Author Topic: Rohloff - What's YOUR Opinion ?  (Read 183332 times)

Arnaud

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 24
Re: Rohloff - What's YOUR Opinion ?
« Reply #15 on: April 04, 2006, 01:10:04 am »
Sorry...I meant 14 ! Sometimes I feel there are too many numbers involved in this cycling business.
I always ride with the absolute minimum: spare tube, repair kit, pump water bottle and mobile phone. The weight is not the issue (I don't even have mudguards on the bike). In this part of the world there are very few flat sections, it is either uphill or downhill and when I run out of gears (always on the downhill side)and glance at the speedo I know I shouldn't push my luck too far. Several times I have reached 60km/h downhill on (good) gravel roads and I don't want to be able to go faster. There are places in Perth (city streets) where I know gears 1, 2 and 3 will be useful.
I'm 56 and feel I should work on endurance rather than speed, so for me 38x16 works very well.
 

stutho

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 848
Re: Rohloff - What's YOUR Opinion ?
« Reply #16 on: February 08, 2007, 11:02:49 am »
13 month update: after 4000 miles and 2 winters my observations of Rohloff hub have changed slightly from my above post.

Maintenance - So good you won't believe it – Very easy to look after.
Reliability - Not a single problem with the hub
Gear Range - Excellent, I use 42*16 and I use all my gears every day (v hilly area)
Noise - There isn’t any! It used to be very noisy but now it is better than a derailed in most gears and equally good in others
Shifting - Very quick and easy, my initial problems were down to me using the wrong cable.
Shifter - although I would still like a shifter designed for drops it no longer bothers me at all.
Drag - There is now no noticeable increase in drag in any of the gears
Weight - The bike does still feel heavy,  heavy and reliable - I can live with that.

Overall - This year I am going to buy a second Rohloff equipped bike for the wife - probable a Raven tour. What more can I say!

Stuart
« Last Edit: March 14, 2007, 05:04:02 pm by stutho »

freddered

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 457
Re: Rohloff - What's YOUR Opinion ?
« Reply #17 on: March 14, 2007, 02:52:56 pm »
quote:
Originally posted by 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 ?



1) I haven't ridden my Derailleur bike more than 20 miles in the last year.
2) Maintenance is about an hour per year (add oil to Hub, tension chain).  Disadvantages?  It's a bit heavy I suppose but so am I.  STI-type levers would be nice but grip-shift on accessory bar is better than levers on Down-tube or Bar-ends.
3) No.  It's a backward step for the type of riding I do.  This is fuss-free, ultra-reliable so far.
4) It's so smooth, silent and comfortable.  I forget this until I ride something else.

Here is finished article 1 year on.

http://www.sjscycles.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=796
« Last Edit: March 16, 2007, 03:20:57 pm by freddered »
 

daviddd55

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 53
    • 19500km Circuit of Australia 07/08
Re: Rohloff - What's YOUR Opinion ?
« Reply #18 on: April 15, 2007, 09:40:31 pm »
I've had my Thorn Raven Tour for just a couple of weeks, and only done about 30 miles, but already I feel very comfy on it. I chose 36x16 - very low, but I have weakness in the feet and calves that means I can easily strain these muscles, so a lower gear / faster cadence is for me. I have actually used the lowest gear too - up a 30 degree (or so!) slope moving at around 1.5 mph lol, and the bike felt very stable and secure. Just looking at the bike leaning in the hall gives me a warm glow! I'm looking forward to riding around Oz on it in from October, and especially putting it through it's paces offroad in the Outback, fully laden. Prior to this trip though I'm going to take the whole bike apart and put it together again, and make sure I can do all the maintenance. Don't wanna get caught out in the back of beyond without good reason.
« Last Edit: April 15, 2007, 09:41:11 pm by daviddd55 »

Andy B

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 4
Re: Rohloff - What's YOUR Opinion ?
« Reply #19 on: June 05, 2007, 05:42:59 pm »
My RST is just over a year old now, with around 5000 miles on it (mostly  commuting).

Can't fault the hub or bike set-up (drop bars + accessory bar) at all.

3 main issues:
1) Spoke breakage - I've had 2 rear spokes go, both at the nipple end. I'm around 13st., don't ride with a heavy load or bunny-hop curbs - but I certainly wouldn't trust the same wheels on a tandem!

2) Rim wear - Shimano brake inserts seem very abrasive (think this has been discussed in other threads). So my rims are very worn already. Have now switched to Aztecs which seem to be much gentler on teh rim but still stop equally well.

3) Punctures - I went for the Panaracer HiRoad tyres. The tread is still good, but a lot of tears and signs of cracking. Puncture frequency is about double what I had from Schwalbe Marathon tyres on the previous bike.

Certainly would never go back to a derailleur for everyday use!
 

daviddd55

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 53
    • 19500km Circuit of Australia 07/08
Re: Rohloff - What's YOUR Opinion ?
« Reply #20 on: June 06, 2007, 07:54:58 pm »
Strange about the broken spokes - wheel builder had a hard day? You could try twanging the spokes to see if they all sound about the same - maybe see if any are differing greatly in tension, or get checked out by another wheel builder. I've only had one broken spoke in 50 years of riding as I recall, maybe unlucky? Did you hit a pothole or something Andy?

Michael Falk

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 11
Re: Rohloff - What's YOUR Opinion ?
« Reply #21 on: June 27, 2007, 05:44:17 am »
This topic is still here?

After 2 years with my eXpRohloff in Europe (6 months) & Argentina (18 months) I'm now back in Australia for a while. Riding my old bicycles now I find gear changing annoying compared to the no-thinking process of gear changes with the Rohloff (a little thinking required occasionally for the 7-8 gear shifts).

Far happier with Rohloff than traditional gears. My only concerns about Rohloff system now:

I still haven't done a cable change myself, so I'm a bit concerned about when I have to do that.

My hub leaks oil (I didn't buy the hub from SJSC) since it appears that it is an old hub & this problem has now been rectified.

I have my gears set up as low as you can go & this has only been a problem a few times when touring when I could have drafted behind a slow truck/tractor for many kilometres to save a slog through some dull scenery. I just couldn't keep up the high cadence in my relatively low top gear to keep drafting. My derailleur touring bikes had a wider range of gears.

Besides this, nothing else is different than  what I wrote earlier.

Michael
 

ahconway

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 143
Re: Rohloff - What's YOUR Opinion ?
« Reply #22 on: September 18, 2007, 02:44:13 pm »
After about 1500 miles, I absolutely adore my Adventure Tour! Love the frame, the complete package, and of course, the SpeedHub.

Since moving from London to Boston (USA) last October, I've put in many more miles than before thanks to a very nice 10-mile commute. Much of my ride is traffic-free along various shared-use paths. But in central Boston, I find myself doing a lot of hard accelerating off the line, lots of zooming here and there through traffic and waves of pedestrians. For this type of riding (often out of the saddle), I do sometimes wish I didn't have to lay off the pressure to shift gears. I get a skip every once in a while, or get stuck in 14 when I fail to engage because I didn't lay off enough.

The many benefits of the hub far outweigh this little inconvenience. Does make me think, however, that the SpeedHub is more appropriate for touring and mile-eating than fast runs around town (a la City Slicker or Mercury).

Andrew C
Arlington Massachusetts
 

Eric

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 42
Re: Rohloff - What's YOUR Opinion ?
« Reply #23 on: September 18, 2007, 04:44:14 pm »
Michael
I was also worried about the internal gear cable breaking. After 2.5 years of hard use, I sat down with all the right tools and parts; took my time and followed the instructions - a pleasant hour on the workbench, keeping everything clean and double-checking every stage.
The old cable was still in perfect condition, by the way[:)]. Not a 'side of the road' job - needs too many tools and the instruction book!
« Last Edit: September 18, 2007, 04:55:53 pm by Eric »
 

daviddd55

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 53
    • 19500km Circuit of Australia 07/08
Re: Rohloff - What's YOUR Opinion ?
« Reply #24 on: September 18, 2007, 09:45:32 pm »
yes, I've tried tyhe cable change and it's fairly easy - just a bit of a fiddle cutting in the right place and then connecting the cut end into the connector nipple.

petebell

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 3
Re: Rohloff - What's YOUR Opinion ?
« Reply #25 on: October 02, 2007, 07:21:05 pm »
Go for it.  Don't mess about, just buy it. You know its the future! Do I sound like robin Thorn?
 

Eric

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 42
Re: Rohloff - What's YOUR Opinion ?
« Reply #26 on: October 15, 2007, 08:42:04 pm »
Very sorry, but what have vibrators got to do with Rohloffs? Am I missing something[?][V]
quote:
Originally posted by Lameleh

Amazing Site, I loved It
http://www.behavioralconsultants.com/SportsForum/00003184.htm Vibrator
http://community.pmc.edu/vogelewi/_disc2/00006b74.htm?Vibrator Vibrator
I wish There Were More Sites Like THis One

« Last Edit: October 15, 2007, 08:42:51 pm by Eric »
 

att21

  • Guest
Re: Rohloff - What's YOUR Opinion ?
« Reply #27 on: October 16, 2007, 11:39:42 am »
quote:
Very sorry, but what have vibrators got to do with Rohloffs? Am I missing something

It's spam! just ignore any posts like that Eric! I'll try to clean up everyday but can't stop them really, they're everywhere on the Internet now.

freddered

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 457
Re: Rohloff - What's YOUR Opinion ?
« Reply #28 on: February 27, 2008, 09:15:27 pm »
I just did 2nd Oil change and combined it with reversing the sprocket (it was pretty hooked) , reversing the chainring (not as bad, but what the heck?) and a new SRAM PC48 chain.

Result?

Bloody smooth as silk and quiet as a mouse.

The hub is noticeably quieter but the transmission is even better.

I'd forgotten just how eerily quiet these bikes can be (my chain and sprocket had got pretty noisy after 2 years in all sorts of muddy conditions).  I can definitely stand the cost of new sprocket and chainring every 4 years (12,000 miles or so) if it improves things like this.

The ability to reverse the sprocket and chainring is a real benefit.

 

heltonbiker

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 3
Re: Rohloff - What's YOUR Opinion ?
« Reply #29 on: January 29, 2009, 05:32:36 pm »
Got it for two and a half years now, about 12,000km of all kinds of rides, but mainly tours, errands and weekend rides, many of them loaded or carrying child (20kg).

Agree with almost all have been said, but disagree with much of what is said in favour of the whole gearing system on Rohloff site. The hub itself is sturdy, the wheel becomes far, far superior than e.g. shimano ones (even the taller flange disc brake ones), never have to do hub or freewheel maintenance, never have to do tricky and dirty multi-cog cleaning, only one chainring to easily clean, never have to fine tune rear cable tension, no derailer hanger breaking, no spring-dependent working, and so on.

There's some very discrete oil leakage, and the efficiency is definitive less than a good deraileur, not only because of the sealing but also because of the more intricate freewheeling and gears meshing inside. Not too much to make it not worthy, though.

The noise is an irrelevant issue, but you need to get used and it takes some time. It takes some time to shift without thinking about it, too, because it engages at the very moment you do the move, there's no delay, and it is a bit shocking in the beginning.

But the OTHER parts of the gearing system are not saint:

Once I was on first gear, and thought I wasnt, or needed to downshift quickly (crossing a creek). The extra twist mistakenly applied simply ripped off the cable from its bayonette insert. Result: 30 minutes trying to reinsert the cable into the bayonette, and just because some friend had a good quality 2mm allen. At home, I had to drill that damn 2mm bolt apart, because the steel bolt inside an aluminum thread became heavily stuck, and it's not good if you have a 2mm allen to loosen it...

The grip shifter got some road dirt in a 7 hour bike race under rain, offroad. The mud got into the lever, and it worn out considerably. Now I have to periodically open it and put floor wax to lubrify the metal/plastic interface, with good (not great) results.

The fact that you don't have to really look at which gear you are in, because they are sequential, means you do not really KNOW which gear you are in, specially at night, at accelerations, or in traffic or pack rides. That means that any gear change might be the 7 to 8 to 7, and you are never absolutely sure you can shift under load. For myself, the loaded shifting has rarely worked, and I prefer alleviate the torque on the pedals in the exact moment of shifting.

At last, the hand moves necessary to shift are far more wearing and tiring and less ergonomic than with rapid fires, because you have to move your entire arm to do the shift (each gear requires a relatively long twisting, and many times you shift two or three gears at once).
The rapid fires seem much more comfortable to do shifts. Besides, your left hand often gets numb because it isn't used for shifting, and that way gets much less "action" during ride times.


Bottom line: I like very much the rohloff, and also like the derailers (c'mon, there have been decades of practice on them...). The derailers are better for leisure and maybe racing, but the rohloff makes a great everyday bike, and a much more reliable one for touring.

The system deserves some improvements: better cable connection systems at the bayonettes, and better shifter itself. Think it would be possible make two hands shifting: left hand to get higher gears, right hand to get lower, or vice versa, one gear per click, similar to what is made on trigger shifters (rapid fires, sti, etc).

Think is that for the moment, and if you ask: yes, I would buy another one (another ones, perhaps), even at the price they are, for sure! But I think they're not for everyone...

Helton