Things seem to have got rolling this year and we’ve hooked up with some good riders and team mates, more results and team updates soon we hope.

Team Just Riding Along

Seb Frost at Pearce Cycles rd 1

Seb Frost – expert DH – riding for us, testing the NoTubes Flow rims on the new American Classic front 20mm and rear 12×150mm in the UK Downhills. Seb was initially cautious about the light weight wheels but has just come back from the Maxxis Cup in Vigo where they stayed straight despite some enthusiastic riding (and the resulting crash).

team jerseys

Jon Webb – master DH – you’ve probably seen him somewhere before. Riding with some Industry Nine Enduro wheels in orange on Flow rims, for their 1750g weight these wheels are about as strong as they come.

Associated riders :

Jenny with her new kit

Jenny Copnall – elite XC – The UK National Champion, now riding for Fisher Outdoor Leisure with our NoTubes Race 7000 American Classic wheelset. At 282g each these are the lightest rims available and the whole wheelset comes in at just 1220g.

The Cycle Jersey Team – DH riders Ben Cathro, Joe Barnes, Chris Hutchens, James Scott and Chris Coates using our Copter Tape on their Orange 224s. Ben Cathro (in)famously rode a rubber skinsuit to 8th place in the World Cup race at Fort William last year and the rest of the team aren’t far behind.

We’ve been thinking about getting some of these Reverse Racing hubs in since last year when we saw some spinning on Emily Horridge’s bike at one of the Midlands races. What caught our attention wasn’t just the bright colours but the fact that when the bike was laying down, the wheel just kept spinning…and spinning. Really nice smooth bearings and great colours along with light weight and a good reputation for reliability in the DH world means we’re looking forward to getting some of these built up.

There are 3 versions:

DH Race (3-zero-6 rear and 1-eight-0 front), very nice light DH hubs, like the names say, 306g rear and 180g front. Also available in a 150g front 15mm axle option. The red hubs in the photo.

Spirit XC: lightweight, QR axle only, the gold hubs in the photo. Weight is 153g front and 278g rear.

Evo9: Front is convertible between 20mm and QR using the adapter provided, while the rear is a 10mm bolt-through type, to be used with normal dropouts. These are the funky green and purple ones in the photo.

Prices are TBC but will be pretty reasonable. Expect full wheelsets to be from around £350.

We’ve been trying out the Alfine hub for about a year now and thought it was about time to put down in writing a few observations. This started out life as a few notes on the bottom of the Blizzard snow-bike article here but there is so much we made it into its own article. If you’re after one of your own, head on over to our shop, click here.

What we’ve found out about the Alfine hub:

It’s great not having to worry about derailleurs, flimsy and expensive cassettes, cleaning your bike, even oiling your chain very often – everything just works all the time. They’re not perfect but for the money are an amazing bit of kit for a minimum-maintenance bike.

What colours are available?
Alfine hubs are available in black or polished silver. The silver hubs look better in real life than the black ones. The black ones look better in all the Shimano photos.

Is the Alfine heavy?
The weight of an Alfine hub comes out about 400-600g more than an average normal gear setup, and it’s all concentrated at the far end of the dropouts. You get used to it pretty quickly but initially it makes hopping over stuff a bit harder.

What bits do I need to get it working?
You need a wheel with an Alfine hub in it, an Alfine fitting kit which  contains various small pieces including non-turn washers for every type of dropout, a sprocket (see below on calculating size) and a shifter. If you don’t have horizontal drop-outs then you’ll also need a chain tensioner. You’ll probably also need a centerlock disk or a centerlock->6 bolt adapter if you already own a spare 6-bolt disk.

What is the gear range of an Alfine hub?
The gear range is 306%. What this means in real life is that it’s good but not quite as big as a normal cassette with a double chainring. If you choose a chainring and sprocket so that your lowest Alfine gear is the same as a normal granny gear, then your top gear will be about a 32 chainring / 13 sprocket combination.

How do I choose what chainring and sprocket size to use?
Let’s assume you have a 32T chainring lying around that you want to use. You also want a gear that will get you up a hill the same as a standard 24:32 granny gear. The 24/32 is a gear ratio of 0.75. The lowest gear on an Alfine hub is a 0.53 ratio. So (32/0.75)*0.53 = 23T sprocket. Unfortunately Alfine sprockets are only available up to 20T but if you really need a gear that low there is a Nexus sprocket that will fit. In that case your biggest gear ratio would be (32/23)*1.62 = 2.26, the same as a 32:14 gear.

What does all that mean in plain English?
It means that if you use a 32:23 setup on your Alfine you’ll be spinning quite a bit along the flat. If you can compromise on a bit of steep hill climbing you’d probably be better off with a 20T sprocket and 32T chainring which would give you most of the range of a double chainring setup but sacrificing the lowest couple of gears. Stronger riders might like to use the 18T sprocket for extra flat/downhill pedalling ability.

Is the freewheel noisy?
No, it’s silent. Pedalling take-up is instant too as it uses a clever clutch mechanism.

What’s the gear spacing like?
There are a couple of big jumps and a couple of slightly small ones. The ratios are: 0.53, 0.64, 0.75, 0.85, 1, 1.22, 1.42, 1.62 if that’s any help.

Can I use a double chainring with an Alfine hub?
If you use a chain tensioner (or rear mech!) with enough capacity to handle the difference in chain length, then yes. We haven’t tried it but reckon the Alfine chain tensioners will probably be OK for a 24T/32T double chainring. Triple chainrings will probably mess up your chainline a bit.

What shifter do I need?
The Alfine shifter, available in black or silver, is a “rapid rise” trigger-style shifter. The “rapid rise” can be confusing at first but you’ll soon get used to it. You can use a Nexus “gripshift” style shifter instead if you prefer.

How do I get the wheel in and out?
Getting the back wheel out can be a faff, especially if you need a chain tensioner for a vertical dropout frame. It’s a fiddly process of lining up the bit the cable goes into while aligning the non-turn washers which are there to prevent the axle rotating in the dropouts. You’ll need to carry a spanner to remove your wheel when fixing punctures.

Is it efficient?
Pedalling the Alfine feels smooth and efficient. It takes a bit of running-in but there is no noticeable drag once it’s settled in. It’s probably not as efficient as a well-oiled traditional transmission but

What maintenance do I need to carry out?
The Alfine is low maintenance but not no-maintenance, it’s certainly not a sealed-for-life Rohloff. Shimano recommend an overhaul every 2 years but they originally intended it as a city bike hub so we’d recommend more often. If it feels at all graunchy give it a spring clean.

Where can I find out more technical information about the Alfine hub?
There is a huge amount of servicing information available here: http://hubstripping.wordpress.com/alfine-shimano/

How much do all the parts cost ?
prices as of feb 09 and subject to change:
1. Alfine hub with NoTubes Arch rim and Competition spokes – £270.56
2. Alfine Shifters (black or silver) – £34.25
3. Alfine sprockets (18t, 20t)- £7.82
5. Alfine fitting kit – £10.76
6. Alfine chain tension (if needed) – £15.65
total – £339.04

and of course you can buy them here in a custom builds > and sometimes as pre-built wheels here >

industry nine in the frost

Now there’s only so much you can tell from one ride in deep, sloppy mud but since I finally dodged illness, work and self-destructing forks to actually get out on a ride with my Industry Nine wheels, I thought I should write a quick first ride review as lots of people have been asking about them.

In short, they feel amazing. Mine are the orange Enduro ones with Flow rims and while I’ve been using the Flows for some time built onto Hope Pro IIs, the Enduros are lighter still at 1775g the pair, and feel much stiffer. Not so much on the climbs, I don’t think I could notice much difference there but on the downhills there was an extra degree of precise handling and getting on exactly the right lines that wasn’t there with the old wheels.

The fast 3 degree take-up from freewheeling is nice too, maybe not as revolutionary as I had hoped for but it felt fast and ready for action. The main benefit for me was the lack of noise from the freewheel, it makes a gentle, relaxing even, buzzing noise rather than the eardrum-bursting CLACK-CLACK-CLACK of the Hope.

You also can’t get away from the fact that the i9 look amazing too, but a picture’s worth a thousand words (at least) so I won’t go on about that. Maybe there’s a bit of first-ride invincibility about my impressions so far but I think I’m going to like riding these wheels.

industry nine wheels

After much deliberation as to whether I can justify them I should finally get a chance to ride my new shiny orange Industry Nine Enduro wheelset this weekend. I think I ordered them back in May and have been too busy building other people’s wheels to put them together.

Let’s hope they turn out to be worth the wait.

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