Why Rohloff twistgrip should be loosey goosey*

[Andre Jute]

Lifted from another thread and a new thread started so as not to obscure a request for a specific cable replacement procedure:

...make sure the shifter is taped in position or you’ll be cursing the numbers not lining up (no big deal but irritating)...

I'm sure Geo knows this but it should be said for newbies lurking or in the group's posterity: a more than slightly loose twist shifter is desirable and mandated by Rohloff, so the cables shouldn't even be pulled tight, never mind over-tightened. Those gearbox cables operate a pull-pull mechanism and do no pushing, so tightness is unnecessary.

On my bike, which has the EXT shifter box, before the rubber numbers wore off, the play was almost one number to either side of the actual gear -- out of the box, set up by people whose summer bash for owners in a German forest is attended by Herr Rohloff himself.

At first I found this quite as irritating as Geo does, and used to mark gears 8 (lowest gear in the "upper" set) and 11 with Tippex (typist's whiteout) on the rotary control until I discovered that the efficiency of the Rohloff gears in practice vary imperceptibly little, so that you just twist until the gear feels right for the inclination of the road, and for that you don't care what the number is.

Since my bike is set up for health reasons to match my masher's cadence in gear 11, leaving three overdrives, I find gear 11 on setting off, or whenever, by going up to 14 and shifting back three clicks, without ever looking down. It takes a fraction of a second.

I imagine that for a longtime roadie it might be disturbing at first not to know the number of the gear he is in, or even the half-step, because a derailleur change must be made before the hill is started, but a Rohloff doesn't require that: you can change at any time at any speed or under any load by lifting only momentarily, so the control imperatives are very different, something new to learn. I came to Rohloff via Shimano's Nexus hub gearboxes (including one with fully operational automatic gearing), and others on the forum were into hub gearboxes by Sturmey-Archer even before that, so I can understand that the cyclist's necessary adaptation was probably easier for us than for those who went directly from derailleurs to Rohloff. I don't even want to think about a Rohloff/derailleur mixed stable of bikes all ridden with each one demanding a different kind of attention. The only time I think about these reflex actions on my Rohloff is when I read something interesting on this forum and stop a moment consciously to consider it. When I'm on it, my bike just works under me, and I pay no attention to it or even to the road. The ideal tool bike should be fitted with a well run-in Rohloff!

* "loosey goosey" Thanks to Sheldon Brown, bicycle mechanic and much-missed wit, for this coinage.

[geocycle]

Thanks Andre, I agree with you and good to spell it out.  One of the main advantages of the rohloff is that cable tension is not critical to shifting. I don’t think about the gear except perhaps when climbing exceptionally steep hills.

If you are concerned about the dot then you can trim it slightly with the adjusters on the bridge by the brake boss on thorn raven style bikes.

[martinf]

I don't even want to think about a Rohloff/derailleur mixed stable of bikes all ridden with each one demanding a different kind of attention.

Until recently I had a mix of hub gear (3 or 4 different models at any one time) and derailleur bikes. And, occasionally, hybrid hub/derailleur systems such as SRAM DualDrive or the Brompton 3-speed hub with 2-speed derailleur. 

When using different bikes, changing gear has never been a problem. Most hub gears are dead simple. With Rohloff, SRAM 7, Nexus 7, Nexus 8 and SRAM or Sturmey Archer 3-speeds, operate one lever (sometimes a "rapidfire" type trigger with one lever for "up" and another for "down") or twist grip to move to a lower or higher gear.

S5/2 hub is more complicated with two levers that need to be moved in a specific sequence to run through the gears, but I have been using these hubs for so long that I no longer have to think about it.

The same applied for derailleur gears. For more than 40 years I generally had my derailleur bikes these set up as "half-step" triples with a small chainring "granny" gear. After the initial period of learning, the rather complicated gear-changing sequence became automatique.

[Andre Jute]

Thanks, Martin. That's about what I expected from a cyclist who has ridden a mixed stable for decades. But I came to cycling late, was never at home on derailleurs*, and left them behind forever the moment I discovered the Nexus hub gearboxes. And I don't do anywhere near your mileage.

* The derailleur that folded up and locked the rear wheel solid fortunately happened with fifty paces of my LBS, and my ride was interrupted for less than ten minutes before I continued on the loaner he provided.

[PH]

When using different bikes, changing gear has never been a problem.

At various times over the years, I've had a Shimano Alfine/Nexus bike alongside a Rohloff, changing bikes after riding predominantly one for a while would have me shifting in the wrong direction, even when the Shimano was a trigger shift, up for down, down for up... was never a problem, though it was frequently an irritation.  I didn't do the same moving between IGH and derailleurs, though usually that was also changing between straight and drop bars.
I don't think I ever look at the gear numbers, I have a good enough idea of which I'm in. Well at least until recently, now one of my Thorns is deliberately lower geared than the other, I've been caught out a couple of times on the higher geared Mercury, trying to change down when I'm already in bottom!
Re the loosey goosey in the title - Yes, cables not under tension is good for the mechanicals, it also makes shifting easier, you have some momentum in the twist before it meets any resistance. Easy to test that for yourself - bring the shifter up to the bite point and see how much more effort is required from there.  That also works the other way, too much slack and the momentum may cause you to shift two gears when you meant to shift one.  I can't find this sweet spot on my folder, though the convoluted cable run doesn't help.

[Andre Jute]

Re the loosey goosey in the title - Yes, cables not under tension is good for the mechanicals, it also makes shifting easier, you have some momentum in the twist before it meets any resistance. Easy to test that for yourself - bring the shifter up to the bite point and see how much more effort is required from there.  That also works the other way, too much slack and the momentum may cause you to shift two gears when you meant to shift one.  I can't find this sweet spot on my folder, though the convoluted cable run doesn't help.

What may help is to put your highest-mileage Rohloff on the folder, on the assumption that it will be better run-in, with an intrinsically softer change.

My Rohloff is now so well adjusted and well run in, I dread the time when I will have to replace the cables. On the original triangular rotary control I now change gears with just the friction between the rubber and the leather of a gloved finger on a flat. I don't want to replace that control, which is pretty worn, with the new round one either because I wonder if it can possibly work as well.

[JohnR]

My last derailleur bike had 3 x 9 which meant there was a lot of duplication and overlap so a lot of mental arithmetic was needed before deciding what shifting to do. However, it was at the end of winter with a filthy drivetrain that needed cleaning that I decided that hub gears were the way forward. I first tried the Alfine 11 but discovered that it didn't have sufficient gearing range for my local hills before raiding the piggy bank and getting a Rohloff-equipped bike.

I do, however, like to keep a mental count of which gear I'm in on the Rohloff although that's partly because I know what gear I normally expect to use on my local circuits.

[PH]

I can't find this sweet spot on my folder, though the convoluted cable run doesn't help.

What may help is to put your highest-mileage Rohloff on the folder, on the assumption that it will be better run-in, with an intrinsically softer change.

I'm sure that's right, but other factors (Wheel size, support rings, colour...) mean it isn't being considered. 
It's a minor irritation rather than a problem that needs attention. I'd prefer perfection, but not to the extent of disturbing the long established 700c wheel and the one in the folder has already changed size twice, well once then back again.