Gates/ alfine

[ajz07]

Was curious at to people's thoughts about alfine hub combined with a gates belt drive (if anyone had any thoughts on this). I have road racing bikes with the usual gearing on them, but my time is slowly coming up on a builders queue and I am wondering about making something different. Creating more of an all purpose bike (gravel bike/ travel bike/ what have you) and putting alfine di2 and a gates belt drive together...

[pdmtong]

I have a belt SS and its great

do some math on the weight before committing to alfine. that hub works nicely and has a nice wide range but its no lightweight. same thing with rohloff.

[donevwil]

My wife's got a custom Comare belt drive non-di2 Alfine 11 disk dyno commuter. I had had enough with the maintenance on her old chain/cassette commuter, the battery lighting and small tire clearance.

Pros:
- very low maintenance regardless of conditions
- hub and belt work flawlessly*
- Alfine 11 has a huge gear range
- quiet

Cons:
- bike is heavy, although not solely due to the Alfine
- not a lot of shifter options for non-di2 Alfine 11 (she uses Versa VRS-11)
- IGH gear jumps are relatively large, may not be for everyone
- beltline is critical and can be a challenge to achieve
- Gates front ring may require some drive-side chainstay clearance gymnastics if wanting large tires

* Follow recommended maintenance/service interval on Alfine hubs, they get cranky with old lube. Alfine 11 is easier to maintain/lube than the 8.

[bcgav]

Interested in this combo as well for a possible Soma Wolverine build using Alfine 11 Di2.

[FlashUNC]

I saw some supremely cool stuff from the Gates folks at NAHBS this year. Made me rethink belt drive generally. Still probably a tad heavier, but i could see it making sense for some applications. Didn't get to test ride anything, but there were plenty of true believers there.

[jr59]

I bought this Co-motion from Cat6 here on this forum. It was a Alfine 8 with Jtek bar end shifter and a Gates belt drive. Worked like a champ. Sold it to a friend who loved it and rides it every day in NOLA. The only problem is that the BB creaked a bit when I tried to really get on it hard.

It is a very nice set up;

[JAGI410]

Originally Posted by bcgav

Interested in this combo as well for a possible Soma Wolverine build using Alfine 11 Di2.

If I were doing a belt/IGH bike, I'd choose the Wolverine too. Great frame!