Shimano Alfine 8 failure with electric?

[ejonesss]

i was wondering if anyone has had a Shimano Alfine 8 or even any Shimano Alfine hubs fail due to use with electric drive.

i googled it and even searched on these forums and only failures i have seen are a metal tab/tang broken on axel leading to complete split of the metal lobes that hold the sun gear inside the hub.

and that is caused by people standing on the pedals when going up hill

nothing seems to show what electric drive does

 

[Dingo2024]

Hi,

I run a Nexus 8 speed (same as Alfine without disk) on my commuter build running a cyclone settup (@ 48v)...........almost 2500 miles on it and over 2 years....no problems. The only thing I have noticed is the shift from 4th to 5th gear is notchy (always been that way) This also runs a 13t rear cog and I live in a hilly area....so it has definately been tested out :wink:

hope this helps,

Ian

 

[ejonesss]

i am thinking more on the lines if the torque was exceeded say ran at over 600 foot pound for example and jerky starts and wheelies?

 

[ejonesss]

let me re ask this in a better way.

anyone have an alfine fail due to it's use with electric bike and what happens?

i am debating getting one and the last thing i want is to pay hundred$ and have it fail under load

 

[Miles]

i am thinking more on the lines if the torque was exceeded say ran at over 600 foot pound for example and jerky starts and wheelies?

600 foot pound! You sure you meant that.....?
You might be ok with 80 foot pound..............

 

[ejonesss]

yes i am adding some extra room in there.

i do scrap metal recycling and i use the bike to pull a utility wagon (hauled 18000 btu air conditioners and refrigerators) and the last load i took was 100 punds and the weight of me,bike/wagon and metal came close to 600 pounds.

and i was wondering if anyone out there used an alfine that hard and/or had one fail because of using it outside of it's designed specs and it failed and what eay it failed such as snapping axel or grinding or such.

i am thinking more on the lines if the torque was exceeded say ran at over 600 foot pound for example and jerky starts and wheelies?

600 foot pound! You sure you meant that.....?
You might be ok with 80 foot pound..............

 

[Miles]

Even if you were hauling that load up a 16% gradient, you would still only need 110 pound foot at the wheel (assuming 26" wheels). That would be output torque so, divide by the greatest underdrive ratio of the Alfine to get the input torque to the hub.

I think the original Nu Vinci CVT (N171) would be a better bet.

 

[ejonesss]

right now i can pick up an alfine on ebay for $180 where as a nuvinci goes for over $300

I think the original Nu Vinci CVT (N171) would be a better bet.

 

[Miles]

It's the N171 Nu Vinci hub that you'll need, not the N360. You might find one second-hand.

 

[sn0wchyld]

Hi,

I run a Nexus 8 speed (same as Alfine without disk) on my commuter build running a cyclone settup (@ 48v)...........almost 2500 miles on it and over 2 years....no problems. The only thing I have noticed is the shift from 4th to 5th gear is notchy (always been that way) This also runs a 13t rear cog and I live in a hilly area....so it has definately been tested out :wink:

hope this helps,

Ian

what sort of wattage are you running? thanks.

 

[Dingo2024]

what sort of wattage are you running? thanks.[/quote]

I am running the standard unmodded cyclone controller, so................about 55amps with a 16s A123 15ah pouch cell battery

seeing anything from 2.2 to 2.5 kw (according to the CA)

Ian

 

[RayB]

I ran a cyclone 500 through an alfine 8 for about a year. Didn't have any issues. Cyclone is long gone but I still have the hub!

 

[Green Machine]

yeah i have wondered if an alfine 8 would take any serious electric power myself...but I have not ever read anyone trying it.

I heard that the Dogati bike spun out the gears on an alfine 11 running an astro 3220.

 

[kentlim26]

must upgrade a better one

 

[bobweeks]

I had UtahTrikes build up an EcoSpeed 48V 1000w quad for my father-in-law last year using an Alfine 8. They had problems with the Alfine right off the bat and switched to a Nuvinci 360 before the quad was even delivered. The Nuvinci seems to take the torque much better than the Alfine. They initially thought the chain was skipping teeth but then determined the Alfine was having some type of internal slippage.

Here are some pics if you want to see the build:
http://www.utahtrikes.com/RECENTTRIKE-dons_super_quad.html

-Bob