New Shifter

[wheezy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2cBGgNkRWA&feature=player_embedded

[peddles]

Looks like just what I've been waiting for, Is there any further information anywhere?

[wheezy]

Apparently it's a light weight shifter that Rohloff have "in the works". What little info there is, can be found in Wilhelm's post on this thread. There's a load of pictures of alternative shifters there too.

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=653140

[peddles]

Has any more info emerged anywhere yet?  It's odd to see such an explicit promo video and then hear nothing further. I'd have thought it would attract a lot of interest.

[Andre Jute]

Ha! What happened to Rohloff's lighter duty, wider range hub gear box that we heard so much about a couple of years ago?

Just asking...

Hobbes

[mamaroneckmarc]

I am a new, and happy, Rohloff speedhub owner.  I recently emailed Rohloff regarding the hard to see, black on black, shifter numbers.  This is the reply:

Hello Marc,

The decision was made years ago to deliberately leave the numbers black-on-black. The reason for this being to show how intuitive the shifting system really is. It is important to know the gear numbers with a standard derailleur gear system as one should not cycle with such an inefficient chain-line. As the chainline is always perfect when using a SPEEDHUB, the number function itself is now obsolete. One simply shifts up or down and thus the cyclist can concentrate on simply enjoying the ride.

Time has shown that old habits die hard and the new shifter which we are working on will incorporate an aluminum ring with laser-etched numbers. This should be available if all goes well as of next year.

Have a nice day.

Best Wishes from Fuldatal, Germany.

Stewart Stabik,
Technical Support Manager
Rohloff AG, Germany

[Fred A-M]

Interesting to hear from the source direct.  I have never quite understood the fuss about needing to know precisely what gear you're in as long as it feels right for the effort being made at the time, so Rohloff's explanation makes sense, for me at least - as I recently commented elsewhere, the ability to focus on the ride rather than the gears is one of the major advantages of the Speedhub.

[Cake]

I totally agree with Fred, although it will be nice to see what Rohloff have come up with.

[alcyst]

I totally disagree. Commuting the last few days in darkness, trying to do a hill start, wearing clipless pedals it would be nice to know which gear I was setting off in. Once you are moving its no problem.

[Fred A-M]

Maybe Rohloff could change their ethos and oblige with an onboard shifter light or luminous numbers for such ocassions? 

[wheezy]

Personally, I won't be happy 'til the shifter has a voice synthesizer and can speak the gears.

[Crudson]

Also, don't you all think it's a design oversight by Thorn on it's bikes not have giant, foam arrows
labelled 'Forwards' and 'Backwards' - Cycling can be so confusing sometimes........

[Andre Jute]

Now that you mention it, Crudson, as a concerned, safe cyclist, I went to Germany and paid BMW money for my bike because no British manufacturer had the good sense to fit his bike with directional foam arrows.

The nanny-state cometh!

***
Seriously, I can think of at least one situation where visible numbers on the Rohloff rotary control would be useful to me. I bought my Rohloff bike when we moved up a hill and specified the gears specifically so that I could ride to my front door instead of having to get off and push. There's a section of the ride where I'm coming around the courthouse up a short but very steep section of hill and can't see what's coming on a fast main road just as I merge slowly with traffic that I'm trying to cross to get to the footpath through the park just across this fast road. The fastest way across the most dangerous part of my ride is in fact in third gear -- fourth accelerates too slowly when I'm already out of puff, second is less than walking pace and exposes me unnecessarily sideways on where my lights aren't doing much good in warning motorists I'm there. Stopping, by the way is impossible because I'll never get rolling again; anyway, only wimps stop.

I could well be in the market to replace a perfectly good and unworn but unreadable rotary control for the new model, depending on how difficult it will be to recable.

Andre Jute
Visit Andre's recipes:
 http://www.audio-talk.co.uk/fiultra/FOOD.html

[PH]

There's absolutely no trace of where the numbers were on my shifter. I can feel which gear I'm in, they all feel different.  On the odd occasion I find myself needing to know which gear I'm in as I set off, I twist all the way to 1 and count up.  I might give the new shifter a go, it looks like it could be more comfortable as a hand grip.

[Blacksail]

How about some stealth shifting. The old favourite a piece of inner tube makes an excellent, if needless, protective cover for the twist grip.