I'm extremely tempted to get myself a hub gear bike and have been eyeing up the On-One Pompetamine Alfine 8 for commuting. Does anyone have any experience of these (or Alfine 8 vs 11?) that could advise? It seems remarkably cheap (£600 - I'm sure it was £800+ a year or so ago).
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Stuff
n+1 = Pompetamine Alfine 8?
(13 posts)-
Posted 11 years ago #
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Och, al you folks with the n+1 bug.
I'm trying to de-layer my accumulation of bikes this year. Focus down a bit.
But aye, hub gears are good for commuting, as long as you keep the chain to the right tension. Alfine 8 more reliable than the Nexus 8 is it? Alfine 11 quite a bit dearer, I think.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Alfine 11 will have put downward pressure on the 8 speeds. But Planet X / On-One are very aggressive with pricing anyway - I got my road bike frame for just £125, or the price of two sets of discount tyres...
I have a Pompetamine and they are very flexible - rides nicely (although no lightweight) and seems pretty indestructible. You can get full SKS mudguards plus 35mm winter studded tyres on no problem (my fork is from Cotic and may offer a bit more clearance - enough for 700x40 with mudguards easily).
Can definitely recommend.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Nexus 8 very bad, Alfine better, same company claiming to have just received Alfine 11 in a sidebar of the page selling the Alfine 8 so probably trying to shift them. They are heavier but 8 gears should be enough, do you know what the range of the Alfine 8 is compared with the Alfine 11?
Posted 11 years ago # -
A freind has a Pompe Alfine8. I was impressed as it can change stationarry. No more rolling to a halt and changing down, you just change while your stood waiting to set off.
Not sure how he got on after a years commute. One thing I'm noticing with a traditional geared bike is the wear is great over a year and a half of steady commuting.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Depends what weight you put on the rear, IMO. I decided against this bike as I use a carradice saddlebag - that and a hubgear I thought was too much weight on the back. So i went singlespeed.
Lovely bike though.
Posted 11 years ago # -
I'm coming up for three years and 10,000 miles on an Alfine 8 used for commuting year-round. It's still running very sweetly, despite only one overhaul in that time. I love being able to change gear when stationary and that there's really very little maintenance. I have a chain tensioner on the back as I have vertical dropouts: this works better than it used to now that I have the chain a bit shorter that it was when I got the bike.
There is an odd step in the gear ratios somewhere near the middle: when I first got it I noticed this, but I don't notice it any more. The Alfine 11 has a uniform progression in the ratios.
If this is going to be an n+1, one thing with the Alfine 8 is that I think the gear shifter works the opposite way to normal shifters (so I push with my thumb to go up a gear and click with my forefinger to go down). I imagine this could make swapping back to a bike that works the other way a bit of a pain as you'd be continually going the wrong way on the gears.
So it's a whole hearted recommendation from me for an Alfine 8.
Posted 11 years ago # -
P.S. Just looked at the Pompetamine, and it's got a really odd line for the gear cable. It seems strange that it runs across the cross bar rather than down the down tube and under the bottom bracket. I'm sure most Alfine bikes with horizontal drop outs have the cable coming out of the hub horizontally.
Does this matter? The only thing I can think of is that it's going to make adjusting the cable tension a bit more tricky as the window you need to look at and line up the yellow dots is pointing backwards, so you'll have to stand behind the bike to see it (which means you probably can't reach the shifter on the handlebars where the adjustment is). With the cable coming out horizontally that adjustment window is on top of the hub, so you can see it when you're standing over the back axle and can reach the shifter. Does that matter? I only adjust my cable once ever six months or so!
All very mysterious...
Posted 11 years ago # -
Ooo sounds encouraging. I saw a road cc review that talked about there being a lot of toe overlap at the front - at the moment this is the thing that is most concerning me. @Dave is that something you've noticed?
Posted 11 years ago # -
Re Toe Overlap - I've got considerable such on one of my bikes and you do get used to it, I always subconsciously manage to back-pedal the offending foot when doing slow speed manoeuvring so that it doesn't foul the wheel.
I wouldn't let it be a deal breaker.
Posted 11 years ago # -
It was a pita on my cx bike which has toe overlap but ss Kappers said, you just get used th moving your foot so there is no clash as you turn the wheel.
Posted 11 years ago # -
When I started out I got lots of toe overlap (size 42 shoes on a large frame) when I had wide tyres and mudguards fitted.
I got rid of it by moving the cleats on my shoes! (For only 20 minutes each way, whatever goes...)
Posted 11 years ago # -
I've got toe overlap on my Dawes Audax, just skims the mudguards. Not a huge issue as you keep moving most of the time riding an audax.
I see no reason to put up with it on a hybrid used for commuting and town riding though: must be the headset angle and the fork rake. If you fit mudguards it will be even worse. Every traffic light and junction will become annoying.
Posted 11 years ago #
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