IRideISmile

I love Roller Brakes AND I love the Alfine IGH. The Alfine is set up for disc (or rim). Are there steps/parts/mods to take to make it work well with a roller brake? Would it require more the the Alfine's already wide 135mm OLD?
I know the Nexus IGH has a roller brake compatible version, but I prefer the Alfine....It's shiny and black for one :-)

fietsbob

AFAIK the spline on the hub face is different, consider Painting the Nexus Black, before you have the wheel built .

IRideISmile

Hi Bob, Is there perhaps an adaptor for the spline? Besides the cool black color, the Alfine's a bit quieter than the Nexus, and in the case of the 11, a bigger gear range, so there's other reasons. (but if all fails, I will ask how to get the Nexus to a gorgeous black finish

Wilfred Laurier

i have never seen any such adaptor
nor ever heard of anyone trying the conversion

good luck

edit
if no such adaptor exists
it would likely be easier and cheaper
to have a disk brake mount added to your frame
and use the alfine for disks
as it was intended

IRideISmile

I have tried disc brakes on two bikes and find the feel/the action, harsh and sudden. Another way of saying: I find the transition, as I squeeze the brake lever, from nothing to full clamp stop very quick, such that if a miscalculated my squeeze just a bit or unconsciously contracted my hand, i'd lock the brake and end up over the bars... Roller brakes, on the hand, have a much more gradual, natural feel for me, while still giving me a trustworthy stopping point.

Maybe i didn't try enough kinds of disc brakes and perhaps some are more gradual, but that's my experience so far. Am I missing something about disc brakes? FYI, I weigh 140 lbs.

Wilfred Laurier

i have ridden a few bikes with shimano roller brakes
and i also think they are nice

however
your experience with disks is certainly not the norm

the opinion of most people i have spoken to
which matches my own experience
i1s that the modulation
or feel or action as you put it
is far superior with disks
than other brakes

perhaps the brakes you tried were very cheap cable operated ones
or not set up properly
but the superior feel of disks
as well as more consistent stopping in all conditions compared to rim brakes
is why the bike industry is moving away from rim brakes
and mostly moved away from drums coasters and roller brakes long ago

IRideISmile

Will keep an open mind and test-ride disc brakes again. Your recommendation seems that I should avoid "cable operated" disc brakes - not sure what you mean, or what non-cable operated discs are?

fietsbob

That means Hydraulic ..


Cable brakes are requiring manual Pad wear adjustments ..
Hydraulics are made to auto-adjust. (dont squeeze the lever when the wheel is out !)



Maybe the sales trends as Promoted are moving away from drum brakes .. But.

As some one having built-up a wheel-set around drum brakes over 25 years ago,

I cannot imagine any other type that will not need any pads or service ( has Sealed cartridge Bearings)

for the life of the owner .. and beyond.

Wilfred Laurier

yes hydraulic disk brakes
are generally considered the gold standard
and while what fietsbob said is true
disk brakes are generally considered superior to drums
in every way
except
maintenance and
cost to adapt to a bike
as disks require fittings on the frame
and drums generally do not

edit

there are also good cable operated disk brakes
as well as crappy ones

and perhaps your perception of disks
is simply not being used to them
and after two rides you would develop
the lighter touch necessary to feel confident

IRideISmile

Thanks Bob and Wilfred. I'm still really keen on learning if anyone on the Forum knows how get a Shimano Nexave Roller brake and an Alfine IGH happily working together. Thanks!

krome

There is a black nexus 7 on the market currently. Probably not what you wanted. I wanted a black shimano 8 speed, but couldn't justify the additional expense of an Alfine 8, went with a silver/grey red band Nexus 8 instead. I'm using rim brakes, so using a roller brake wasn't a factor.

Wilfred Laurier

the other problem
with getting a roller brake
to work on an alfine

is that i think roller brakes are held on by a locknut
on the axle
while alfine disks are held on with a lock ring
on the body of the hub

you are trying to mate a donkey with a cat

wroomwroomoops

This is an old thread but the topic is now quite interesting for me. I want to fit Shimano roller brakes to hubs with disk brake rotor mounting holes. This is more doable than it sounds. I'll design a draft of the adapter I have in mind.

wroomwroomoops

Boom!

Can someone please tell me the exact specs for the Shimano rollerbrake splines?

dynaryder

I don't have a bike anymore with a Roller,but I don't think using an adapter will work due to width. On Nexus hubs,if there's no Roller fitted,they install a cover on the end. With your adapter,you'd be stacking the Roller and adapter onto the rotor mount. I think you should do some measuring first.

edit,pics added:

wroomwroomoops

That may be a problem, or it may not. Depends on the rear fork spacing and whether having a QR or full axle.
I will check the splines tomorrow, and then finalize the model and print it. That way I can check if there is a chance to fit the adapter.

Mr IGH

If you want an Alfine 8 with roller brake, just get the latest Nexus 8R36 version, it's the same basic guts as the Alfine 501. If you want an Alfine 11 with roller brake, forget about it. If you want nice, progressive brakes, skip the roller brake, damn thing is a grab-master. Doesn't matter how much I lube it (or not) it just loves to lock-up.

fietsbob

My wild guess is Shimano's Centerlock Disc spline to what ever the roller brake spline is , If the Alfine has a Centerlock disc interface.

wroomwroomoops

Not at all true.

Maybe you have the wrong lever (I just pair them with V-brake levers) or have the cable too tight, or otherwise weirdly dialed in your setup. Whatever it is, you're dead wrong about rollerbrakes locking up.

wroomwroomoops

Right you are - the Alfine 11 does indeed use the centerlock spline. The small centerlock to be precise (there are TWO different centerlock standards - Shimano is going to Shimano).

Dan Burkhart 

I'm with you. I sold all kinds of roller brake equipped bikes, and had them on my rental fleet. Setup is everything with those brakes. do it right, and they work marvelously well.
Also to your point about V brake (long travel) levers. Some of the bikes I sold with roller brakes had re settable levers, and I found I liked the way they performed on the long travel setting, contrary to instructions.
Oh, and I have one bike of my own with roller brakes, a refurbished Schwinn tandem. No issues.

wroomwroomoops

Which rollerbrake model exactly do you use on the tandem, and in what role?

Dan Burkhart 

I have a IM70 on the rear and a IM41 on the front. Sounds backwards, I know, but it's what I had laying around when I was doing the build. I was planning to put a large one on the front, but it works so well now I haven't bothered.
It's just used for pootling around town or on flat level trails, so no long downhill braking episodes.

wroomwroomoops

Not backwards as much as ... slightly underpowered for a tandem. I guess I'd have an IM81 both front and rear.

Mr IGH

Be careful, the same folks claiming the rollerbrake is a viable option also recommend Sturmey Archer. There's a reason you don't see either on OEM bikes, they suck....