New 11 speed Shimano Hub Gear

[flecc]

This new hub gear will probably make inroads into the sales of the hugely expensive Rohloff 14 speed hub

Alfine quality, 11 gears and over 400% range against the 300% of the 8 speed hub, I think this will prove popular. It should be a lot cheaper than the circa £600 Rohloff too:

Announcement details link
.

 

[eddieo]

Blimey that looks nice!

put th spanner in the works a bit as still thinking of the 906xc. do you think wisper will adopt this new hub? or is the Afina 8 enough on an E bike.

the first batch of 906 already come without hydraulic brakes. if later batch have hydraulics and the new hub they may be worth waiting for........But will they have a throttle!

 

[lemmy]

That is interesting.

Out of idle interest, I just worked out that the gearing on my ordinary bike is 24/32*(26*3.14) = 61 inches low, 48/11*(26*3.14) = 356 inches high, giving a ratio spread of just under 600%.

So the 11 speed is still some way off the range of an ordinary road going derailleur set but quite a bit better then the 300% of my 8 speed Nexus.

I wonder what would be a good sprocket size for this 11 speed on my Kalkhoff? On its present standard sprocket, bottom gear is about as (s)low as you can go whilst maintaining balance (I find).

On the other hand, I sometimes feel that a 3 speed hub would be perfectly adequate with the Panasonic system.

 

[jerrysimon]

I must admit on my EBrompton I find my 3 speed hub more than sufficient.

Pretty flat in Cambridge though.

Regards

Jerry

 

[flecc]

We won't know the best sprocket until we get the ratios of this new hub, but it's likely with the usual Shimano design to have an even spread, so about a couple of tooth smaller sprocket than standard would maintain the bottom gear and extend the upper range and therefore the maximum assisted speed.

The Nexus 3 speed hub on an e-bike is ok for up to 10% hills, but in a hillier area with the Panasonic unit, it's 200% range isn't sufficient. I found the 250% SRAM P5 was the minimum gear range to just about fully enable a Lafree/Panasonic e-bike for the hilly North Downs area.

11 gears are overkill on any e-bike, but too many gears is usually necessary to get a wider percentage range on both hub and derailleur gears.
.

 

[Mussels]

Blimey that looks nice!

put th spanner in the works a bit as still thinking of the 906xc. do you think wisper will adopt this new hub? or is the Afina 8 enough on an E bike.

the first batch of 906 already come without hydraulic brakes. if later batch have hydraulics and the new hub they may be worth waiting for........But will they have a throttle!

My Shimano 14-28 freewheel offers 200% which is OK for me in a hilly area but leaves me coasting down many hills, the 300% will make a vast difference and I'll probably stop looking for ways to increase the gears.
I'd be cautious of the 11 speed hub for a while as Shimano have produced some unreliable stuff in the past, the 8 speed is fairly well tested now and shown to be robust.

 

[Tiberius]

That is interesting.

Out of idle interest, I just worked out that the gearing on my ordinary bike is 24/32*(26*3.14) = 61 inches low, 48/11*(26*3.14) = 356 inches high, giving a ratio spread of just under 600%.

Lemmy,

I think your inches are a factor of 3.14 too high. AFAIUI, the convention is the diameter of the equivalent penny-farthing wheel rather than the circumference.

Your bottom gear is very low. I guess that's a triple chainring with a bottle top for the inner ring.

Nick

 

[Tim]

This new hub gear will probably make inroads into the sales of the hugely expensive Rohloff 14 speed hub

Alfine quality, 11 gears and over 400% range against the 300% of the 8 speed hub, I think this will prove popular. It should be a lot cheaper than the circa £600 Rohloff too:

Announcement details link
.

With these 11-speed hubs, truly, we are living in the future.

 

[flecc]

I think your inches are a factor of 3.14 too high. AFAIUI, the convention is the diameter of the equivalent penny-farthing wheel rather than the circumference.

Yes, Lemmy's gear inches are 19.5" to 113", a 582% range by convention.

Mussels cautionary note is wise, Shimano have suffered problems with new issues, even the first 8 speed suffering failures before a rapid upgrade. In fact that seems to have been dropped altogether now, only the Premium (taking the place of the standard) and the Alfine versions seem to be available.
.

 

[lemmy]

Lemmy,
I think your inches are a factor of 3.14 too high. AFAIUI, the convention is the diameter of the equivalent penny-farthing wheel rather than the circumference.
Your bottom gear is very low. I guess that's a triple chainring with a bottle top for the inner ring.

I didn't know that gearing was related to a penny farthing, I thought logically that the main effect of gearing was the distance you travelled on one turn of the crank. My method returns the exact same result, of course.

Yes, my non e-bike has a 24/36/48 chainset and 11-32 cassette. On the 36 chainwheel it covers all my normal riding, with the 24 for a loaded rack and Richmond Park and the 48 for 35mph down good inclines. It came as standard on the bike. I'm never aware of cycling conventions and equipment norms as I've always used bikes for effective city transport rather than recreational or hobby use. Certainly the 600% range covers anything you might need with no large gaps between ratios.

Why does a penny farthing figure in modern bicycle calculations, by the way?

 

[flecc]

Why does a penny farthing figure in modern bicycle calculations, by the way?

Just convention since it started that way. When the Safety Bicycle (1) was introduced, the convention for the Ordinary (2) continued unchanged.

(1) "Safety bicycle" is the bike type we are familiar with.

(2) "Ordinary" is the correct name of the penny-farthing bicycle, this name introduced when the safety bicycle arrived to distinguish the difference. Penny-farthing was street slang. In more modern times enthusiast clubs for Ordinaries have come into being around the world with national and international meetings and races. These modern ordinary riders have an alternative name for their steeds, "High wheelers".

There's a peculiar record for these "high wheeler" fans, the maximum number of ordinaries side by side in a row, standing still with riders aloft and held balanced upright by right arms on the next rider's shoulder. The last record for this that I saw was set at an international meeting in England and from memory it was 137 ordinaries in the row.
.

 

[Lloyd]

I am very excited about this! A cheaper alternative to 'that German hub' would make this much more accessable to the weekend warriors and commuters. Only gripe I have, is if it is aimed at the 'sports' market, I would bet my lunch money that it comes as a standard 135/10mm axle. With so many off road bikes running 150/12mm bolt through it would be great to see some compatability! Afterall, a sealed hub gear would be most beneficial to off-roaders who are likely to wedge it full of mud, and/or smash a low hanging derallieur into rocks/roots/trees/another bike (delete as appropriate). No good if the axles don't fit.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

11 speed

Blimey that looks nice!

put th spanner in the works a bit as still thinking of the 906xc. do you think wisper will adopt this new hub? or is the Afina 8 enough on an E bike.

the first batch of 906 already come without hydraulic brakes. if later batch have hydraulics and the new hub they may be worth waiting for........But will they have a throttle!

Hi Eddie, already ordered for the new 1006 due to be launched in September.

All the best

David

 

[eddieo]

maybe I should just buy a cyclomatic and wait a bit

what is a 1006? I'm getting confused.

 

[flecc]

what is a 1006? I'm getting confused.

I'd guess a Premium version of the 906, intended to sit at the top of the 2011 Wisper range.
.

 

[eddieo]

I'd guess a Premium version of the 906, intended to sit at the top of the 2011 Wisper range.
.

Blimey...... world E Bike domination

is it to late to buy shares

 

[Alex728]

Blimey...... world E Bike domination

is it to late to buy shares

last time I checked there's was one share and I think its David's

 

[Wisper Bikes]

1006

Hi Eddie

The 1006 us our new 2011 bike which we have just finalised, totally different to anything else on the market, full of tech, light weight, a bit special even though I say it myself! The frame is not similar to the the 905 although still distinctive. As soon as I have the final rendering and the patents and design registrations have been finished I will post it here.

This time we are getting the IP sorted before we show it!

If anyone has any ideas that they would like to see on the bike please let me know.

All the best

David

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Shares

last time I checked there's was one share and I think its David's

Douglas and I are 50 / 50.

All the best

David

 

[Alex728]

If anyone has any ideas that they would like to see on the bike please let me know.

All the best

David

are you going to be offering alloy frames on all new models?

I remember reading here one of the new models was carbon fibre and I know there's a trend towards carbon fibre but I've seen some real horror stories about the stuff on the racers' blogs (complete with pictures of peoples bike frames just failing under stress)

maybe in the future you could have Wispers like you order a Dell computer with a basic model and selectable enhancements..