Originally posted to my Big Dummy Blog – April 2008
My Big Dummy's Rohloff
When considering my gearing options for the Big Dummy two paths made the most sense:
- standard mountain bike gearing [44/32/22 + 11-34 cassette] 16.8″ – 104″
- Rohloff hub [38T x 16T] 17.2″ – 90.6″
What is a Rohloff hub?
- German made internal geared hub
- 14 equally spaced gears
- 13.6% change between gears
- 526% overall gear range
- on a single bike the smallest chain ring you can use is 38T with a 16T cog on the hub. This is to avoid putting too much torque on the hub.
- all shifting done by one [2 cable] grip-shift style shifter
- fully sealed against the elements
- all the gear changing is done internally so it is not affected by weather or a dirty drive train
- internals run in an oil bath for smooth efficient operation
- can be shifted while the bike is stopped
- service life of 100,000kms
- weight ~3.7lbs
Standard MTB Gearing
- free from my spares bin
- wider gear range
- easy to get spares
- known quantity as far as maintenance & performance
- able to use any standard rear MTB wheel
Rohloff Hub
- MSRP ~$1500
- narrower, but equally spaced gears
- low maintenance
- good for adverse riding conditions [mud/wet dirt roads]
- able to shift while stopped
- no dish in rear wheel = stronger wheel
- needs proprietary spares
- unknown performance/maintenance
From an objective analysis of the factors listed above I think the nod has to go to the standard MTB gearing for most uses. The low cost and ease of getting spares makes the benefits of the Rohloff difficult to justify given its high cost.
So why did I get a Rohloff?
- being an engineer geek there is something magical about the Rohloff that I wanted to experience for myself.
- I have also read so many Rohloff owners rabidly loyal posts I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.
- I have been wondering if a Rohloff would make a good choice for an expedition touring bike. On all fronts it seems like a good idea except if you have any mechanical problems with it. Thorn Cycles make numerous Rohloff specific expedition touring bikes and are big fans of the German hub. Given the conflicting information I’ve read the only way to answer this question is to try one out.
- They tend to keep a high resale value so if I decided I didn’t love my Rohloff I should be able to sell it without taking a tremendous loss.
There is lots more to discuss when it comes to the Rohloff hub in general and how it works on the Big Dummy, but I’ll save those topics for future posts.
Here is some recommended reading if you want to learn more:
- Thorn Cycles – Living with a Rohloff Hub
- Hubstripping.com – Rohloff Hub
- Rohloff’s Technical Data
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How has it been working for you? Is the harder throw on the shifter an issue for longer rides or did you adjust quickly?
Hey, I just came back from a 40,000 km worldtour where I used 2 different Speedhubs. One has been used for 28,000 km (on the tour + 8,000 km before), the other one I got new when I changed the bike and had 20,000 in the end.
The nice thing is: I didn’t have to stop at all because of any technical defects with the gear hub, actually the only incident that could have caused me to stop, a broken rear rim, was also fine for another 4 days of riding to the next bike shop.
I’m kind of preoccupied with Rohloff, because I got them to sponsor me for the tour. But I’ve also had one before on the recumbent bike and you’re right: the resale value stayed high: I bought the bike second hand after 6 years and it still kept 60% of the original value (high resale of special bike combined with high resale value of gear hub).
Here’s also a recent picture of a box I got: on flickr
Read about my experiences on my website http://www.velaia.de.
Nice blog and keep the posts coming!
Daniel
Hey Daniel,
Thanks for the comment. I tried your link, but I get an error – can you confirm your URL? I’d like to read about your trip.
safe riding,
Vik
Duncan the Rohloff has been working great on my Big Dummy. I haven’t had any issues with the shifter or the hub. It doesn’t take that long to get used to it and the nearly maintenance free nature of the hub is very nice.
Hey Vik,
seems to be a problem with your blog software. Just type http://www.velaia.de in the browser URL bar and it’ll work. Happy riding!