Long time no blog once again, so let’s start with the latest. Lots of bicycling in last years and in the spring I started to look for a replacement bike, just for sake of trying something new. At first, options ranged from plain carbon road bike to cyclocross and I was having hard time to deciding what I needed. While thinking the matter through it came obvious that – if anything – I’ll need a new commuting bike as that’s what I’ll mostly do, cycle to work and back.
Having tried some of the new aluminium frames I decided that there are now only two possible options to go for a frame – steel or carbon. The new lightweight aluminium frames don’t seem robust enough as they’re made so light that they’re all doomed to fail. Also I feel a bit uneasy of carbon frame but after trying it I could go for a one (but not the cheapest.)
Using the bike for all weather and during winter I’ll also wanted to have disc brakes and also mudguards (+enough spacing for winter tyres) and rack mounts are mandatory. Last item kind of reduces the possible carbon frame options.
At this point there were some good steel frame models from Charge, Pelago, Salsa, Singular and Surly. I also really liked the new Kuningaskulkuri model from Helkama bicycles, but it is lacking frame size options and brakes so I just couldn’t go for it.
Then a question of a drivetrain. Derailleurs I know and there are plenty of nice options available from at least three big manufacturers. But after I saw Rohloff Speedhub for a first time (must have been about 10 years ago), I’ve always wanted to try one. To this day I haven’t gotten over the price to purchase one but now Shimano has made an tempting attempt on oil lubricated IGH – Alfine 11. Here’s also a link to Shimano commercial video in youtube. It’s obviously not Rohloff but the pricetag is less than 1/3 of one and there has been quite a lot of positive ratings for this in the Internet forums so that was a very tempting option. Folks have used these in different MTB builds so the hub should survive plenty of abuse.
And then one day while browsing, I saw that Charge bikes had a perfect looking bike for me. It had steel frame and Alfine 11 hub as drivetrain. Only thing I had to compromise with it was that this model had a flat handlebar. It is not a big issue as I already purchased a set of aerobars for my previous bicycle and being using flat bar for ages I do like the riding comfort.
So here it is, almost fresh from the package. Charge Mixer 11. All steel frame, fork and fenders. Hydraulic disc brakes. It still needs a lamp and perhaps a hub dynamo to power the lights. Also I need to get those aerobars fitted but otherwise all components start to be in place. Also it will get a fully closed chainguard once I find a model that fits my current cogs.

 
First impressions:
I’ve now only done 100km on this so it’s too early to say anything else but the first impressions and feelings. I like the looks and overall feel of the bike. Frame is very robust and hydraulic brakes are nothing less than awesome! Hub gears seems to work as expected, it’s quiet and shifts nicely once the cable is adjusted properly. Took couple of iterations for me to get it right, even there are alignment marks on the hub, the correct alignment seems to be a bit off from that.
Equipped with 39T cog in front and 20T cog in rear the gear range seems to suit my needs as is. The low end could perhaps be a bit lower for steepest climbs (haven’t tried it yet, but I know where to go to see if it’s actually low enough) – and in the other end going downhill I can shift to the highest gear and it has been enough for now.
Only gripe for now is that the Alfine trigger shifter feels very cheap (as it is). I’d expected a bit more, but if it doesn’t last, it’s easy to change for a better one. Also as I’ve used solely derailleur type gears for my life, shifting takes some time to get used to. It’s very nice that you can shift while not moving (traffic lights etc) so that’s clear improvement but then shifting under load needs more consideration. Hub does shift but noiseless downshift under load seems much easier with derailleur than with this. For now it seems like a con, but perhaps I’ll learn how to do it with this also.
Only time will tell if this does last. Let’s come back to that after winter.