are rohloffs slower than derraileurs?

[templek]

yesterday i took advantage of the sun, and went for  a ride from victoria to hyde park's cycle lanes, with a lady friend of mine. I ride a Thorn Raven Sport, she had a cheap meteor flat bar bike around 20  years old, with low mileage. She is an occasional cyclist, i was a cycle courier for 4 years, which i got the bike for. I also cycled to meet her from Stratford. She didnt know the way from victoria and asked me not to go too fast for her, since i'm more experienced. Well to cut a long story short, the reverse happened! I cldnt keep up with, despite riding flat out. I thought her bigger thighs were the reason, till i rode bike. It was much faster. 3 yrs ago i was going to go on a week long end to end charity ride. When i went on a training ride with the group in the west country, i cld not keep up with the others most of the time, and was advised not to take part. I was the only one on a rohloff. It did attract strange stares of bewilderment from the others in their elite bikes. Has anyone else had this problem? You dont see rohloffs winning the tour de france or olympic cycle events

[stutho]

If the dérailleur is very well maintained Or you are riding on flat ground (no gear changes) then there is no doubt that the dérailleur will be faster - as you say you don't see a Rohloff speed hub  wining the tour de France

On the other hand if you are off road up to you axles in mud then I would but my money on the Rohloff - especially if you are running without a chain tensioner.

The greater the number of gear changes per an hour  and the harsher the conditions the better the Speedhub will get in comparison to a dérailleur .   

I live in a very hilly rural area but ride mainly on road.  I found my commute time averaged out about the same- if anything a little faster on the RST.  (nb my RST is a drop handlebar).    I have to admit I do hanker after a light weight true road bike in the summer time ( I sold mine when I got the RST)  but in the rain and wind that we get here every second day I am very glad I am on a Raven!   

[gearoidmuar]

In my experience, it's neither faster nor slower, all things (bike weight) being equal. On hilly touring terrain I find the Rohloff a little faster than my previous touring bikes. I THINK the reason is that I stay in the perfect gear all the time, as it's so easy to. I'm cycling with the same bunch of men for a long time and when I got the Rohloff, it made no difference.
Now, the tyres..

I ride slicks. If you're riding a big lump of a rigid tyre, THAT can slow you down.

[templek]

i was using marathon plus tyres. Her meteor was a mountain bike with mountain bike tyres. I cld not keep up with her! Her bike was faster even though my bigger thorn was lighter. In mitigation i have not changed the oil in 2 years. but i had the speed problem when i went on the said training run. The oil had just been changed b4 hand . So rohloffs are not made for road racing in mind, but off road? I havent seen many if any in mountain bike competitions. Or are there any teams out there that do?

[sbseven]

I don't think Rohloffs are significantly slower. Published efficiency figures show a 1-2% decrease in efficiency for the Rohloff at most. That's equivalent to a few watts of energy and equates to less than 0.5 km/h on the road. What does make the difference, though, is the bike as a whole, especially the bike's weight, type of tyres and how upright the riding position is.

As a real world example, on my racing bikes (8kg, 23mm tyres, drops) I'm reasonably fast (!) and average 28-30 km/h each ride. On my Raven Nomad (15kg, 50mm tyres, flat bars) I average about 22-23 km/h on the same roads.

(You may also have to accept that your recent cycling companion was just faster than you!!!).

Shaun

[expr]

I find the rohloff a whole lot faster, from changing the gear in an instant to giving an equal and positive increase on each change. I did a short 30 mile run on Saturday morning (very hot) and had a Lycra clad derailleur using speedy type person come up from behind, I decided to challenge the power of the two, and thankfully after a long accent to the top and after much huffing and puffing I found myself alone again. I love doing this short ride as the view at the top gives much reward.

I ride both derailleur and rohloff, I find the rohloff much easier and cleaner in every aspect of the two in comparison, the rohloff is on an expr with straight bars.

[MilitantGraham]

I havent seen many if any in mountain bike competitions. Or are there any teams out there that do?

I ride mountain bike competitions on a Rohloff.
I have seen one other Rohloff in MTQ trailquests, out of about 50 entries per event.
The most I've seen in endurance events was 4 at the Marin Rough ride (about 900 entrants) and 4 at mountain Mayhem 24 hour (about 2500 entrants as teams or solo).
I generally see one or two others at marathons or 12 hour races.
I've only done one XC race and mine was the only one there.

[john28july]

Hello
I own as some already know, three Thorn bikes (was four but finances etc). I once purchased a Rohloff hubbed Thorn Raven Tour. Whilst it was a very nice bike in comfort, ride etc I did not get on well with straight type bars with that gripshift type changer and did not desire drop bars with attached shifter. Whilst ownership was fairly brief due to the above mentioned I do admit that the bike felt slower in general and quicker downhill. I feel that there must be (and have been) some drag with the hub. This may of course reduce with wear (useage).For the type of use most buyers purchase these bikes for, I feel it is not a worry or problem. You buy and ride a hefty bike it is going to be slower!
John.

[wheezy]

The thought that I may be going a little slower than I might with a derailleur, always comes to mind once I settle into the bottom seven gears for a nice climb. It just feels like there's a resistance there. My hub only has 1800 miles on the clock, so no oil change yet, and probably barely run-in, so it's probably not a fair comparison.

I think if I were only concerned about road speed, I would end up going back to derailleurs, but the other advantages (especially off-road) of the Rohloff swing the argument heavily in it's favour.

Expr, is that a Brooks saddle bag on your bike? It looks a whole lot better than the carradice on mine. Is it stable, and rattle-free?

[expr]

Expr, is that a Brooks saddle bag on your bike? It looks a whole lot better than the carradice on mine. Is it stable, and rattle-free?
[/quote]


Hi wheezy,

Its actually a leather bum bag from when we went to Bulgaria. The two belt straps on it were perfect for attaching to the saddle rails via (large zip ties) its got a brass catch on and internal brass zip. I did look on ebay at this type

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/OSX-Leather-Biker-Tool-Roll-Saddle-Bag-Spanner-AC12-/370365349705?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item563b7ebf49

but decided to go for the one i allready had. It is very quiet as all the tools etc have been rolled up in an oiled rag individually to prevent that annoying clanging noise.

Dave.

[wheezy]

Its actually a leather bum bag from when we went to Bulgaria.

Ah. Thanks, Dave. Very helpful. I checked out the Brooks ones today on the web, and they look too small to carry the usual tube, multi-tool, phone combo.

Sorry to go off topic, everyone.

As you were...

[mylesau]

Put the Rohloff in 11th gear - 11th gear it is 1:1, there are no losses in this gear - just like a single speed.

You should try to gear a Rohloff so that your most used gear is 11

I've got a 2" Schwalbe XR up front and 2.25" Schwalbe XR in the rear, it's still fast enough for me

[freddered]

I've done an Audax SR (200km, 300km, 400km and 600km rides) using my heavy Thorn Raven Tour.

The last 2 "Around the World" world records have been set using Rohloffs.

As others have mentioned, put it in 11th and compare bikes.  In 11th gear it will be at least as efficient as a Derailleur, probably more.

If your bike is slower in 11th gear then I suggest that the problem is tyres or the fit of the bike (or you)

Fit some different tyres.  Panaracer Paselas 26x1.5 or less.  Pump them to the max recomended pressure and try again.  If this isn't faster, in 11th gear, than a MTB with MTB tyres then check your brakes aren't binding.

Note.  "Faster" is subjective.  My Raven Tour feels very slow because it's silent and smooth.  However, I have a timed 15 mile circuit I use occasionally.  This loop proves to me that my Raven Tour is 20 seconds slower, over 51 minutes, than my "fast Tourer".  Wind-direction or temperature on the day can account for 20 seconds easily so, statistically, I would say there's no noticeable difference.

I suggest you do a timed circuit on different bikes.

The answer to your original question is "Yes" but it depends on many factors.

Is a Raven Sport Tour, with slick road tyres, slower then an MTB with MTB tyres?  "No".

[Fred A-M]

What everyone appears to have overlooked has overlooked (but have certainly seen previously mentioned on the site) is that if you're racing a MTB or other deraillieur bike, the gaps between gears are generally far smaller compared to the 13.5% gap between gears on the Rohloff.   Particularly racing over any real distance of racing with any degree of undulation, each time you change gear there's a reduced chance of finding a gear that optmises racing speed because of the larger gap.   

[john28july]

What everyone appears to have overlooked has overlooked (but have certainly seen previously mentioned on the site) is that if you're racing a MTB or other deraillieur bike, the gaps between gears are generally far smaller compared to the 13.5% gap between gears on the Rohloff.   Particularly racing over any real distance of racing with any degree of undulation, each time you change gear there's a reduced chance of finding a gear that optmises racing speed because of the larger gap.   

Again you are correct!
John.