Here's a review I wrote a few years back:
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Pros:
- Wide shifts:
Probably a substitute for proper technique, but I can clean inclines that I couldn't before. Hammer in to it in, say, gear 8, then jump down to 4, then to 1 as needed.
Also, on long climbs I like to alternate in and out of the saddle which, for me, is a 3 or 4 gear shift on each change. With the der I used to do it a lot less frequently that I really like and in the spirit of "Gee, I sure hope I don't miss this shift and take the saddle horn up my butt (again...)".
Now I just snap those wide shifts without even thinking about it. Any time, any place.- I'm always in the right gear, since shifting is essentially trivial; seems like shifts take less than a fiftieth of a second.
- No more rear cog problems: no taco'd cogs, no more vines/small branches/grass wrapped around the cog/der.
- It *seems* pretty-much bombproof. Time will tell, but I was spending more time than I cared to adjusting my der and bending a cog wheel while riding was a PITA.
- Greatly-reduced frequency of missed shifts. "Reduced" and not "Zero" because there is a 'gotcha' between 7 and 8 dumps you into gear 14 if you forget and shift under load.
It pops back into the intended gear as soon as the load comes off, but it's nothing you want to make a habit of doing.
- Ability to shift down when stopped. I think I make more than my share of unplanned stops and I used to have to lift up the rear wheel and rotate the cranks to get down to a starting gear.
Also, my technique sucks and probably won't get any better and it's nice to be able approach an object and slow way, way down before negotiating it without worrying about getting stuck in too high a gear to get over it.
- I don't have to keep mental track of which chain ring I'm on. Sounds trivial, but I don't have any brain cells to spare.
- Maybe not so much of a strength, but it should be mentioned somewhere that 14 speeds are enough.
My original 44-32-22 der setup took me from 18.5 to 104.
With the Rohloff on a 44 I get 19.9 to 104.9 in nice even, uniform 13.8% increments. That's only one less gear and, since I never used 104 it's a wash for me.
With the 38 that I've since gone over to it's 17.2 - 90.6.
I don't get spun out in 90.6 until about 25 mph - and there's no way I can hold that speed for very long anyhow.
I left the old 32 in the middle position just because it weighs next to nothing and, on a big bump sometimes the chain drops (you're supposed to have a front-der-like dingus up there to keep it from doing that ....but I never go around to getting one) the 32 catches the chain. Also allows shifting down to a usually-ludicrous 14.something if things get really bad....
Cons:
- It costs an arm and a leg.
If my wife ever finds out I spent close to a grand on a rear wheel, she'll start to doubt my sanity.
- This hub weighs a *lot*. It added 1.9 pounds to my already-heavy bike - same rim/tube/tire/spoke gauge.
Anybody who says it only adds a pound must be using a really, *really* heavy cog/hub/der/shifter setup. I was using SRAM 9.0 with twist shifters.
- The installation instructions could use a re-write. I'm no rocket scientist, and after studying them long enough I pulled it off - but it could have been a *lot* easier.
- It's heavy. Are you ready for an 8-pound rear wheel?
- The torque arm mounting that came with it was decidedly un-German (downright kludgey, I'd say...). Hose clamps!
Also sometime during the first hundred miles the little clevis pin that held it all together disappeared. Wasn't a catestrophic failure because the normal riding pressure pushes everything together.... I probably installed the c-ring keeper wrong or something - but it seems like a weak point. Replaced it with a marine shackle set in LocTite.
I have since discovered that there is a more elegant torque arm setup that Rohloff calls the "SpeedBone". Uses the disk brake mount and does not interfere with using a disk brake.
- Evenly-spaced shifts: From me, this is strictly a theoretical "con", but if somebody were in good enough shape to be riding in/having to keep up with a pace line, they would want closer spacing in the upper gears. It's no problem for me, bco my pathetic physical condition and riding style (or lack thereof), but it's pretty sure tb an issue with a more competative rider.
- It's heavy.
- It's noisy, especially in gears 1-7. Supposedly this mitigates with age, but it is still an issue with me at 1,000 miles.
Late breaking news: After 5,000+ miles the noise has mitigated, my hearing has deteriorated, or I've been drinking less coffee or something bc the noise is no longer an issue with me.
- It's definately less efficient in gears 1-8.
There's a web site somewhere (in German) that supposedly graphs a Rohloff against one of the Shimanos and claims no loss in most gears and 1-2% in the lower gears.
I would disagree with that web site's figures.
- Did I mention that it's heavy?
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Bottom Line:
This is definately not for everybody and the torque arm thing bugged me until I got the more elegant replacement.
Having said that, I find that me and the Rohloff are a good match.
I've quickly gotten so used to getting any gear I want any time I want and never having to stop and pull brush/branches out of my rear der that I can't imagine going back.
It also appeals to the exhibitionist in me...
You, on the other hand, might hate the thing.
Oh yeah, I amost forgot: it's heavy.
