Long term Alfine 11 Review - I took that shit off my bike

Man.  I ran that hub for a long time.  And in a way it was great.  But in another way it really sucked.  I just didn't realize it.

It started a few months ago.  I pulled it off and set my bike up singlespeed.  But fuck me if I'm going to push a singlespeed around Vancouver.  So back on it went.

Then I rode to work and left my bike there overnight.  And came in the next day to find a giant puddle of Alfine oil under my bike.

That lead to a bit of a hunt and I finally just decided to buy one of those Sunrace bolt on derailleur hangars and be done with it.  Now?  Man.  Now, this bike just hauls ass all over the place.  Honestly.  It's just so much faster and easier than with that Alfine 11 pig holding me back.

I know.  I read about drag within internally geared hubs and I wrote it off.  I ignored it.  I thought that it couldn't possibly be that big of a deal.  But it is.  Those hubs are boat anchors.

So.  There you have it.  Alfine 11:
1) A bit of a pain in the ass to set up the first time.
2) Drags.
3) Leaks.
4) But looks pretty cool.
5) And it's kind of awesome to be able to shift whenever you want.

Oh.  I should mention.  I had a belt drive too, which was probably a tiny bit of the extra drag.  But not much.

Internally geared hubs are not our salvation.  Thank god I didn't put an effort into setting up a hardtail for the trails with one.