Adventure Cyclist article

[JimK]

The April 2015 issue came in today's mail. It contains an article "The Drivetrain Dilemma" which turns out to be an argument for using the Rohloff hub for touring. It's not so much that the Rohloff, or internal hub gearing, is inherently superior to derailleurs. But the Shimano and SRAM derailleur offerings keep drifting further and further from what touring cyclists need. Touring has become "a niche of a niche."

That's how I landed on a Rohloff. I wasn't just facing a total overhaul of the drivetrain on my Trek 520, but I had no confidence that a single overhaul would really solve the problem, with the constant changing of "standards" it was looking like an endless and unreliable path.

Now I have really been spoiled by the Rohloff!

[mickeg]

I have only seen two Rohloffs, one is on my bike and one was on the bike of a European traveler touring in USA.  A neighbor is a bike mechanic, he told me that my Rohloff is the only one he has ever seen.  The magazine you cite is published in USA, so do not expect the article to change things very much here. 

I do not know why but the price in USA for a Rohloff is so high, I bought my Rohloff hub over the internet from a bike shop in Germany, I saved roughly 25 percent compared to what I would have to pay if I bought from someone here.  I suspect that the USA Rohloff distributor faces little competition, thus can charge much more than what one would have to pay in Europe where there is more competition.

I like my Nomad MkII with a Rohloff.  But I think both IGH and derailleur systems have their advantages and disadvantages.

For touring with a derailleur, I am quite happy with the older 8 speed systems.  I use a road triple (square taper Campy crank) with a 24t aftermarket granny gear (52/42/24) up front with a vintage Suntour derailleur and in back an 8 speed Sram 11/32 cassette with a vintage XT derailleur on an older XT steel axle rear hub.  I have that same gearing setup on both my Long Haul Trucker and on my Thorn Sherpa.  I think most people however would prefer lower gearing for the crank, but I like what I have. 

I agree that a lot of the derailleur components are not as good for touring as they were earlier.  I see no reason up upgrade to the 9, or 10 or 11 speed systems, are they up to 12 yet?  A friend of mine tours with a 7 speed freewheel derailleur system.  And I did not realize how lucky I was when I bought one of the last steel axle XT rear hubs (M760) before they went with smaller bearings and aluminum axle (M770).

I wish I could find the correct spindle for my Nomad so that I could use a cup and cone bottom bracket instead of the newer cartridge design.  I have not had any trouble with the cartridge unit, but I would like to have one that I can disassemble, clean, re-grease and re-assemble myself.

[mickeg]

Article at:
http://www.adventurecycling.org/default/assets/resources/20150401_DrivetrainDilemma_DAmbrosio.pdf

[markbUK]

Thanks for posting the link, I thought the comments re the Alfine 11 are interesting as I have a spare frame as I moved the Rohloff on to a mercury frame, and was going to make up a run around with an alfine 11, .... But 26/27 gear inches is not brilliant around south Devon's flat fen lands! Might just have to get another Rohloff

Mark

[martinf]

Thanks for posting the link, I thought the comments re the Alfine 11 are interesting as I have a spare frame as I moved the Rohloff on to a mercury frame, and was going to make up a run around with an alfine 11, .... But 26/27 gear inches is not brilliant around south Devon's flat fen lands! Might just have to get another Rohloff
Mark

I put a Nexus 8 Premium (similar to Alfine on my 2nd Raven Tour frame. I decided against Alfine 11 as it is relatively recent and there have been several reports of reliability problems.

The Nexus/Alfine 8 family of gears have been around for several years now, so hopefully the teething problems have been sorted out. Also substantially cheaper than the 11 if it does break or if the bike is stolen.

I geared my Nexus 8 low with 23" to 71" (38 x 22, which is compatible with a Chainglider, which I think is useful on a utility bike). This works for me for utility riding in South Brittany, low is enough for the local hills, including when pulling a loaded trailer, but gradients are less severe than in South Devon. The 71" top gear sounds low, but if necessary I can get the bike up to about 40 kph (for short periods only!).

[markbUK]

Thanks for the advice re the alfine 8, food for thought as the bike is going to be an round town utility bike, 70 ish gear inches is more than enough for me on the flat .. Mark