8 speed internal transmission

Since people seemed to be interested in this stuff here is a set for sale for a reasonable price. https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/bop...206612956.html

Tom Kunich wrote:
Since people seemed to be interested in this stuff here is a set for sale
for a reasonable price.
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/bop...206612956.html

Wondering what kind of person would not consider cleaning that front hub
before trying to sell, did not provide me with a clear indication whether
the hub truly is in "excellent" state.

No photo of internal status Nexi might mean a seller either is not familiar
with opening it for periodic cleaning and lubing ... or the very opposite:
https://www.astounding.org.uk/ian/hubgear/new_unmod.html

While the original Shimano bathing oil is overpriced, the standard
replacement interior gear unit
https://www.ebay.at/itm/SHIMANO-Ersatz-f-Nexus-Inter-8-SG-8R25-Getriebeeinheit-184mm-ca-1250g-Y-37L98/191775858833
is not really cheaper than a complete (naked) new hub:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hinterradnabe-Shimano-Nexus-8-Premium-SG-C6010-silber-36-Loch-Nabenschaltung/131539343975

Two of about seven or more reasons that drove me to Rohloff.


--
Checking one's nails before shooting video is important, too, Guz O'Lean
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/qdQEHvVCzAU

On Thursday, October 8, 2020 at 1:20:57 PM UTC-7, Sepp Ruf wrote:
Tom Kunich wrote:
Since people seemed to be interested in this stuff here is a set for sale
for a reasonable price.
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/bop...206612956.html
Wondering what kind of person would not consider cleaning that front hub
before trying to sell, did not provide me with a clear indication whether
the hub truly is in "excellent" state.

No photo of internal status Nexi might mean a seller either is not familiar
with opening it for periodic cleaning and lubing ... or the very opposite:
https://www.astounding.org.uk/ian/hubgear/new_unmod.html

While the original Shimano bathing oil is overpriced, the standard
replacement interior gear unit
https://www.ebay.at/itm/SHIMANO-Ersatz-f-Nexus-Inter-8-SG-8R25-Getriebeeinheit-184mm-ca-1250g-Y-37L98/191775858833
is not really cheaper than a complete (naked) new hub:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hinterradnabe-Shimano-Nexus-8-Premium-SG-C6010-silber-36-Loch-Nabenschaltung/131539343975

Two of about seven or more reasons that drove me to Rohloff.

That is Ash Fall from the forest fires around us. I clean the ashes off of my wife's car in the morning and the next morning she again needs the windshield cleaned and the ashes washed off of the cars. That isn't dirt or poor maintenance. You simply can't keep up with it.

On Thursday, October 8, 2020 at 6:11:02 PM UTC-5, wrote:

While the original Shimano bathing oil is overpriced...
No kidding! I learned about this when I bought a bike with an Alfine 11-speed hub, which requires an oil change every now and then. I found a kit comprising the hardware (syringe, tubing, coupler) and 50ml of the "official" oil for about $30 (from Estonia, of all places), so the first oil change was per spec.
I researched other oils and eventually chose Royal Purple "Max Gear" synthetic gear oil. A liter of 75W-140 was about $24, vs $80-100 for the Shimano product. It's purple, instead of green, but has approximately the same viscosity and is claimed to be less likely to cause corrosion of "yellow metals" (brass, copper, bronze?) which might be part of a transmission. I have no idea if the Alfine contains any of these metals, but it seemed prudent to assume so. The "140" part of the grade is not important because the hub never runs anywhere near the temperature of a transmission; basically, it's a 75W oil. I've done about 10 oil changes over 8,500 miles and the hub has worked perfectly.
I also have two Nexus 8-speed hubs with about 8,000 and 4,000 miles on them.. I've been dipping the gear clusters in the gear oil once a year, and the insides seem to be holding up well.

Not to diss your Rohloff by any means. Nice stuff!

On 10/8/2020 7:37 PM, Steve Weeks wrote:
On Thursday, October 8, 2020 at 6:11:02 PM UTC-5, wrote:

While the original Shimano bathing oil is overpriced...
No kidding! I learned about this when I bought a bike with an Alfine 11-speed hub, which requires an oil change every now and then. I found a kit comprising the hardware (syringe, tubing, coupler) and 50ml of the "official" oil for about $30 (from Estonia, of all places), so the first oil change was per spec.
I researched other oils and eventually chose Royal Purple "Max Gear" synthetic gear oil. A liter of 75W-140 was about $24, vs $80-100 for the Shimano product. It's purple, instead of green, but has approximately the same viscosity and is claimed to be less likely to cause corrosion of "yellow metals" (brass, copper, bronze?) which might be part of a transmission. I have no idea if the Alfine contains any of these metals, but it seemed prudent to assume so. The "140" part of the grade is not important because the hub never runs anywhere near the temperature of a transmission; basically, it's a 75W oil. I've done about 10 oil changes over 8,500 miles and the hub has worked perfectly.
I also have two Nexus 8-speed hubs with about 8,000 and 4,000 miles on them. I've been dipping the gear clusters in the gear oil once a year, and the insides seem to be holding up well.

Not to diss your Rohloff by any means. Nice stuff!


Good for you, excellent analysis.

As I recently found in a 'won't shift from 2d to 3d gear'
Alfine, the modern design leaves a great many tiny moving
parts along the axle basically unlubricated in normal use.
The SA and Sachs classic planetary systems had decent splash
lubrication if ridden regularly but these (Nexus, Alfine)
systems do not.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Friday, October 9, 2020 at 1:55:20 AM UTC+1, AMuzi wrote to Steve Weeks:

Good for you, excellent analysis.

+1

As I recently found in a 'won't shift from 2d to 3d gear'
Alfine, the modern design leaves a great many tiny moving
parts along the axle basically unlubricated in normal use.
The SA and Sachs classic planetary systems had decent splash
lubrication if ridden regularly but these (Nexus, Alfine)
systems do not.

I reckon the main problem with a Rohloff is that it is indestructible, which leads to the condition where you become bored with it before it wears out.

Andre Jute
I'm too poor to consider any hub gearbox except the Rohloff.

Steve Weeks wrote:

While the original Shimano bathing oil is overpriced...
No kidding! I learned about this when I bought a bike with an Alfine
11-speed hub, which requires an oil change every now and then. I found a
kit comprising the hardware (syringe, tubing, coupler) and 50ml of the
"official" oil for about $30 (from Estonia, of all places), so the first
oil change was per spec. I researched other oils and eventually chose
Royal Purple "Max Gear" synthetic gear oil. A liter of 75W-140 was about
$24, vs $80-100 for the Shimano product. It's purple, instead of green,
but has approximately the same viscosity and is claimed to be less likely
to cause corrosion of "yellow metals" (brass, copper, bronze?) which
might be part of a transmission. I have no idea if the Alfine contains
any of these metals, but it seemed prudent to assume so. The "140" part
of the grade is not important because the hub never runs anywhere near
the temperature of a transmission; basically, it's a 75W oil. I've done
about 10 oil changes over 8,500 miles and the hub has worked perfectly. I
also have two Nexus 8-speed hubs with about 8,000 and 4,000 miles on
them.. I've been dipping the gear clusters in the gear oil once a year,
and the insides seem to be holding up well.

Sounds interesting. What was the lowest temperature you started and
operated your "McPurple Royal"ed hubs in? Any skipping or other noteworthy
behavior of your purple-soaked 8-speeds?

On Friday, October 9, 2020 at 12:08:24 AM UTC-5, Sepp Ruf wrote:

Sounds interesting. What was the lowest temperature you started and
operated your "McPurple Royal"ed hubs in? Any skipping or other noteworthy
behavior of your purple-soaked 8-speeds?

The Alfine 11 is on my "nominally-good-weather" commuter bike, and has seen temperatures in the low 'teens (F).
One of the Nexus 8 hubs is on my "winter" commuter, and the lowest temperature I have seen was minus 20 F.
Both hubs have shifted equally well at the low temperatures as at the higher ambient temps in summer (high 90s F).

When I dip the gear clusters on the 8-speeds, I also pack the bearings with "Nexus Grease", which looks like some sort of molybdenum disulfide paste.

I've never opened the 11-speed hub, so I can't comment on the appearance of the innards. The drained oil has a small amount of metallic particles which are visible as a sort of shimmering appearance. These are ferromagnetic: I filter them out with a strong magnet (for a long time), then use the result as a "flush" before refilling the hub with fresh oil. This cuts my use of "new" oil to 25ml per oil change.
One interesting observation: the oil is markedly less "purple" after its tour of duty in the hub.

On Thursday, October 8, 2020 at 7:55:20 PM UTC-5, AMuzi wrote:

Good for you, excellent analysis.

Thanks!

The SA and Sachs classic planetary systems had decent splash
lubrication if ridden regularly but these (Nexus, Alfine)
systems do not.

Based on my "study of one", the Alfine-11 would seem to have decent oil distribution since it's worked well for over 8,000 miles. I'm not surprised, because the hub's gears run in an actual oil *bath*, as opposed to the Nexus hubs I'm familiar with, whose lubrication depends on how much oil clings to the gears. I put grease in the bearings of those hubs once a year, so the bearings probably don't have to depend on splash lubrication.

The first actual new bike I ever had was a "Royce Union" with a 3-speed Sturmey-Archer hub which I got at my 13th birthday. In college I converted it to a 5-speed (derailleur) and lost the 3-speed wheel. I now regret letting that wheel get away.

On 10/9/2020 9:12 PM, Steve Weeks wrote:
On Thursday, October 8, 2020 at 7:55:20 PM UTC-5, AMuzi wrote:

Good for you, excellent analysis.

Thanks!

The SA and Sachs classic planetary systems had decent splash
lubrication if ridden regularly but these (Nexus, Alfine)
systems do not.

Based on my "study of one", the Alfine-11 would seem to have decent oil distribution since it's worked well for over 8,000 miles. I'm not surprised, because the hub's gears run in an actual oil *bath*, as opposed to the Nexus hubs I'm familiar with, whose lubrication depends on how much oil clings to the gears. I put grease in the bearings of those hubs once a year, so the bearings probably don't have to depend on splash lubrication.

The first actual new bike I ever had was a "Royce Union" with a 3-speed Sturmey-Archer hub which I got at my 13th birthday. In college I converted it to a 5-speed (derailleur) and lost the 3-speed wheel. I now regret letting that wheel get away.

Somewhere in my bike part collection I have a threaded driver for a
Sturmey-Archer 3 speed hub - a replacement for the typical triple spline
driver with its snap ring.

The threaded driver is supposed to allow replacing the single sprocket
with a thread-on freewheel. I've never installed it, though.


--
- Frank Krygowski