Spokewrench Cycles

Built To Last

Recently got an email from Trevor about his Rohloff equipped bike.  It looks sweet and you can tell that Trevor has been "converted" ;)

Here is what Trevor had to say about his bike "First let me say I break everything I touch. I am 6'3" and weigh 220 pounds... not your typical mountain biker build.
So I contacted the boys at Phat Moose Cycles in Ottawa and told them I wanted a bike I could not break.
The first thing they said was no derailleurs go with a Rohloff Hub. This shop came highly recommended form a friend of mine that takes his biking very serious so I told the guys to build it the way they want and here is the machine they came up with...

I love my Rohloff Hub but there is only one problem... I can't ever see myself going back to a crappy derailleur system so I will have to budget this in for my next build... as they say, "MACH MIT" and you will never look back."

There you have it.  I don't think I could say it any better myself.  Thanks alot Trevor for the pics. 

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Trek Rebuilt

Jim recently send us a link of his 1982 Trek rebuilt to retrofit a Rohloff Speedhub. If you follow the link Trek 715 you will see some amazing pictures of what he did.  The frame and finished project looks fantastic.  It's not easy to easy to change a vertical dropout frame to a horizontal one but Jim managed to do it and it looks OEM.  

I'm constantly amazed at how creative Rohloff owners are when it comes to retrofitting and finding different applications for the hub.  

Thanks for sharing Jim and look for your Rohloff T-shirt in the mail!

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A different kind of Rohloff

It still amazes me how people build their bikes around a Rohloff hub and how creative they are and the lengths they go.  

I got an email from Paul a little while ago describing his custom Ti frame using a Rohloff hub!  Here are his own words 

"I had a custom titanium road bike built by Spectrum (near Trexlertown, PA), specifically made for the Rohloff, using OEM dropouts.  It has braze-ons for a rear rack. (And, yes, I put the shifter on the end of the aerobar!)  It's no "lightweight" bike -- about 23 pounds -- but, sad to say, it's the lightest bike I've ever owned (and probably even ridden!). " - Paul

There has been many cool Rohloff rides here as you can see and it's really neat how everyone has their own unique way of using the hub.  

So this bike is a Time Trial bike but has braze-ons for a rear rack.  How many Time Trial bikes have you seen with a Rohloff hub?

Notice the shifter on the end of the bars.

Is that cool or what?  Paul Racer rear brakes.  I love how clean the rear end looks.  No tourque arms, cables routed nicely on the bottom chainstay.  Pure custom.

Thanks Paul for the great pics and the email.  Watch for your gift in the mail!

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New Rohloff Ride

Richard has sent us pics of his Rohloff GT Xizang before and now has a new ride to share with us.  It's a brand new custom Carver Ti 96er!  29" inch wheel in the front and a 26" inch wheel in the back.  From his own words..."its an amazing all day bike - great uphill and brilliant downhill - that myth about the rollability of a big front wheel is true .... only 80mm reba fork on the front but it feels like the best travel fork ive ever had ....."  We're a sucker for custom built frames and bikes so this is eye candy for us.

Carver ti Custom 96er
Front Reba 29er 80mm
Stans rim on Hope hub with XTR disc front
XTR cranks and Eggbeater pedals
Thomson Elite seatpost and Selle Storika saddle
Rear xtr rim brake
Rohloff on Mavic 819

Weight about 27lbs

Not bad for a Rohloff equipped Ti hardtail. 

Pretty sweet ride...

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Rohloff Daily Driver Down Under

Now something a little different from someone in Australia.  Here is what he has to say about his Rohloff equipped bike.

"Here is another one--I built this up in 2004 after getting sick and tired of trying to keep my conventional mtb drivetrain alive. It's still going strong--

It's an On-One Inbred Cro-Mo singlespeed frame with an EBB to neaten up the chain-tensioning duties. Other stuff is pretty standard, except for the hub and the Dean Ti seatpost to cushion the ride a bit.  Also have a bit of a soft spot for the Shimano BR-755 brakes--a bit heavier, but otherwise much better than the newer Shimano offerings in my humble opinion.

Anyway, this is my do-it-all bike.  A lot of commuting, lots of recreational singletrack, quite a bit of endurance racing (until my back demanded full suspension for this), l and even some biketouring towing a BOB.  It did it all without complaint for a couple of years, until stress-fractures in the frame headset area needed attention (hence the big gussets). This rebuild was a blessing in disguise, as I took the opportunity to add some cable-guides, with a neater shifter cable-routing job down the down-tube and along the LH chainstay--much straighter cables and better shifting than the original setup that had the shifter cables arching up along the seatstay and top-tube--don't do it that way.

So, the summary--5 years, 25,000 km, about 10,000 km of that off-road, countless tyres, 1 cracked frame, 2 stuffed (=stress-fractured) rear rims, 2 sets of brake rotors, 4 chains, 2 rear sprockets, 2 front chainrings, 4 bottom brackets, one fork, two sets of pedals and 2 crank-sets all worn out.  As bad as this sounds, the only components I think didnt hold up well to the abuse I've dished out were the ISIS bb/crank combo (ISIS bottom brackets suck--now I'm running Race-face X-type-much better), and the frame.  Initially the frame rode well, but was too flexible around the headstem area, which is probably why the cracks developed.  Much stiffer with the gussets added, and now rides better than new.  I think On-One thickened up their tubeset a bit in subsequent frames.  But I cant complain too much--I give my mountain bikes a very hard time. 

Now for the call on the Rohloff hub--Its fantastic.  Like a car gearbox.  No doubt its a few hundred grams heavier than a (premium) conventional drivetrain, but its so hassle free. In the same way that adding disk brakes or a suspension fork made your original bike heavier but faster at the same time, the Rohloff hub can make your bike a swifter steed overall.  The muddier and snaggier the conditions, the more this hub outshines the opposition--nothing ever goes wrong, and afterwards a quick hose off after a muddy ride (yes, we do get mud in Australia sometimes...) and your done.  Shifting is a different experience, but quick, consistent and smooth as silk once mastered. 

Rohloff Daily Driver Part II

We last saw Brandon's Brodie back in May and now he has over 2000 miles on his Rohloff and send us some more pics.  We love that colour on that bike and the Rohloff hub looks amazing. 

That's what custom is all about, your ride your way.  Brook saddle, flat pedals, custom grips and setup for what the bike is intended to do.  There was a lot of thought that went into this build and it shows.  That's something we've noticed about Rohloff equipped bikes, people tend to be very creative in where they install it so in many ways it's more versatile than the typical cassette hub although you can argue that any of these bikes shown here can use a standard hub.  But then it loses that special character that only a Rohloff can bring.

 

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Rohloff Daily Driver

We're getting Rohloff riders from all over the world and it's incredible, thank you so much for contributing.

This one is from a rider closer to home in the US.  Brandon talks a little about his daily ride.

"Here is my daily driver.  I got sick of preassembled bikes failing and not living up to my needs.  Most will think this absurd, but I purchased an 06 Brodie Big Shot dirt jump frame and sourced all downhill parts with exception of the Marzzochi Dirt Jumper 2 fork.  I just wanted an all around (sturdy) bike that I could commute with and have fun on single track too (take off the fenders and install knobbies of course).  I laced the Rohloff into a Sun Double track rim and used 13 gauge spokes.  I hope it will hold up to the abuse from the loaded trailer etc. 

After owning the Rohloff for a while I like it overall.  It doesn't quit live up to its expectations in my opinion, but it definitely offers some advantages over traditional derailleur setups.  I specifically like the shifting while stationary and not having to deal with a front/rear derailleur combination.  Shifting under load is not really possible like some would have you believe, but usually isn't an issue since you can shift so fast by just letting of pressure from the pedals for a moment.  The problem is when you are really trying to climb or accelerate and you try to shift and it won't.  It seems like if this happens you get caught off guard and it actually slows you down more than a derailleur would have.  I do after all only have about 500 miles on mine so it isn't completely broke in and I am not entirely accustom to it yet so hopefully it will only get better in both regards.   

This is the first time since I was in grade school that I have relied on my bike for transportation on a daily basis.  I will have about 10,000 miles on the bike over the next three years while I am finishing up with school so I should get a good idea how the hub holds up long-term.   "

Thanks Brandon for the write up.   We think once the hub breaks in, you probably won't see the issue you're describing.  Keep us informed and let us know how it goes.  It'd be great to know how the hub performs over the long haul. 

Team Spokewrench

DH Rohloff

Our resident tester Jack recently bought himself a new DH bike.  It's a Nicolai with an internal Rohloff 14 speed hub just above the crank at the pivot for the rear swing arm.  We saw something similar at the Interbike show a few years ago so it'd be interesting to see what Jack thinks of it.

This is a first pic of the bike with more to come once Jack has some time to take a few more closeups. 

Rohloff hubs in just about every application we can think of except road racing.  I'd say that's pretty versatile.

Team Spokewrench

All In The Rohloff Family

Recently we learned that one of our contributers before actually has 8(!) Rohloff hubs.  After hearing that, we just had to get Will to tell me how he came to equip  that many bikes with Rohloff hubs.  Here is what Will had to say...

"Hmm, I'm not sure what I could say about the Rohloff Speedhub other than the obvious. It is, to my mind, head and shoulders above the derailleur system for all applications with the possible exception of road racing where well maintained and adjusted close ratio derailleur systems offer comparable shifting performance at slightly less weight. Emphasis on "well maintained and adjusted" and "close ratio". Part of the appeal of the Rohloff is the lack of maintenance and adjustment. I started out with my first Rohloff on a Bike Friday Air Llama travel folding bike. I used it for supported and unsupported multi-day trips with my wife and daughter. I loved the lack of maintenance particularly in adverse weather and road conditions but quickly became aware that as head mechanic on these trips my family's derailleur problems were "my" derailleur problems.

And so, Rohloff #2 and #3 were added to the fold. One on a PBW, the other on an Airnimal Rhino. The beauty of the Speedhub is that the indexing is in the hub itself and since there are two shift cables, one for upshifting, one for downshifting, each shift is on a "pull" stroke and never depends on a spring to make the shift. Each shift is therefore very positive. I've read that a shift can be made in less than a hundredth of a second, so the speed of a shift is limited more by  the speed of the rider's wrist, than the hub itself. It's also nice to be able to select any gear while stopped. Considering that the derailleur  system has developed and survived over about a century of use, and the Rohloff is arguably better and has only about 10 years use, we can probably expect incremental improvements over time. Rumours have it that a new Rohloff design will be introduced soon which has a wider gear range than the original and weighs less.

My next experiment was a Rohloff on a mountain bike. I bought my first mountain bike around 1979. It was the original Specialized Stumpjumper, the first commercially available mountain bike and mine was perhaps the first one imported into Canada. I was now riding a Cannondale Super V900 and didn't want to mess with it, so I found a Cannondale Gemini on Craigslist which was used but not abused for the conversion. It was a revelation to me to be able to downshift 2, or 3, or more gears at once half way up a hill after misjudging the required gear. No more getting off the bike, turning the pedals to get the lowest gear and attempting to restart from scratch. The Rohloff was even more appealling on a mountain bike than on a travel bike. Successful experiment. The Gemini was a bit too downhill specific for most of my rides and I was able to convince my local bike store to sell me an end-of-season bike without the drivetrain for a very attractive price and so my now favorite Rohloff ride was born, a Rocky Mountain ETSX 70. My downfall was allowing my wife, two daughters and son-in-law to "test ride" my Rohloffs, hence the conversion of my old Cannondale Super V900, the purchase of a second Airnimal Rhino, and the conversion of a used Bike Friday Gnu. My latest indulgence is a so-called "Adventure Bike" which I had custom built by Guillaume Desy of Golem Cycles in Quebec City. It has 4" tires, Action-Tec steerer tube front suspension, S and S couplers, and of course a Rohloff Speedhub installed in sliding vertical dropouts so there is no need for a chain tensioner. It rides great on skidoo tracks in the winter, and sand dunes in the summer.

Obsessed you say? I just call it an appreciation of good engineering. And think of the time I save. 20 minutes maintenance per year per hub ( The annual oil change)."

Touring Rohloff

Andy from the UK was kind enough to send us some information about his Rohloff setup.  What you'll notice from these various bikes and setup is how versatile the Rohloff hub is. From touring to 5" full suspension travel and everything in between.  The trick is to plan and work out the details (ie, custom frame, cable routing, dropouts etc) beforehand so you know what you need for your particular setup.  Rohloff has over the years made it very simple to fit the hub onto many different frames and applications.   

Here is how Andy describes his bike

"Have been running my Rohloff (CC DB OEM) bike for five years now, MTB custom made Titanium frame, sliding drop-outs, have used EBB bushnell with my first Ti frame but have to say Sliding Drop-outs works best for me although not as pretty as EBB, so will be hanging onto that spare frame for maybe a Rohloff Lite (don’t tell the wife!)(Don't worry, we won't...unless she reads this website).

Bike is touring type, rack mudguards etc, I do Manchester to Scotland each year, c/w tent and all the gear, the Rohloff just gets better, running 17T Sprocket with 39T (naughty) chainring to get me up all those hills.

Andy goes on to explain his choice of 39T.  "My chainring is not that naughty, it is 39T main reason was to make the chain as sort as possible, to allow for stretch/wear 42T would have worked the same but the 39T makes for a more precise fit, also I can swop for 16T Sprocket and 40T Chainring for when I am not touring without having to do any adjustment to the to the chain at all.

Also my Ti cranks are shorter than normal at 170mm this I believe keeps me well within the hub's limits.

When I first built my Rohloff five years ago, it was very rare to see another cyclist using one, these days I come across at least one per week, so the hub is catching on."

What can we say?  That's a beautiful bike.  We have a soft spot for Ti so when we see a bike that's essentially Ti, we can't help but drool.  Ti cranks and fork, I don't think we could have built it any nicer.  If we're not mistaken, those are Frog pedals with the Ti spindles.  That's a pretty cool touring bike.  Nice job Andy, thanks for sharing.

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