Community > Rohloff Internal Hub Gears

Rohloff - What's YOUR Opinion ?

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freddered:
I will be taking delivery of a Thorn Raven Tour in about a week.  I therefore have 100 days to decide if this is the bike for me.  If you have a Rohloff-Equipped bike I'd appreciate your verdict to help me make the decision and any tips to help me test the hub.

1) Overall how does it compare to your Derailleur bikes?
2) What should I look out for (advantages AND disadvantages) ?
3) Would you go back to Derailleur ?
4) Anything else ?

mactraveller:
Myself  and girlfriend toured 4000Km's round NZ last year on Rohloff's. 1 bike was a Raven Adventure Tour.  The hubs were fantastic.  Yes, a bit noisy in 5 and 7, but not a problem.  Had to tighten the chain (easily done) after a while but that's it.

From memory you can't put full force through the pedals on one of the changes (maybe 6 to 7 or 7 to 8) because of the safety features in the hub.  But as I can't remember it probably gives you an idea of how insignificant it is.

For touring, or everyday ease of use I wouldn't switch back.  

Hope you enjoy it.

Ratty:
1) Better - lots of small, day to day advantages and the bigger ones mentioned in the 'living with a rohloff' article on this site. (goto the bike page and click on models, you can find it here.

2) Drops - although drop bar options are available I was advised to try the comfort bars.  I dearly miss the drops and may change to one of the drop versions but it will never be as nice as integrated brake/gear levers.

3) Never say never but if I did it would be hard and I know I would often curse the deraileur.

paulhipwood:
I have three bikes, I have been riding for 1 year fairly seriously, too old to continue jogging due to boredom!!

A Moulton whch has 21 gears and has a 3 speed hub with a 7 speed derailleur (best and worst of both worlds). This was my first purchase and it looks unusual but is very capable for Sunday runs etc.
A Dahon 8 speed derailleur - which I take overseas when working away from home. Very good bike, I have even taken it on a Sunday run - BUT no one will ride alongside me. AND I can keep up on a 50 mile run.
A Raven Sports Tour - this is the newest and the best. I have started commuting and intend to do the 28 mile commute at least 3 times a week.

The Raven is brilliant to ride, gears are no problem, it allows you to change gear more often and apart from 7 to 8 to 7 you can change without thinking about it. ~Maintenance is minimal - so I resort to keeping it clean. I do 8 miles along the canal on my commute.

There is no way you can avoid not using derailleurs due to the cosat of the hubs - but I intend to ride the Moulton occasionally. The suspension on that bike is really comfortable and its one thing I miss.

I read all the reports in cycling magazines about how responsive such and such bike is - they seem to have ultra sensitive feedback mechanisms, I just get on my bikes and ride em. I trake pride in ownership because I have researched the various options in choosing my bikes and I am happy with the results.
I still am amazed how they have fitted all those gear trains in the Rohloff and its great to hear it whirring away due to my effort. Isuppose the  people who have chosen Dura Ace etc think that they have also made the correct choice. Lets face it, like car makers the products on the market today are generally very good due to the global competition.

If you can afford one - buy it and enjoy it.
paul

rogerzilla:
No experience of the Rohloff, but I do often use a bike with a Shimano 8-speed hub gear.  It does change the dynamics of the bike, whether it weighs the same or not.  Hopping over potholes is difficult because the back wheel is very heavy.  It's a nice idea to be able to change gear without moving, but in practice I've not found it all that useful - maybe if you do a lot of city riding?  

The killer for me  - as well as the price - is that I hate straight handlebars on long rides, and having the shifter on an accessory bar for drops reminds me of those hopeless 1970s stem-mounted shifters.  It's just not in an ergonomic position; downtube shifters were better!

No-one in our local CTC has taken the plunge, although a lot of us ride Thorns.

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