I do words for a living, so my vocabulary in English is somewhere north of half a million words, thus it isn't often I learn a new word. So I love "permute", the verb from the same root as "permutation". Thanks Martin.
Compared to a derailleur setup, the Rohloff does limit your transmission line permutations. But which hub gearbox doesn't?
First of all there is what I call Bernd Rohloff's Universal Rule to Cover a German Engineer's Ass, progressively relaxed over three decades, which limits the amount of torque you can put into the gearbox by under-specifying the load the gearbox can carry in real life. Sure, it protects the reputation for longevity of the Rohloff, and by stopping idiots hogging out the stress they put into the transmission also stops them from being stranded in far places. But it also irritated the serious cyclists who grew up with half-step gears who wanted to go down to 36 tooth chainrings, who couldn't within the torque rating and the available factory sprockets, at least not if they wanted to fit at least one other extremely useful component, the Hebie Chainglider.
To this problem, the Hebie management added another layer of complication and frustration for the same heavy duty tourers in their must-have Chainglider (the nearest practical thing to a fully enclosing, oil bath chain case; if you don't know, search for it on the forum) by being misleading and obtuse in their responses to requests for a 36T Chainglider. No fault of Rohloff, of course.
Now comes the punchline.
First of all, I always though there was enough choice of officially permitted front and rear counts to suit probably 99 percent of cyclists, and I said all along that the permission limits on your Rohloff was nothing but cover-assery; however, considering the benefits of Herr Rohloff's goodwill, which effectively amounted to a lifetime guarantee for those who serviced their box regularly and didn't break the rules, and the price of the Rohloff box, I couldn't in good faith advise people to break the rules, and for myself I had no need to as I found my first sweet spot (the standard 38x16 on 622mm rims; Thorn's 17T sprocket was the outlier) within the rules, and when I was ready to move on to something faster, that too was within the rules.
On the whole, I think these restrictions, which are far fewer and set at a far lower bar/higher capability than the hub gearboxes of other makers, have been beneficial to the owners of Rohloff gearboxes, especially the middle of the road utility and short but heavily loaded touring cyclist; here I have my painting gear in mind, especially the setup that the wind can't blow away. (Be interesting to know what Martin's survey tripod weighs, and whether he carried it on a bike or whether it arrived with his assistant by van.)
I couldn't even have started developing my near-zero maintenance bike, which has been a big success for me as my back stiffened with age, until I had the Rohloff installed in an equally reliable frame. It should be pretty obvious to everyone who ever repeatedly cleaned a derailleur bike why the Rohloff and the Chainglider are central to a transmission altogether less demanding and tiresome than derailleurs, and a million years more reliable.
***
After roundabout 18 years of use, what can I say about the Rohloff?
First of all: The Rohloff is worth every penny it costs. In the same period, given that previously I wrecked two Shimano Nexus boxes in short order, I estimate I would have spent more for inferior boxes in the same 18 years. In the end, the Rohloff is the cheapest bike transmission I ever bought. However much money you have, that's not a negligible consideration, but there's still more benefit: With it's reliability, the Rohloff brought an absence of wasted time considering, buying and fitting new components. That is a major benefit for someone who has other things to do.
Secondly, one of my other bikes is fully automatic (including computer controlled adaptive suspension), with a choice of several programs for electrical gear switching according to conditions. The Rohloff, which was designed as a crude piece of everlasting German farm machinery -- quite literally a mud plugger, Bernd Rohloff's own sport --. soon enough runs in and (unless you set it up like a hair-trigger derailleur -- read the manual about the desirability of a slack chain) becomes amazingly quiet in its upper register given only that you have chosen your transmission ratio to take account of your maintainable cadence and tyre rolling diameter to cover level roads in one of the overdrive gears of 12, 13 and 14. It's never going to be a jewel, but then a jewel in everyday use doesn't last anywhere near as long a Rohloff. But I don't notice that the Rohloff doesn't switch with the precise, distinct click of a small BMW manual gearbox. In fact, I don't notice the Rohloff at all. It's just there and it works; I keep one eye on the heart rate monitor, and when that rises or falls past the limits, my hand autonomously changes gears. What more than inaudibility and invisibility can you ask from a machine that serves you and has already lasted at least 18 times as long as any other? That's the definition of a noble machine.
