Rohloff advice

[PhilD28]

My wife has a Thorn XTC and has a fancy for it to be converted to a Rohloff hub. I am an experienced engineer and have built many bikes over the years so doing most jobs is no problem including building a Rolloff wheel.

I know almost nothing about Rolloff hubs other than they are a 14 speed epicyclic gearbox. Has anyone built one into a frame with standard vertical dropouts using a chain tensioner to take up chain wear and if so are there any long term problems doing this (We do multi month camping tours).

Or, would it be better to bite the bullet and buy another Thorn frame designed for a Rohloff such as an RST and take advantage of the eccentric BB adjuster.

My other question relates to the shifter, she prefers drop bars and specifically the TTT Morphe's she has had for years, will the stock shifter that comes with the hub fit on a drop bar such as that or do I need to rig up something on a mounting bar off the ahead stem.

Finally for you Rohloff riders do you feel they are worth the expense and are they much better than the Alfine.

Any experiences or advice would be gratefully received.

Thanks
Phil

[Danneaux]

Hi Phil!

Forum member Rualexander is your man...he did a very professional job converting his Thorn Sherpa, which also has vertical dropouts.

You can find most of his posts on the conversion here:
http://thorncyclesforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=3235.msg14456#msg14456

All good luck on converting your wife's xTc, and all the best,

Dan.

[rualexander]

As Dan has said, I converted my Sherpa to Rohloff use, and I am very happy with the way it has worked out.

I managed to do away with the need for a chain tensioner by choosing an appropriate combination of chainring and sprocket sizes, details are in the thread that Dan linked to.

I have to replace the chain more often than would be required with a tensioner fitted or with an eccentric BB, but that isn't a problem for me, I don't keep records so can't give an exact mileage per chain but I'd estimate it being around 2000 miles.
This may be an issue on multi month tours so maybe a tensioner would be better.
I didn't really like running mine with the tensioner which is why I looked into doing away with it.

You could also consider fitting an Exzentriker to give you chain adjustment but you need a modern Hollowtech type chainset rather than a square taper BB chainset.

The chainstay torque arm is of no real consequence, it works fine, hasn't caused any issues, some people don't like the look of them.

For drop bar use, the Hubbub adapter works well, but is expensive for what it is, I like it though.

Third party alternative shifters are also available now, several options can be seen here

On balance, in your situation, regularly doing multi month tours I would probably go for a new Raven frame, but bear in mind that the Raven's eccentric BB can be seized when you come to try and adjust it, and might need some brute force and time to to sort it out.

Is the Rohloff worth it? Depends on your financial situation I guess. I got mine second hand, but if it was stolen I would probably replace it with a new one if I couldn't get another second hand.

I have an Alfine 8 speed on my other bike and the Rohloff is in a different league really, the Alfine is fine but I wouldn't want to go multi month tours on it although Vin Cox went round the world with his http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/vin-cox-sets-new-round-the-world-record-27795/

[Tiberius]

Rohloff with drops.....Here you go....

https://www.rohloff.de/en/news/news-in-detail/van-nicholas-divisible-handlebar-for-rohloff-twistshifter/index.html

http://www.cyclingabout.com/rohloff-hubs-with-drop-handlebars/

[PhilD28]

I appreciate all the advice and links, great stuff. Currently wading my way through all the threads and links provided, it's always nice when others have tried these things and identified any drawbacks.

A couple of years ago I thought I wasn't going to be able to continue with our long tours due to a knee injury and contemplated selling off my various expedition bikes. However I was lucky enough to find a superb cycling physio who got to the bottom of the problem and this year managed another two month camping trip through France, Ireland and Scotland, this has enthused us to do a bit of bike updating.

At the moment my gut feeling is to just get her a new Rohloff specific frame and build it up. Nothing like a new bike to motivate.

Thanks again.
Phil

[martinf]

Finally for you Rohloff riders do you feel they are worth the expense and are they much better than the Alfine.

Rohloff for the range if doing hilly touring.

Alfine/Nexus 8 seem durable enough if you can do without the Rohloff range and (at least on the Nexus ones) address their Achilles heel of inadequate lubrication/weather sealing. The Nexus 8 Premium on my utility bike has been OK so far with the stress of pulling a loaded trailer.  The gears aren't as evenly spaced as the Rohloff, but, at least when oil-lubricated, the hub seems as efficient. I partly dismantle the hub about once a year, dunk the innards in a synthetic oil lubricant (instead of the factory-supplied grease) and pack the outer bearing races with outboard motor grease. This probably voids the Shimano warranty but has worked well for the past 5 years. 

Although the range is larger than the Alfine 8, I have avoided the Alfine 11 as there seem to be a fair number of online reports about failures and fiddly adjustment.