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@thebrenthamtaffy
I have a love/hate relationship with our Alfine 8.
Our Douze is just over 4 years old and we’re on our 2nd Alfine 8 hub. The first was never 100% from new and one day lost complete drive after 1.5 years (ab)use. Managed to get it working in one gear only for the best part of a week (any hipsters who think a single speed cargo bike is a good idea, I can tell you it’s NOT!) so we could still use the bike whilst the replacement was on order. The 2nd has been OK, done an oil bath and regreased (with correct Shimano stuff) and think I’ve over greased it as getting noise (pawls rubbing?) in some gears when freewheeling, which can go away if you pedal backwards, will when I get time look at it again as gear changes are unaffected.
GOOD
Low maintenance
Ability to change gear without pedalling (such as stationary at lights)
Wide ratio of gears
Easy to adjust/remove wheel and disassemble for oil bath etc.
BAD
Some annoying jumps between gears
Need to shift with no pedal pressure for accurate shifts and prolong life
Need to keep chain tension high, Had chain drop off a few times going over rough roads when pedalling under pressure. Chain has come off both chainring (although not done it since running a narrow/wide chainring) and rear sprocket
Some gears feel really draggy. Might be a mental thing as I haven’t actually looked into the efficiency of each gear, but some feel horrible
I’d probably get another. It’s a family bike that my wife and I both ride and it still makes sense vs. a derailleur set-up as it’s not a high performance machine despite me trying to ride it like it is! Our bike is non-assist and gets used most days with a 7 year old in it along with his stuff, but also does the weekly shop and moving tools around.