Alfine, I'm curios why Nexus uses grease based lube vs. Alfine's oil based lube. I can't find Castrol SHL-800 anywhere in Castrol's product line-up as it appears the SHL ISO range is limited to 32-460? Does the SHL-800 pour at room temperature? I'm just learning more about IGH and thinking ahead for maintenance and lube options and Shimano isn't much help in explaining why they use different lubes. The topic of "best lube" seems highly subjective, just like the rest of the lube options for bike components, and I wonder if there is a noticeable pedal effort difference between oil vs. grease running through the planetary gear sets of a typical IGH. Thanks for any additional insight.


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## dru (Sep 4, 2006)

Who said the Alfine used an oil based lube? Not the 8 speed one anyways. The 11 speed is oil bath while the 8 is 'special' shimano grease. The 8 speed servicing is a dip in a 'special' shimano oil bath. There is also Nexus/Alfine grease that you use on the roller brake models.

As for oiling the hub, many here are experimenting with other stuff due to the high cost of the big S oil. 

I've used 90w gear oil, others have used ATF, etc.

Lots of info and opinions as to what works best.

Drew


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## vikb (Sep 7, 2008)

dru said:


> Who said the Alfine used an oil based lube? Not the 8 speed one anyways. The 11 speed is oil bath while the 8 is 'special' shimano grease. The 8 speed servicing is a dip in a 'special' shimano oil bath. There is also Nexus/Alfine grease that you use on the roller brake models.












+1 - Drew is correct. This is my 5yr old Alfine 8 with factory grease still in place.

The cleaning and relubing with a liquid is IMO just a practical approach to minimizing the damage users can do when they clean and relube the non-oil bath Shimano IGHs.

Oil lubes will result in a more efficient IGH, but need to be cleaned and relubed more frequently.


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## Andy R (Nov 26, 2008)

John Serkaian said:


> I can't find Castrol SHL-800 anywhere in Castrol's product line-up as it appears the SHL ISO range is limited to 32-460?


Sorry, John - I don't know where that "8" came from( a typo, of course), it's SHL-00 that I'm using. I was given a few cartridges of it by a friend of mine and thought it seemed ideal for the job.

I should proof read my posts, obviously :blush:


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## eugenemtbing (Nov 16, 2010)

Hey, Alfine gurus -- I'm getting some time and miles on my new 8 (love it/am buying another one), and every once in awhile I get a ka-klick and a bit of forward motion on the pedals. Mostly in a couple of the higher gears, 7 specifically. Other than that, everything seems perfect. 

I have read about others having phantom symptoms like this. It happens in frequently and is not really a problem. I just wonder if there is more I need to be aware of.

My yellow dashes are lined up fine on the hub, and I am good about not applying torque to the pedals when shifting. Thanks for any feedback!


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## shwinboy (Jan 13, 2004)

I found my alfine 8 really finicky to tune so it shifts right all the time. Lining up the yellow markers is the first step but isn't precise enough as I have found a little as 1/4 of a turn on the adjustment barel can cause issues. So to can any bend in the shift cable. I was having problems with it slipping under load in 6 th. I had to rerout my cable to eliminate a bend which helped but didn't fully resolve the issue. Then I just went out and rode an made small adjustments to see what would happen. As I loosened the cable my problem seemed to migrate to gears 7 and 8. So I had to tension the cable more to fix the problem and it was all out 1/ 8 th of a turn on the adjuster that did the trick . More than that and it would skip 6 th on the down shift. I have it dialled now and I've been enjoying my ride a lot more.


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## Agwan (Feb 16, 2011)

I've found that I got smoother shifting if I _didn't_ run full length housing. on my Straggler I ran it to the bolt on down-tube mount (effectively giving me two barrel adjusters) then I ran the cable naked all the way back to the chain-stay mount.

at the chain-stay mount I took a good 45 minutes snipping and filing down a "dog leg" with the most gradual bend I could give it. I kept it clean and well lubed and I never had the sluggish shifts I had with full length housing.

Once set up, I ONLY used the downtube barrel adjuster, it seems to adjust in smaller, smoother steps.


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