Alfine is the name of a comfort and urban oriented product series by Shimano. It is mainly known for internally geared hubs, but includes also hydraulic disc brakes and levers, chain tensioners, dynamo hubs, cranksets, shift levers, and complete wheels. [1]
The Alfine 500 group, first introduced at Eurobike in 2006, [2] included the epicyclic hub gear SG-S500. The internal mechanical design of the gear hub was based on that of the Shimano Nexus Inter 8, with two stepped planetary series, 5th gear being 1:1 direct drive, [3] thus offering 8 speeds with percent intervals of 22,16,14,18,22,16,14, and an overall gear range of 307%, yet in a more attractive design than the Nexus, with better seals allowing slightly greater ruggedness, more attractive auxiliary components such as e.g. a ratcheting trigger shifter similar to the high-end Shimano derailleur shifters, and a hub shell with splines for mounting a disc brake rotor of the center lock standard. These mechanisms are grease-lubricated.
For 2013 a new 505 model is being offered with Di2 electronic shifting. [4]
| Gear | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ratio [5] | 0.527 | 0.644 | 0.748 | 0.851 | 1.000 | 1.223 | 1.419 | 1.615 |
Alfine 700 is an internal epicyclic hub gear for bicycles, manufactured by Shimano since 2010. The 700 has 11 speeds, with intervals of approximately 29% for the first to second gear gap, and 13% - 14% for the other gears, resulting in an overall gear range of 409%. [6] There is no direct drive 1:1 gear. It is operated by a single ratcheting trigger shifter with two-way release. [7] When introduced it had a claimed weight of approximately 1600g without auxiliary components (bolts, actuator, cog, wire, shifter). [8] Production models appeared to have a somewhat beefed up design. [9] The internal mechanisms comprise three stepped planetary series in a sealed oil bath, for greater power transfer efficiency.
For 2013 a new 705 model is being offered with Di2 electronic shifting. [10] This version differs slightly from the 700 model and requires a motor unit with a battery, and an electronic shifter. Shimano offers different styles of electronic shifters that fit a wider range of handlebars than the trigger shifter for the 700 model. It is not possible to use the motor unit or electronic shifters with the 700 model. [11]
| Gear | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ratio [12] | 0.527 | 0.681 | 0.770 | 0.878 | 0.995 | 1.134 | 1.292 | 1.462 | 1.667 | 1.888 | 2.153 |
A hub gear, internal-gear hub, internally geared hub or just gear hub is a gear ratio changing system commonly used on bicycles that is implemented with planetary or epicyclic gears. The gears and lubricants are sealed within the shell of the hub gear, in contrast with derailleur gears where the gears and mechanism are exposed to the elements. Changing the gear ratio was traditionally accomplished by a shift lever connected to the hub with a Bowden cable, and twist-grip style shifters have become common.
Shimano, Inc., originally Shimano Iron Works (島野鐵工所) and later Shimano Industries, Inc. (島野工業株式会社), is a Japanese multinational manufacturing company for cycling components, fishing tackle and rowing equipment, who also produced golf supplies until 2005 and snowboarding gear until 2008. Named after founder Shozaburo Shimano and headquartered in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, the company has 32 consolidated and 11 unconsolidated subsidiaries, with the primary manufacturing plants based in Kunshan (China), Malaysia and Singapore.
Campagnolo is an Italian manufacturer of high-end bicycle components with headquarters in Vicenza, Italy. The components are organised as groupsets (gruppi), and are a near-complete collection of a bicycle's mechanical parts. Campagnolo's flagship components are the Super Record, Record, and Chorus groupsets with all three representing their recent shift to 12-speed drivetrains. Super Record and Record are the top groupsets, followed by Chorus, Potenza, Centaur and Veloce. Campagnolo also produces aluminum and carbon wheels, as well as other components.
An automatic transmission is a multi-speed transmission used in motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving conditions.
A semi-automatic transmission is a multiple-speed transmission where part of its operation is automated, but the driver's input is still required to launch the vehicle from a standstill and to manually change gears. Semi-automatic transmissions were almost exclusively used in motorcycles and are based on conventional manual transmissions or sequential manual transmissions, but use an automatic clutch system. But some semi-automatic transmissions have also been based on standard hydraulic automatic transmissions with torque converters and planetary gearsets.
Sturmey-Archer was a manufacturing company originally from Nottingham, England. It primarily produced bicycle hub gears, brakes and a great many other sundry bicycle components, most prominently during their heyday as a subsidiary of the Raleigh Bicycle Company. In the past, it also manufactured motorcycle hubs, gearboxes and engines.
Shimano Total Integration (STI) is a gearshift system designed by Shimano for racing bicycles. It combines the braking and gear shifting controls into the same component. This allows shifting gears without having to remove a hand from the bars, unlike previous down tube shifting systems. This component is usually referred to as a "shifter" or "dual-control levers", or occasionally "brifters".
SRAM LLC is a privately owned bicycle component manufacturer based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, founded in 1987. SRAM is an acronym comprising the names of its founders, Scott, Ray, sAM,. The company produces a range of internally developed cycling components, including Grip Shift, separate gravel, road, and mountain drivetrains from 7 to 12 speed. SRAM developed the eagle line of mountain bike specific drivetrain components intended to improve shifting performance. SRAM was also the first to release a dedicated "one by" drivetrain with a single front chain-ring.
A preselector gearbox is a type of manual transmission mostly used on passenger cars and racing cars in the 1930s, in buses from 1940-1960 and in armoured vehicles from the 1930s to the 1970s. The defining characteristic of a preselector gearbox is that the gear shift lever allowed the driver to "pre-select" the next gear, usually with the transmission remaining in the current gear until the driver pressed the "gear change pedal" at the desired time.
On a bicycle, the cassette or cluster is the set of multiple sprockets that attaches to the hub on the rear wheel. A cogset works with a rear derailleur to provide multiple gear ratios to the rider. Cassettes come in two varieties, freewheels or cassettes, of which cassettes are a newer development. Although cassettes and freewheels perform the same function and look almost the same when installed, they have important mechanical differences and are not interchangeable.
A bicycle shifter or gear control or gear levers is a component used to control the gearing mechanisms and select the desired gear ratio. Typically, they operate either a derailleur mechanism or an internal hub gear mechanism. In either case, the control is operated by moving a cable that connects the shifter to the gear mechanism.
The Rohloff Speedhub is an epicyclic internal hub gear for bicycles, developed and patented by Rohloff AG. It has been manufactured and marketed by that company since 1998. The Speedhub 500/14 has 14 equally spaced, sequential, non-overlapping gear ratios operated by a single twistgrip. The overall gear range is 526%, meaning the highest gear is 5.26 times as high as the lowest gear. Individual gear shifts when shifting up give an increase of about 13.6%.
Bicycle gearing is the aspect of a bicycle drivetrain that determines the relation between the cadence, the rate at which the rider pedals, and the rate at which the drive wheel turns.
An electronic gear-shifting system is a method of changing gears on a bicycle, which enables riders to shift with electronic switches instead of using conventional control levers and mechanical cables. The switches are connected by wire or wirelessly to a battery pack and to a small electric motor that drives the derailleur, switching the chain from cog to cog. An electronic system can switch gears faster and, because the system does not use Bowden cables and can calibrate itself, it may require less maintenance.
Shimano Nexus is a brand of bicycle components which includes products such as epicyclical gear hubs, cranksets, shifters, brake levers, hub brakes, hub dynamos, and a CPU for automatically changing gears. The series is primarily aimed at the "comfort" market such as urban commuters and tourers, and as such is not made to withstand the rigours of off-road or mountain biking. The free-wheeling Nexus internal gear hubs are compatible with Shimano's "roller brake", its version of a drum brake, but not with the Shimano disc brakes used with the higher-end Shimano Alfine internal gear hubs.
The SRAM i-Motion series of products is a sport, urban, and trekking oriented product series developed and manufactured by SRAM Corporation. Branded i-Motion are internally geared hubs, shift levers, and dynamo hubs. Related to the i-Motion series are also changeable free or fixed single speed hubs, hybrid epicyclic and derailleur gear hubs, and hydraulic disc brakes. The i-Motion series of products were developed at SRAMs Schweinfurt R&D and manufacturing plant in Germany, formerly of Sachs.
Deore XT is a mountain and touring bike groupset first introduced by Shimano in 1983. It was Shimano's first mountain bike groupset, based on their existing Deore touring groupset, and it consisted of a triple-, double- or single chainring crankset, front and rear derailleurs, handlebar-mounted "finger" shifters, cantilever brakes, and large-flange hubs. Since then, it has become their "second-tier" offering, the list of components has expanded to include hydraulic disc brakes, a complete wheelset, a chain, and clipless pedals, and it is offered in silver or black finish.
This page is a list of internal hub gears for bicycles.
9G-Tronic is Mercedes-Benz's trademark name for its nine-speed automatic transmission, starting off with the W9A 700 as core model.