29er+ wheelset

[BrianP]

I have a 29er set up as SS and really like it. It is reasonably flat on my daily sea wall rides and seems to suit my pootling along style.

Having ordered a Rooster I am thinking more of a bikepacking coastal setup and going west from where I live means steep ups and downs. Ultimately I would love to attempt the South West Way. So I really need some gears I guess.

Have gone off derailleur gears, especially for proper offroad on a Fatbike, and in this case a semi-fatbike. So have bought an Alfine 8 and A SP PD-8 dyno hub. Trouble is the Alfine hub in your hand just feels so heavy. Is it going to ruin a nice lively new Rooster?

Build the Rooster SS and I will have two local fun bikes, which I do not need. If Alfine/SP combo works I can fit them to the Fargo with 2.4 tyres and make the Fargo my Bikepacking bike. Trouble is then a second set of Rooster wheels is just so expensive.

I have a pair of Hope XC hubs which would allow SS or geared, with a Zee single chainring on the front. This allows me more flexibility and to find out which suits the Rooster best. Or to add gears for Bikepacking and keep SS for local fun stuff.

Perhaps I should do that? Anybody else been through this and sorted a solution? Hated or loved the Alfine?

Brian

[Charliecres]

I nearly bought an Alfine for my Swift but was put off by a mate who has one and hates it. He finds it heavy and draggy.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Just bang a rear mech on it and run it 1 x 10. I set my Stooge up like this with a 33t front and 11-36 out back and there's nothing I've not got up yet. I know we slag mechs off and worry about damaging them but in reality that doesn't happen often and if it does they're fairly cheap / easy to replace.

[johnnystorm]

I had an Alfine in my Swift, in theory the perfect winter set up. In practice it just felt leaden at the back.

[Mart]

I've ridden my swift both SS and Alfine

Alfine is pretty bulletproof, draggy at first but loosens up after you ride it a few times and gets much better. It does feel heavy but I find in practice I quickly get used to it.
I do notice the difference when I swap it over to the SS wheel, which is lighter.

[tommid]

I have a swift with an Alfine, I really cannot fault it. I'd ridden SS for the last 14 years, but I don't notice the weight anymore than I would with a mech and cassette.
It's so easy to live with, which is probably my greatest want as it's very sandy around here and eats chains and drive parts in the wet.
Although saying that I just honked my Kona Ute up the biggest hill around here and it seemed a lot easier than my swift. Might be time for a swap...

[Cheeky Monkey]

I've got a Cotic Roadrat with an Alfine8 and a Singular Swift with an Alfine11.

I like them both. They do make the bike a little different to geared (I don't SS, neither the fitness or inclination) but for the simplicity and reduction in maintenance I think they're great. The back wheel is a bit heavier / the weight distribution is a little different but nothing that bothers me and I'm not familiar with all this drag and inertia others mention.

If it were me I'd just go Alfine.

If the gearing gets a bit steep then bob a larger sprocket or a smaller chain ring on. I did with the Roadrat and it made it a world of difference. I've lost some top-end gearing for the tarmac but it made steeper drags achievable without feeling my knees (or something else) was going to pop. Cheap and easy to achieve as well.

I picked up a cheap one-off rear wheel for my Rooster from Travers which'll probably get a cassette + expander ring and a single up front, otherwise I'd be tempted to rebuild an Alfine onto a 29+ rim.

I'm currently trying to forget it's on order as I doubt anyone'll see them in the UK much before Xmas. I like Sam and his bikes (currently on two) but I don't think delivering these projects "on time" is something that usually happens. Look at the Puffin plus the manufacturing issues with the Blizzard (orange, hardcore 29er thing).

Hey ho, patience is a virtue

[BrianP]

Still dithering a bit, but son reckons I should try the Alfine since we have not tried one before, plus when he added up the weight of two chainrings, front and rear derailleur, hub and cassette it came to about the same as the Alfine.

Could do with advice about wheel building costs. Sam quoted £20 a wheel which seemed fine but over £50 for spokes and nipples caught me out completely. £92 for total building costs seemed a lot? Probably just out of date with costs.

Any good wheel builders between Portsmouth, Southampton and Bournemouth I could get an equivalent quote from.

Brian

[Mart]

You might want to have a read of my mate Stu's take on Alfine he did a while back
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic ... all-thread

He was a bit anal about it all, but the key take out for me was arounf weight. Weight was similar but distribution was more concentrated as its all in the hub

[Bearbonesnorm]

Any good wheel builders between Portsmouth, Southampton and Bournemouth I could get an equivalent quote from.

I'd suggest geting in touch with Shona and Rich at Keep Pedalling, you'll need to factor in the cost of postage (they're in Manchester) but their wheel builds are lovely ... I've 2 hubs up there at the moment, a SA Duomatic and an SP that's going onto a Dually.

They would be able to supply Alfine and other 29+ rims too I'm sure.

[BrianP]

Mart thanks for that link. Great thread. My bike usually has a 90 kg rider on it when it's out having fun, so the overall balance point with me on it sitting in the saddle would be quite different and the change with adding Alfine probably much less. Me being 6 times heavier than the bike!

Will contact Keep Peddling. Might not be interested because I have the Alfine and SP PD-8 and rims from Sam?

Brian

[DoctorRad]

I know we slag mechs off and worry about damaging them but in reality that doesn't happen often and if it does they're fairly cheap / easy to replace.

You say that, but I've had offs on my Hemlock several times this summer where I've landed the bike on its right-hand side in a relatively high (downhill) gear, the mech made contact with the ground and bent the hanger.

Now, I suspect that this may be (yet another) design fault with the Hemlock inasmuch as the hangers are made of cheese. I was able to bend the hanger back in all cases using the mech and all was well, but eventually the hanger will snap.

I don't tend to ride in very rocky terrain, so catching the mech on a rock isn't so much of an issue. I've been wondering about rigging up one of those La Pierre carbon mech protectors. This would become the contact point rather than the mech if the bike were to fall on its side.

All that said, this is the first bike I've had a mech/hanger issue with, other than a baggage handling foobar with the hanger on my Inbred. I did once snap a mech clean across one of the parallelogram plates, but I think that was a one-off freak accident.

You might want to have a read of my mate Stu's take on Alfine he did a while back
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic ... all-thread

Good article, nice to see some actual figures. However, it's not really a fair fight, as he's gone from 30 gears to 8, losing two chainrings, a front mech, a front shifter and a lot of gear range. Now, that's all fine and dandy if you don't need the gear range, but equally, you could stick with a rear mech, go 1x up front and lose a fair chunk of weight.

[johnnystorm]

Any good wheel builders between Portsmouth, Southampton and Bournemouth I could get an equivalent quote from.

I'd suggest geting in touch with Shona and Rich at Keep Pedalling, you'll need to factor in the cost of postage (they're in Manchester) but their wheel builds are lovely ... I've 2 hubs up there at the moment, a SA Duomatic and an SP that's going onto a Dually.

They would be able to supply Alfine and other 29+ rims too I'm sure.

My revo/dyno hub/rim, spokes, nips & wheelbuild was about £50 more than just buying the light & hub. Over 2000 faultless miles so far.