# winterization?



## FishMan473 (Jan 2, 2003)

I have a friend who is thinking of building up a winter bike with Alfine. I remember hearing that a lot of Nexus hubs had problems in the winter, and that people had to change out the oil in them in order to keep things working right. Does anyone know anything about this?


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## pursuiter (May 28, 2008)

Here's a few links on the hubstripping page. The Nexus oil bath page is in German, the pix make it clear:
https://www.hubstripping.com/shimano-alfine/shimano-nexus-oil-bath.jpg
https://www.hubstripping.com/shimano-alfine/shimano-nexus-internal-gear-hub-maintenance.jpg

I've had no issues at 20*F, if my IGHs start sticking, I'll move to the oil bath.

here's how to pull the internal guts for the oil bath, stop at step 6 and give it a bath, re-assemble:
https://www.hubstripping.com/shiman...ler-brake-SG-8R20-SG-8R25-alfine-ge Kopie.pdf


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## Schmucker (Aug 23, 2007)

Well, 20F is hardly winter. I want to know that they'll work in -30F.


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## pursuiter (May 28, 2008)

Schmucker said:


> Well, 20F is hardly winter. I want to know that they'll work in -30F.


didn't claim it was winter, that comes in another month  We don't get much below -20*F so it looks like you're on your own.


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## Schmucker (Aug 23, 2007)

Well, get some -20F reports. I know I can hardly feel the difference between -20F and -30F, let alone -40F so the hub shouldn't either, right?


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## pursuiter (May 28, 2008)

I've run SA 3 spd hubs and Bendix 2 spd hubs to -20 with no issues. I use grease on all the bearings and add 5-6 tbl spoons of 20wt oil to the hub. I've never run such a complicated hub to -20, I expect it'll start sticking around 0. When and if it does, I'll pull the guts, give 'em a bath in paint thinner until clean, grease the bearings and add appropriate amount of synthetic Mobil1 ATF. I expect that'll fix things.


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## anthony.delorenzo (Aug 17, 2006)

A friend in Dawson City ran one last winter, apparently it worked fine all winter but tended not to shift around -30 C. The engagement should be good, as the Alfine uses the silent clutch which is known to be reliable down to -60.

From first-hand experience, I've had mine down around -15 C so far this winter with no issues. Time will tell how it performs in colder weather.

It's a lot more difficult to change the oil than, say, the Rohloff, so I have no intention of doing it. If I really need to ride in super low temps I'll swap wheels on my Pugsley and run the fixed cog.


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## FishMan473 (Jan 2, 2003)

-30 sounds good to me. This is a recreational bike, and I doubt he's going to go out for the fun of it when its anywhere near that cold.


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## anthony.delorenzo (Aug 17, 2006)

Just an update to this: 

I have done a 4 hour ride at -27 C with no issues. 

My wife's Alfine was fine yesterday on her -35 C commute. BUT, when she left her bike outside for a couple of hours at yoga class, the shifting did freeze up. It would still engage to pedal but she had to ride home in gear 1. 

So, based on my experience so far, the hubs work well in cold temps, but if you're leaving it sitting in the cold for a while, shift it into 4 or 5 so if you lose shifting, you have a decent gear.


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## Schmucker (Aug 23, 2007)

Good to know. Have you tried swapping out the lube now?


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## anthony.delorenzo (Aug 17, 2006)

Went out on a ride yesterday at -34 C, my hub had a little bit of slow engagement but otherwise worked fine. Wife's hub stopped shifting again, it might be a cable issue rather than a hub issue.

At any rate, I think it is safe to say that temperature becomes a consideration below -30 C. 

I'm not going to mess with the hubs this winter, but I may try overhauling them with a more suitable oil over the summer.


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## pursuiter (May 28, 2008)

It was -5*F here in Chicago and I tested my Nexus 8R35 w/drum and IM9. Cold soak in the shade for 2 hrs. The IM9 was a little sluggish on the upshifts, no issues with the Nexus. The 8R35 has the same guts as the Alfine so I'm not surprised.

-5*F = -21*C

coldest I've ever experinced at this latitude is ~-22*F = -30*C


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## itsdoable (Jan 6, 2004)

Just a quick update.

One of our Alfine hubs lost gears 5 through 8 at -20C (-4F). The hub was OE on a commuter, and has been ridden a lot this winter through rain, salt-saturated-slush, and snow. It's probably had some water intrusion over time, and/or grease migration. Once warmed up, it was back to normal. 

This is more or less typical of well used the Shimano geared hubs in my experience.


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## pursuiter (May 28, 2008)

I cold soaked my Nexus outside last night in Chicago, we reached -15*F (-26*C), my 5-8 gears didn't engage this morning, the lower 1-4 worked, a little slow on the shifts. Nice to have the lower gears in the cold, my I-M9 freezes up in 8th....time to try the Mobil 1 synthetic auto-trans lube.


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## Sjefke (Jul 5, 2007)

In spring I bought a bike with the new Shimano Nexus SG-8R36 hub. Rode it several times in the rain during the spring/summer/fall period. 

When the temperatures started to drop below zero the hub became really draggy. Lots of problems with the shifting as well. Finally I decided to take it apart. I stripped all the white factory grease in a parts-washer. Next I packed the bearings with a synthetic grease and and then dipped the whole assembly in synthetic gear oil.

Since then I rode the bike at temperatures of -25C without problems. Even after long low temperature 'soaks'. It rides completely different now. 

I'm assuming the bad sealing of the hub caused water penetration earlier in the year. I'm very surprised though that so much water would get in. I maybe rode it in rain for 25 days or so. Condensation in the hub might also cause water accumulation over time. I'm wondering how much of a contribution that would be.


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## Sjefke (Jul 5, 2007)

Just a quick follow-up. The internal hub has been fine. But I did notice some play developing in the axle, and I had to re-adjust the conical bearing nuts twice now after about 300 km each time. It seems that there is more grinding/wear going on inside the hub in these conditions. I havn't opened it up again to see how it looks from the inside. I was planning to do that once a year (in spring) and wash all the salt out.

BTW: This morning I rode my old derailleur bike because it has better snow tires than my IHG bike (which has more ice tires). After riding the IHG bike for a few weeks, I had forgotten there definitely is a noticeable difference in efficiency between the two. If only I could get the smoothness of the IHG with efficiency of the derailleur system....


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## Enduro_506 (Sep 5, 2004)

I'm running a red band Nexus 8 and at below 20 degree temperatures, I lose gears 1 to 4. In these gears, it just spins with a lot of rattling going on inside the hub, doesn't sound healthy at all. Shifting between gears 5 to 8 is slower too. I'm planning on doing an oil change soon.

There is a lot of info on the web concerning the nexus hub. Long live the internet.


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## Sjefke (Jul 5, 2007)

Enduro_506 said:


> I'm running a red band Nexus 8 and at below 20 degree temperatures, I lose gears 1 to 4. In these gears, it just spins with a lot of rattling going on inside the hub, doesn't sound healthy at all. Shifting between gears 5 to 8 is slower too. I'm planning on doing an oil change soon..


That will definitely help. Make sure to rinse out all the grease. I went through all this last year (see earlier posts). I'm running 80W gear oil - synthetic. Lots of slush and salt here. The only thing that works is a stainless steel chain. I was concerned about the inside of the hub after one year of 'neglect'. A few weeks ago, I opened up everything. All gears looked like new. Not a single spot of rust. I was blown away. I drained the oil and put about 100 mls back in. Ready to go again.

Also make sure that your shifter cable isn't freezing. I had that as well. I think from condensation in the shift cable. After drying it out thoroughly and putting about 30 drops of chainlube in it, everything became a lot smoother.


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## fokof (Apr 24, 2006)

I run nexus hub for the last 8 years on my commuter up here in Montreal in winter time.

The problem I've faced with all shimano's is mostly with gear change. As you all know , it has to be precise for the gear to engage correclty , and whenever it gets really messy/snowy/cold , it freezes the shifting mechanism and that's when the problems starts.
If the cable freezes a bit or if ice gets around the moving part of the shifting mechanism , problem starts then.

I've never faced these problems with my rohloff.


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## Sjefke (Jul 5, 2007)

fokof said:


> I run nexus hub for the last 8 years on my commuter up here in Montreal in winter time. I've never faced these problems with my rohloff.


Good to know. I'm North of Toronto. Not extremely cold -25C or so max, but lots of snow here in the snow-belt. Most of the time 'brown sugar' that clings around everything on the bike. I was going to try a Rohloff hub next. I'm pleased to read that it is 'Montreal Proof'.

What do you do to prevent chain rust? I'm looking at these belt-driven Rohloff hubs. Now that looks like a solution.... Any feedback?


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## Enduro_506 (Sep 5, 2004)

Thanks for your reply, Sjefke.

When trying to shift down from 5th to 4th, from 4th to 3rd, etc. it feels like there's a lot of dirt in the cable.

It will shift, but I have to turn the mechanism that is connected to the cable by hand to make it do so. I sure hope it's a clogged ice/snow/dirt problem and not an internal one.


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## fokof (Apr 24, 2006)

Sjefke said:


> What do you do to prevent chain rust?


I change it 

I have to add that my Rohloff has never seen Calcium. Plenty of snow , wet snow and mud but never any calcium.


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