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Alfine servicing

sam_wild

Warming-Up
Mar 18, 2013
4
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Greetings.

My name is Sam Wild - I just joined the forum :)

I am based in Taitung, Taiwan, and I own a Cooper road bike with Alfine internal rear hub gear system (8 speed). I now wish to have the gears serviced. Does anyone have any advice please?

Ideally I would like to have it done somewhere in Taiwan but I would also consider sending the wheel to Japan.

Many thanks in advance. Sam Wild
 
Welcome Sam!

Why not do the service yourself, it is NOT difficult and requires only a few special tools that are NOT expensive.

Here is a link to the Shimano PDF file.

http://www.koga-signature.com/docs/Maintenance-Manual.pdf

I do this at least twice a year, and I'm getting much better service from my Alfine 8 speed now.

Cheers!
 
Servicing Alfine

I'm afraid I'm just not that ready for that kind of maintenance.
I clean, oil my bike regularly, but I can't undertake a task like that - not with the limited gear I have here in Taiwan
 
Do it for him, Stu. I am sure he would be happy to part with a few beer tokens for the service.
 
I'm afraid I'm just not that ready for that kind of maintenance.
I clean, oil my bike regularly, but I can't undertake a task like that - not with the limited gear I have here in Taiwan

Mate you live in the "BIKE MECHA" of the world! Surely there are shops you can go to? Taichung is home to KHS, Merida and many others - Just across the Island in Taichung you have even more....... plenty of bike shops and resource at your finger tips than even I could dream off!
 
Mate you live in the "BIKE MECHA" of the world! Surely there are shops you can go to? Taichung is home to KHS, Merida and many others - Just across the Island in Taichung you have even more....... plenty of bike shops and resource at your finger tips than even I could dream off!

Easy there, I think what our friend is asking is for recommendations in Taiwan of places to get it serviced. I don't think he was saying that the resources are not available, rather that he personally does not have the tools, and dare I say the mechanical aptitude to service it himself.

It may be that there is not the same kind of local forum we have here with TCC, in Taiwan for people to get advice / recommendations in English, so he came here.
 
Easy there mate I think you are being hypersensative to my tongue in cheek post.

The best people to contact are here:

SHIMANO TAIWAN CO.,LTD.
4F-3, Grand Asia Plaza, 138 Chung-ming S.Road, Taichung, 40361, Taiwan
Phone:+886-4-2319-5318 Fax:+886-4-2319-4020

They will give you the name and address of the nearest shop that is able to help.
 
Cheers all round for the advice.

The reality is that Taiwan exports huge amounts of bicycles but the local use of bikes is still limited (though growing in certain areas).

The issue is that the Alfine are high-end gears as you no doubt know, and getting anyone over here (I have tried) to even go near them is difficult.

I shall follow up the Shimano Taiwan lead. Thanks
 
Nope, just countering what could have seemed a bit of a 1337 response to a new member asking for advice. Nothing 'hypersensative' about that.
 
The reality is that Taiwan exports huge amounts of bicycles but the local use of bikes is still limited (though growing in certain areas).

I would second that. I was amazed during my Taiwan trip last August how few bicycles I saw in the streets, compared to how many I see in Tokyo. Virtually everyone rides motor scooters and most of the bicycles I saw looked very old. Almost no road bikes.
 
Haha, yeah, and all the stray dogs running around would certainly make everything a lot more 'slalomy'.
 
Contacting Shimano may be the best approch

To go with Joe's experience...
I would not even attempt to ride a bicycle in Taipei.
Walking did not even seem safe with scooters going in every direction at any given time - and I was amazed to watch taxis go from the far left lane, to the right curb in a second. it did not even seem they looked. Just scary for a bike.

Outside of Taipei, I certainly would ride. But that city is just plain scary with the scooters. I think I remember much of Taitung as rural and while I was there I am not sure I saw one bike shop on the southeast side of the island. I stayed near the shore for the most part.

Not to say they are not there, Just just don't remember seeing any.
 
My son was keen on renting a bicycle in Taiwan, but we didn't. I would have reservations about cycling in Taipei simply because other people wouldn't be very familiar with cyclists, not because drivers were too aggressive.

My experience of traffic there (except for one maniac taxi driver we found ourselves with one night) was that it was quite civilized. It was not like an urban jungle, people largely followed the rules. It felt like either accidents repairs were very expensive and/or enforcement of traffic rules by the police severe.
 
It will be much more practical to get it serviced by Shimano in TW. First off, if you could even contact a local (Japanese) service center, you'd have the issues of language and logistics to deal with. I've ridden all around Taiwan (literally) and found it to be very cyclist friendly. There are even track pumps inside the 7-11's. There are good mechanics and shops, too. Start by contacting Shimano TW (as FE suggested).
 
Nope, just countering what could have seemed a bit of a 1337 response to a new member asking for advice. Nothing 'hypersensative' about that.

Come come now Owen its "Pro 1337" I worked very hard for that ranking.

I've ridden and race in Taiwan and there are plenty of stores that deal with the highend user. However the sad fact is that there are probably very few shops that will be able to service the Alfine, exactly the same as here in Japan, thus why I suggested that you contact Shimano Taiwan directly as they may just tell you to send the wheel/hub directly to them.

In regards to riding in Taipai - there is some great riding. Just like there is in Tokyo however you need to be a local or have a local take you out and about for you not to become road kill - pretty much the same as Tokyo, London or New York......hell any major city!
 
I was kinda worried about this on some of the more hair raising descents. But somehow the mutts remained put and didn't stray into the path of vehicles (too often). Perhaps something to do with Darwin? But , yeah , ALOT of stray dogs on the roads - especially in the country!

Haha, yeah, and all the stray dogs running around would certainly make everything a lot more 'slalomy'.
 
I was kinda worried about this on some of the more hair raising descents. But somehow the mutts remained put and didn't stray into the path of vehicles (too often). Perhaps something to do with Darwin? But , yeah , ALOT of stray dogs on the roads - especially in the country!

I agree with your sentiments on stray dogs there. I have driven cars and rode scooters in Taiwan but never even got close to hitting a dog. I even saw some of them in Taipei proper waiting for the light to change before crossing!
 
Come come now Owen its "Pro 1337" I worked very hard for that ranking

Haha, sorry. I mean, 'H4h4, $077y'.

And yeah, I did see a lot of bikes when I was in Taiwan, and I know there are always updates on my Facebook feed from teams in Taiwan getting up to stuff.
 
Big thanks for all the advice.

Taipei is not a great city to ride in - too many very wide, fast moving roads.

However, Taitung and the east is a breeze - very mellow. After dark it's scary because lots of drunk-drivers but in the main I'd recommend it. The worst city in the world for a cyclist? Hong Kong!I know, I tried it - not for the faint-hearted.

Stay well fellow two-wheelers. Sam :)
 
Sam - I can put you in contact with several recreational riders in Taiwan (east) as well as several UCI pro riders if you are looking for something a little more serious. Same goes for HK.
 
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