Author Topic: Alfine goes electric  (Read 5653 times)

Kim

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Re: Alfine goes electric
« Reply #50 on: 11 January, 2013, 06:29:31 pm »
Also, would someone please tell the European manufacturers that fitting a dynohub to a pedelec is a bit mental?

Legal requirement in Germany (and probably the Netherlands), AIUI.

You could probably argue that a regenerative hub motor was a dynamo for those purposes, if you could arrange the system so the lights would work without battery power.

rogerzilla

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Re: Alfine goes electric
« Reply #51 on: 11 January, 2013, 07:57:44 pm »
Makes sense if you consider that the bike can be pedalled at night with a flat battery.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Re: Alfine goes electric
« Reply #52 on: 11 January, 2013, 09:07:59 pm »

Electronic shifting on hub gears?  i wouldn't touch it with a barge pole but they must think someone would buy it
Well, relying on a steel cable and a (return)spring is not always more precise and fail-save than an electronic actuator.

I don't quite understand what they are doing here.  Hub gears == no maintenance.
Although I'm riding gearhubs only in bad weather conditions, I must disagree. They require very little maintenance, compared to derailleur gears, that much is true.

I'm well too tight to give it a try yet, but it sounds very interesting.

And if I'm understanding the system right, a tinkerer like me may very well replace the cables and battery with some replacement stuff, eg. a canon camcorder battery. (?)

In this context, is there anybody to verify whether the MU-Unit would work on a normal 8- or 11-gear hub?
Live is pain - and it 'll get worse if you're aiming for comfort.

Re: Alfine goes electric
« Reply #53 on: 11 January, 2013, 09:30:16 pm »
The issue is primarily with drop shifters. The Versa made (not Shimano) shifters that work depend on a vulnerable micro adjuster on the body of the shifter. As a consequence, they regularly go out of adjustment (I've taken to adjusting mine every day) I suspect the inevitable riding out of adjustment causes an inordinate amount of wear - when I strip mine as I will have to, the extent will become known. An electronic shift allows the drop shifter to change gear accurately.