Hey folks. I have an idea, and I'm hoping you can tell me if it's a bad one.
I have a Jamis Dragon Slayer frame with a 12×148 thru axle, which I'd like to attach a hub gear to. I know there are a few thru axle geared hubs, but they're not cheap, so I'm hoping to find a way to attach a Shimano Alfine 8 speed. This isn't usually possible because you can't get the axle in, but I'm wondering if I can make it work because I have removable dropouts on the frame, so I can remove the (non-disc) dropout as a way to mount and remove the wheel.
I'm thinking I could drill out the m12 hole on the dropout to a plain 12mm hole, then use the Surly 12mm to 10mm converter pieces inside the hole, space it out accordingly to fit the 148mm frame, then make some sort of anti-rotation piece that links the hub axle to the derailleur hanger.
Is this a dumb idea?
by felix_ure
4 Comments
These dropouts look pretty similar to others on the market and you can probably just find the correct slider set for 10mm axle.
I’ve got an alfine hub and it also uses some torque washers to key center axel to the bike. I suspect those are important to the function and missing them could cause issues. Could be possible to find different dropouts though.
Do the removable dropouts not have a boss that fits in the frame slots?? They’re just flat?
Aside from the other issues, your plates also look to be too thick. The only axle they make for this hub is 187mm, which leaves you with ~22mm on each side, and your plates looks to be at least 20mm thick.
You would also have to space it out much wider than it was designed for, which is going to put extra stress on the axle. It’ll probably be fine, Inter-8s (of which the Alfine is a variant) are fairly robust, but if you do bend the axle it will likely cause a catastrophic failure.
Before trying to DIY it, I would check the dimensions of the slot in the frame and see if there are other sliding plates that fit or can be modified to fit, that have thinner vertical dropouts, ideally offset slightly inboard.
edit:
~~Actually that’s not true, they do make a 201mm axle for the one of the roller-braked versions of the Inter-8. Now they don’t list the axle unit as interchangeable, because Shimano likes to pretend all their hub gears are radically different, but I would be surprised if it didn’t fit in the disc-braked versions as well.~~
edit2: Nevermind I didn’t realize the left-hand bearing is in a different place 🤦♀️