[BigMike]

We were talking about these the other day, and was just wondering if any of you monkies out there run em, and what you think.

Also, even if you dont run one, what are your thoughts?

 

[Roasted]

First off I don't run one. I have had a chance to ride one and I do have thoughts.

I love the idea of dumping the deraileur. I think just the cost of replacing my hangers and deraileurs yearly would justify it. I like the idea of shifting without having to pedal. .. an odd one but simplicity. The device itself isn't simple, but it sure makes the bike look simple.

Things I would be concerned with. Complexity of repair trailside and repair during normal circumstances for average people (not engineers or mechanics)....cost is a killer still...efficiency (I don't know exact numbers but I hear efficiency isn't as good)...even something as simple as changing a tire trailside would be difficult.

Oh and some people complain about weight...I don't track weight so really for me I don't worry about it

Thats my 2 cents

 

[DHS]

i owned one for about 3-4months. built it up on the XC bike, then tried the FR bike. didn't care for either.
1. i hate grip shift
2. they have to figure out a "cleaner" shift somehow, you could never set it up perfectly.
3. F'n heavy. too much weight at the back of the bike

 

[crashing_sux]

I've ridden one for the last couple of years, I love the reliability of it, and the fact that I never worry about chain skip, broken chains, or being in the right gear since I can change gears so quickly.

The weight was annoying when I had it mounted as the rear hub although changing tires was no more difficult than a normal deraileur, not an issue at all. Pedaling efficiency is down a bit, although I find I shift more often with a Rohloff so my legs feel like they are working at a good speed for them more often.

Now that the extra weight is in the middle of the bike on my Nucleon it doesn't bother me a bit, I'm not that great of a bunny hopper and can still hop my DH bike over a foot and the balance feels great.

They really need to work on dowhshifting under pressure, it sucks ass. Shimano uses pedaling torque to help make downshifts easier in their Nexus hubs, and Honda is doing it with their CVT, it's about time Rohloff sees the light and does the same thing.

Just saw Tyler Klassen's new bike last weekend, he's on a Rohloff now as well and said he's looking forward to less deraileur issues.

 

[BMXman]

mine alot...I really liked the idea of having it mounted in the frame though...I don't think I would like it much on the rear wheel. I like that you can shift whenever and almost zero maintainence...as far as the weight.....I think the faster shifting and the ability to shift whenever make up for the added weight but I'm thinking of a racing POV....D

 

[firevsh2o]

I built up my Yeti AS-X about six weeks ago with a Rohloff hub because I hated my normal Shimano drivetrain on my old bike. (you know the problems!)
But the Rohloff also has it's issuses.

1: First of all ist is loud and in an relatively voluminous alluminium frame makes it even louder.

2: it isn't as effective as a normal system. Yes, I know it needs time to bedt in but with an allready heavy bike it's no fun to ride up a steep hill when you have the impression that the hub sucks your last energy.

3: The chain jumps from the rear ring - I know it is possible to fix that with a bit of tinkering, but....

4: The rear discs are not all of good quality or not available yet (Hope Mono M4 for instance)

5: It is heavy (ok that is no real reason for the most of us but I feel the difference now)

6: Mine had a foult and the freewheel lost contact sometimes (I know that could be fixed by Rohloff)

Yes, there are very positive sides too:
1: the shifting worked really fine for me
2: you are able to mount a chain guide
3: no more dialing in before every ride
4: no misshifts
5: shifting when standing

I know there are very pleased Rohloff customers out there, but for my long climbs it is not the right thing. I mounted a SRAM X9 last week and the bike climbs really well now in comparison.

 

[ssk]

I've done 6-7 XC races on my Rohloff and it's worked out great. Although it is a little heavier, it more than makes up for it during one muddy event. No chain suck and the shifting always stays that same.

I also did a 12 hr race with it on a 2 person team and in my opinion a rohloff is the best setup for endurance events.

It was on my street bike originally. I felt it moved too much weight to the back of the bike, but that was the only real negative about the hub.

 

[ChrisRobin]

I've only tried mine for one day on my Nucleon and so far I like it. I think you have to play around with it to get the adjustments right. As far as the chain jumping off the rear cog, that happened to me once but I realized that the chain tensioner wasn't lined up with the cog properly. Otherwise, I like the whole system. I just kept losing track of which way to twist the shifter! I might have to inverse the wiring. I'm just used to years of Shimano use.

When it comes to servicing, that's the only thing I hope I don't have to deal with.

 

[Mutt]

I have been running one since last July. There are many valid positives and negatives, of which most have been pointed out above. However I will reduntantly add some redundancy, to point out my main points....

bike set up: Evil Imp., Manitou breakout+ etc....

riding: dirt jump, street, dh, trails, park

Cons:
1) weight: not a big deal imo, I can bunny hop the same as prior, I've never felt like my ass-end was weighted down.

2) drive engagement: I don't think people have mentioned this one yet. If you are thinking about pedal-kicks and the like on this drive train, think again. There is a slight lag between crank rotation and drive engagement, maybe 15 degrees. However this affects me naught.

3) cost: lets not forget this guy is expensive

4) grip shift/cabling: the ease of rotating the grip shift, and hence shifting, is highly dependent on the linearity of the cable routing. The more curve in the routing, the more dificult the grip shift operation.

Pros:
1) Best damn drive train I have ever had!
2) low maintenance

3) save funds by not braking deraelliur-drivetrain associated parts

4) good gear range, especially for a single speed chain set up


Notes:
1) I have never had the chain come off the rear ring
2) my hub runs very quietly except for in two particular gears, and even then it is still more quiet than a traditional d-train.

So I love it, and will never go back to a derraelluer (I can't spell that stupid word, maybe thats why I don't like them) based system. Also, the outer shell of the hub can be powder coated to match your frame, and that looks pretty fine.

 

[Boomer-61]

I've had the newer generation hub for my third year now. Set up was easy. I first had it on a Titus now it's on my Azonic Saber. It is the most reliable, maintainence (sp) free, easy to use transmission I have ever used. You can shift when you're under power, or coasting. It makes shifting thoughtless. If you don't like the gear you're in, just twist your grip. You can shift one or ten gears at a time, no matter. My beef with the hub is cost which after three years, I don't miss the money nor the frustration. The other issue is weight. It's just plain heavy, no getting around it. It's the best for epic rides and XC where you need a reliable hub. I've used it on DH but it's overkill. It's strong enough but personally I don't use that many gears when I race. If they made a five speed hub I think all other transmissions would become obsolete for DH. If you see someone with one ask to ride it. You will love it. Someone asked me if I minded having all the weight in the rear wheel. I told him that if my bike assumes an airborne attitude I'd rather it fly nose up than nose down. I wish it were lighter, cheaper but it isn't, yet. Unless you're an XC weight weenie type, I'd look at buying one.

 

[binary visions]

A while back (August of 2002), I asked a guy about his Rohloff hub and he gave me a pretty wordy response. I kept the email, so I thought I'd post it here:

Just to warn you this will probably get long because I love telling people about this hub. I will answer your ?'s first then give a little of my own opinions.

"do you feel that it's at all limiting, or is the gear spacing really good?

The gear spacing itself is perfect, the next gear is right where you
want it. Sometimes I can run out the top end because I have mine geared as low as possible. Because I live in Green bay WI and the hills aren't big enough to run it out. I mostly need climbing gears. The only time I run them out is when I travel to somewhere to do real DH. But then it still isn't bad unless you hit probably 30+.

" Does it have a low enough "bail out" gear? Also, what size chainring do you run in front?

These 2 go hand in hand because The rings you run determine your range of gearing. I run a 34 in front and a 13 in back. This gives a lower gear then a 9spd granny gear. So it is definitely low enough. On all but the steepest stuff number 1 is rarely used. Even with that I can only run out the top going down fast DH. You can get that same low gear with a bigger ring up front and a bigger in back. I would recommend going as big as possible because with the 13 in back I drop a chain rarely. www.rohloffusa.com explains the gears well.

Now for my own opinions thrown in. Say you are going down a hill with a sharp turn at the bottom and steep hill after the turn. With a der you have to try and get back through all those gears to climb because you had to scrub your speed on the turn. While I am in that same turn I knock off 6 gears in a flick of the wrist and climb nicely. Many other reasons like that, you know the I wish I was in a differnt front ring and back cog, I can grab a bunch of shifter and knowck down all the gears in a second.

There are so many real world situations that this hub really puts a der to shame. Not to mention never adjusting it. Man, do I hate crap that works good in the stand then real world riding works like a piece of ****. This works great ALL the time.

Now the bad news, nothing is perfect. It is unsprung weight on the back of your bike. Not really a problem for me but for some it may be. It has more resistance than a der system when climbing in low gears not bad enough to notice it unless you are dog tired and it is a million degrees with 100% humidity. They will have low friction seals out this winter which will almost make it non existent. You have to use a tensioner on back, it is like a dummy der, for fs bikes so the "No der to break off" isn't exactly true but it is a well built tensioner that can take lots of abuse. I havent had a problem.

All in all it is very nice, the slight shortcomings above are moot
compared to the positives of this work of art. It really makes my rides much more enjoyable.

Enjoy...

 

[crashing_sux]

Originally posted by ChrisRobin
... I just kept losing track of which way to twist the shifter! I might have to inverse the wiring...

I have my shifting setup so rotating the top of the grip towards the front of the bike is upshifting. This works really well for me because it makes it really natural to go up a couple of gears as I'm standing up and drop a couple of gears when I sit down which is usually what I end up doing regardless of the terrain.

 

[crashing_sux]

Originally posted by Mutt
4) grip shift/cabling: the ease of rotating the grip shift, and hence shifting, is highly dependent on the linearity of the cable routing. The more curve in the routing, the more dificult the grip shift operation.

I forgot all about this, it is a real nuisance but one I haven't had for over a year now since I switched to Nokon cables. They make in incredible difference in any bikes shifting, but especially a Rohloff since it's prone to feeling a little gummy from all of the friction of two cables.

You can get them directly from Thomas at Rohloff USA, they are spendy but you never need to replace the housings (which is what is expecsive) and they shift much, much better, even when routed at tight angles. I have my cables on my Nucleon routed inside the frame gussets which would not have been possible with traditional cables, it looks really clean and keeps the cables protected and out of the way while not affecting shifting at all.

 

[Stiff]

I just found this old thread searching for some unrelated info. Mike, you haven't tried out my Rohloff?? You're welcome to but it's now between bikes, from the Big Hit to the Steelhead. Heck, you could even borrow it for a weekend if you want if you're up in DC for a while during winter since it's just lying around now. 24" wheel. Just don't wreck yourself like you tend to do and destroy my precious wheel, or I'll break your nose in a third place. haha

After 2.5 years with it on the BH (Sanjay owned it before me, and some other dude before him), I'm giving up the hub on DH/FR frames because of the negatives people have already written about below. Maybe it'll be a better application on the HT built for trail. If not, I'll be selling the thing. I like the shifting action but I really feel like it sucks my energy in the lower half of the gear spread (the upper half feel like a clean new traditional drivetrain). But maybe I've become fat and slow and the problem's in my legs....nah! Anyway, the problem remained after Rohloff replaced everything inside the hub shell, so whoever buys it (if I sell it) will be getting a newly bedded in system.

+/-
* The Nokon idea is great - haven't tried that.
* Rotor mounting holes are a size unique to Rohloff. I bend my 8" rotor frequently with the low hanging fruit of the 24" wheel. I've got a new 6" to put on but I've bent that size a bunch too.
* Slippage - any of you guys slip gears in the lower seven gears? I do, in both hubs I've owned. Lately it hasn't happened but it is disconcerting.
* Tensioner is bendable back into alignment - great piece that is.
* I too lose the chain to the inside of the cog, and my chainline with Evil SRS is perfect. Not sure what's up with that, but I doubt it's the hub's fault. Maybe the tensioner is binding? Dunno.
* Shifter itself is bombproof - the mechanism cannot wear out, because there are no small moving parts, although I did wear through the rubber on my first shifter.
* Those new seals sound intriguing; they might be the solution to my main frustration with the hub, especially because I now live in a place (D.C.) that is pedally and undulating, whereas before (in Korea) most trails were super steep brake-dragging mainlines.
* I also have the shifter set up to hit lower gears on the foreshift. Works great for the reasons Crashing Sux said.
* Removing wheel is as simple as a conventional QR wheel/drivetrain.
* Something no one else mentioned: great support from Thomas, the Rohloff USA rep.

Well Mike give me a call when your nose heals and you want to try it out.

 

[BigMike]

Hmm.... this got dragged out of the dark

Cool man, If I am ever well enough to ride a bike for more than a week, i'll check it out

 

[ChrisRobin]

For DH the 14 gears is overkill. After spending a season on it, I still love the hub but I have some fine-tuning to do:

-The shifter rubber piece is too big (need to cut it down). I'm also going to try to make a half-pipe style handle.

-14 gears is too much for DH or the range between each gear is too small (which is perfect for trail riding). I'm going to see if there's a way to reduce the amount of gears.

I've tried emailing Rohloff usa with some service questions and my email got bounced back because their inbox is full. I emailed them a while later and I never got a response so you're probably better off calling directly if you have a question.