Shimano Alfine Gear Hubs: Places That Fix Them

fatbhoy · 26-03-2022 9:57am #1

My Cannondale Bad Boy, with its Shimano Alfine 8 internal gears hub, has developed problems engaging gear 7, so does anyone know anywhere/anyone competent that can fix it (somewhere that has experience of working on them and know what they're doing)?

I've seen a couple of YouTube videos showing how to take it apart, but I wouldn't fancy doing that if I could avoid it.

tomasrojo · 26-03-2022 12:19pm

Dara in Bee Cycles in Dolphin's Barn in Dublin does hub gears for me. He's excellent.

fatbhoy · 26-03-2022 2:41pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118838112#Comment_118838112

I know him. I'd imagine he's good since he's kind of a perfectionist, which is good. What kind of stuff did he do for you?

With my 8-gear hub, gear 7 isn't engaging properly: I can go to 6 or 8, but when I go to 7 it either makes a noise on 7 and skips to 8, or just skips to 8 altogether.

8valve · 26-03-2022 8:52pm

Any official Shimano Service Centre bike shop will have someone who is trained to work on your hub.

T-Maxx · 26-03-2022 9:23pm

I've watched a few YouTube videos on those and they are true engineering marvels. Pretty much bomb proof too.

fatbhoy · 26-03-2022 10:10pm

Does anyone know which one is on the Cannondale Bad Boy 1?

Could be

saccades · 27-03-2022 8:57am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118840422#Comment_118840422

It'll tell you on the hub, could be SG-500 if it's an old bike.

I take mine to revolve bike shop in Gorey. Sjs cycles carry a fair few spares for them.

tomasrojo · 27-03-2022 6:33pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118838600#Comment_118838600

He's done a Shimano Nexus 7 twice for me and a Sturmey Archer 3 speed once. General services. First time SN7 required some new parts. Think he'd be fine on any common hub gear.

fatbhoy · 28-03-2022 11:20am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118843446#Comment_118843446

Perfect, thanks!

Effects · 28-03-2022 1:18pm

Doesn't the alfine have a coloured marker that lines up when the gear cable's set up correctly? Could be worth checking that out?

fatbhoy · 28-03-2022 7:17pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118846606#Comment_118846606

It does. Two little yellow dots need to align, and can be aligned by tensioning the shifter cable via rotation of the shifter barrel thing. I actually just did that today, and I've come to the conclusion that the problem I was encountering wasn't to do with the internals of the hub, but rather shifting, and in particular the shifter cable. I did some adjustments and it's working better, but not 100%. So I'll probably drop it into the bike shop, tell them everything I've discovered (in case they don't know the specifics of this setup), and get them to replace the cable and configure it.

By the way, I've discovered that the length of the cable, from the centre of the retainer nut to the end of the rubber bellows that connects the exposed metal cable wire to the cable housing, needs to be a certain length (145mm), so I'll have to tell the mechanic things like that.

It's a relief to know (well, almost know) that the problem isn't the hub, but rather the cable/shifting.

Thanks for the replies.

Shimano Alfine Gear Hubs: Places That Fix Them

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