Alfine 11speed users. Your experence sought

[yo-eddy]

I'd like a Rohloff but they are too expensive for a bike that will only get used on occasion. Also if a Rohloff is three times more reliable than an Alfine, you can but three Alfines for the price of a Rohloff. No doubt the Rohloff is a better product with better aftersales, but I can't justify the cost.

'The Rohloff will go from bike to bike once you're addicted
All I'm trying to say is that an Alfine will fail and a Rohloff will last.
In my case a Rohloff will outllast 100 Alfine hubs, for me that's a bargain

 

[grogee]

alfine 8spd

I've been using an alfine 8 spd for 3 years on a London commuter that carries lots of weight (both me and my luggage).

No probs so far although I wish there was some sort of grease port.

You will need a fairly large front chainring for sensible gearing - mine is 44/14 and the first 3 gears are pretty useless.

Rollhoff nice but sadly out of league for us non-lottery winners. Also trickier to set up and cable route.

As with most of their stuff - shimano has done a fine job with the alfine. Can't speak for the 11spd though - does it bring any wider ratio benefits?

 

[velomaniac]

Si, as you can build bikes why not attempt a gearbox bike ?
Put the 8 speed hub forward in the frame and run the rear wheel off of cogs attached to the hub disc mounts as per the new style fixed gear crowd. You can still run a disc if you space the cog out from the disc. Solves the centre of balance thing and the sometimes annoying issue of rear wheel removal with hub gears. I have a daft retrofit plan I'm going to bodge someday