# shimano alfine 8 shifter uses thumb to shift up (harder gear). can I swap this ?



## trakker (Sep 5, 2016)

hey people, I have a broken alfine 11 commuter which when you use the thumb shifter it goes to an easier gear which is similar to my mountain bike (and I like).

However I have now bought an alfine 8 commuter bike where the thumb shifter goes to a harder gear (ie from gear 1 to gear 2). 
confusing I know.

I can get used to this thumb upshift but would like to change it if possible with another 8 spd shifter as it might confuse me when mtn bike racing one day (after changing opposite way on my commute)

Does anyone know if this is possible or is a limitation of the nexus 8 internal hub ?

8 speed bike is a Focus PLANET 3.0 2014, just FYI.
Cheers
Perry

** just re read this and its a bit confusing. the below should help:

- currently my alfine 8 uses the thumb shift to shift up and the finger pull to shift down.
- I would like to reverse this so the thumb shift shifts down and the finger pull shifts up. similar to my sram mtn bike setup and my old alfine 11 setup.


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## Velobike (Jun 23, 2007)

It's the other way round on the new Alfine hubs apparently.

Shame, I prefer the finger pull to change down because that's faster and changing down is when you need a fast gear change IMO.

I don't think you can simply swap the changer over, but if it's possible I'd like to know too.


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## wschruba (Apr 13, 2012)

Velobike said:


> It's the other way round on the new Alfine hubs apparently.
> 
> Shame, I prefer the finger pull to change down because that's faster and changing down is when you need a fast gear change IMO.
> 
> I don't think you can simply swap the changer over, but if it's possible I'd like to know too.


Correct on both points. You can't just swap the gear changer because the resting points on both hubs are opposite. The shifting spring inside the older hub is literally wound the other direction, and Shimano flipped the shift map (including all of the not-equal cable pulls between gears).

You can buy a new axle assembly and retrofit it, along with a new shifter, but that is a bit of a boondoggle when there aren't any damaged parts. Better to buy what you want, replace the old one, and sell it in its entirety.


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## trakker (Sep 5, 2016)

awesome thanks for the replies, I will just make do and see if my alfine 11 can get repaired at some point.


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