rohloff equipped commuter

carlstone

Still paying off my cycle to work tax break for my lovely Planet X but as with all things my mind is wandering to the day it is paid off and all being well I get my next bike.

I want to replace my old commuter with a super commuter. What I am looking for is a rohloff equipped flat bar bike on road wheels with disk brakes, room for mudguards and triple chainset :roll: . I have only had one steel framed bike which was an old raleigh about 20 years ago and hated the flex in the frame (much prefer the direct feeling of my oversize allu framed commuterised MTB), so unless steel frames have changed I would like an allu framed bike. Oh, and preferably under 12kg.

Does anyone know if such a beast exists for under £1,000?

Cheers in advance

Carl.

nicklouse

carlstone wrote:

Still paying off my cycle to work tax break for my lovely Planet X but as with all things my mind is wandering to the day it is paid off and all being well I get my next bike.

I want to replace my old commuter with a super commuter. What I am looking for is a rohloff equipped flat bar bike on road wheels with disk brakes, room for mudguards and triple chainset. I have only had one steel framed bike which was an old raleigh about 20 years ago and hated the flex in the frame (much prefer the direct feeling of my oversize allu framed commuterised MTB), so unless steel frames have changed I would like an allu framed bike. Oh, and preferably under 12kg.

Does anyone know if such a beast exists for under £1,000?

Cheers in advance

Carl.

so why go to the cost of a rohloff as it makes the need for a tripple front crankset obsolete.

the Rohloff give the same gearing as a 27 set....

carlstone

Spot the deliberate mistake :oops:

Scratch the triple chainset.

alfablue

I think it will be very hard to find one under £1000 as the Rohloff itself costs about £600. I suppose the Thorn Raven Tour is the cheapest Rohloff Thorn do at £1299, or there is the City Slicker at £1799. Not cheap but they are probably good as "bikes for life".

APIII

Yep, £1000 looks a tight budget. If you can make the stretch, Edinburgh Bicycles have a very nice Cannondale Ultra Touring w/Rohloff for £1,499, £700 off list price. XL only though....

carlstone

Looks like the rohloff route may be a bit optimistic. If I went with the shimano nexus, would that be achievable, also is this a good hub gear system or will it not give a good enough spread of gears. £1,000 is the limit.

alfablue

The new Shimano Nexus Inter-8 gear ratios are shown here, it says it has a 307% range (I think the Rohloff has around 500%). For a commuter, 307% may be enough. The Shimano costs about £98 (Wiggle) so less than 1/5 of the price of the Rohloff, this would mean you can get a very acceptable quality bike equipped with one.

Most bikes currently fitted with Nexus 8 are folders, but there is the (Halfords) Carrera Subway 8 or ECC Courrier Nexus, around £350. For a more up-market bike, maybe the Charge Tap would be attractive (stated as "comming soon http://www.chargebikes.com/products/cbikes/index.html). Alternatively find an £800 bike you like and have it retro-fitted with Nexus (ECC say this costs about £200 - presumably hub, wheel build, front chainring, shifter).

alfablue

just to add, on the Charge site they have the "Mixer" - also comming soon, and a 700c bike, it has a Shimano Alfine 8 speed hub, and disc brakes that are mounted forward of the rear chainstay allowing clearance for rack and mudguarg mounting - a good design feature!

alfablue

Mongoose Sabrosa Ocha Alfine equipped £650ish

Marin San Anselmo Alfine, £750ish

carlstone

Really like the look of the mixer.

Shadowduck

alfablue wrote:

*snip* ... the Charge Tap would be attractive (stated as "comming soon http://www.chargebikes.com/products/cbikes/index.html).

Off topic, but I followed your link to the Charge website and can't see anything because my work 'puter doesn't have Flash and there's no non-Flash alternative. Why do companies do this?

Here's a clue for Charge: I'm doing you a favour by taking an interest in your products - if your website is so badly designed / inaccessible it needs to have "System Requirements" on the homepage, I'm going to go elsewhere.

*ten deep breaths*

alfablue

on the front page (http://chargebikes.com/) they do state system requirements, but I think they should have the option of a non-flash site.

I too like the look of the Mixer!

amircp

At the Cycle Show there were quite a lot of bikes with the alfine (sporty??) hub gear. Includes
Bianchi Camaleonte III alfine - looks light and fast £575
Cube Hooper - with disk brakes - very bling - £750 or £800 ish
Charge mixer - steel and disk brakes - £750 or £800 ish
Trek Soho - a bit less racy? - £750 or £800 ish

I really liked the look of the Bianchi but haven't tried it out yet.


Also others with Nexus - Ediinburgh Courier, Ridgeback Nemesis (might also be coming out with alfine??), Cube something or other

marcba

I use this post to ask my question: I want to replace my front suspended mointain bike, used as commuter with slick tires and mud-guards, by a full rigid bike with rack, correct mud-guards (like SKS), chain protection and gears in rear hub (no, no Rohloff). Such bikes are quite seldom in France; I found mainly:
* Koga Miyata Infiniti (http://www.koga.com/fr/bike.asp?collect ... id=4336813), quite rare and expensive.
* Trek Soho 4 ( http://www.trekbikes.com/fr/fr/bikes/20 ... ho/soho40/), the most sportive attitude, but gears seem a little too long for hilly rides and bike needs mud guards and rack to be added.
* Cannondale Vintage 8 (http://gb.cannondale.com/bikes/08/ce/model-8VR8.html), the most beautiful.

Does anyone use or, at least, try these bikes ?
Specifications don't show crank length. Does anyone know how long they are on theses models, according to size (M for me) ?
Any other idea ?

taffyscouser

Have owned and sold a Thorn Raven Sport with Hub.
Lovely frame but the paint chips as soon as you look at it. The hub takes a bit of getting used to and unless you are seriously into miles then its not really worth the cost. They do run with a lot of noise and despite what all the marketing hype says this does not ever go away. They say it gets quieter but more like you simply get used to it or live with it. There is drag within the system on the extreme gears and this is where the noise is also.I seem to rememebr 8 or 7 being bloody noisy. The mid gear is where you will spend most of your time so you need to get the front chainring size right when you buy the bike. Its a beautiful hub and willl last a lifetime but how many of us keep a bike that long? No cost to keep going but the odd service and oil change. Are you really going to wear out that many chains and cassettes etc to justify the cost of a hub? Its also a lot of revolving weight on the rear wheel and that takes som egetting up to speed if you want a fast bike. Touiring is fine but anything needing speed go tradtional triple with good wheels. The 26 inch wheels on the Thorn also roll a lot slower than 700c ones and you find that you are pedalling whilst others are freewheeling doen gradients and along the flat. Just my penneth as a past owner of a bike mentioned.

marcba

I've never in mind to use an expensive Rohloff hub equiped bike for small commuting rides (usually between 20 and 40km a day, not flat), but Shimano Nexus (or Alfine) 8 gears hub seems perfect to me (but I've never tried one): range of gears is wide enough (3x), chain is not moved latteraly and can be easyly protected (and so are my pants !), gear can be changed while stopped (among other bikes, I also own a Brompton, and I find that this ability to switch gear while stopped at a red light is very conveniant). It is this last characteristic that push me to look to these geared hub bikes (but it is not at all a definitive choice; that's why I've requested other forumers opinion about these bikes).

wakemalcolm

If you're considering running a Nexus as an alternative to the Rohloff, only consider this if you've never tried a Rohloff. At 5000 miles, my smooth Rohloff is running better than it ever has whereas at 2000 miles my clunky ill-shifting Nexus came apart.

marcba

That bad ? :? After only a couple of thousands of miles !... :x
Is it a 7 or 8 gears Nexus ? (I've read that 8 gears ones are improved compared to 7 gears hubs).
I'm sure that Rohloff is the best geard hub, but that will bring the bike to higher price levels, totally uncompatible with locking my bike during several hours. And not so expensive (for Rohloff equiped) Thorn bikes are not distributed in France...
Mayby, I will keep with derailleurs...

alfablue

Marcba, I understand you are wary of the cost, but Thorn will ship their bikes worldwide, many US cyclists use them.

wakemalcolm

Marcba

It's an eight speed Nexus. Speeds 5-8 completely jammed whilst pedalling and the casing separated from the body.

The Nexus hub is sealed for life, the Rohloff has a drain plug to allow for cleaning and lubrication throughout its life. Go figure. (just a shame it doesn't really stack up as a financial proposition - just a lifestyle choice)

lookoutleo

i have the nexus 7 hub gear , ive done thousands of miles on it and its about 11 years old now. i find its a quiet and reliable hub the only problem with it is on very steep hills here in the highlands of scotland i have to get off and push as the lowest gear isnt low enough. the bike is fitted with 700c wheels. i think the reason the hub has lasted so well is i service it every spring.
this is what i do: remove back wheel, take out the gear unit (1 bolt and it slides out of the hub) then emerse the gear unit in red diesel and clean with a toothbrush, then just sit it on a piece of cloth to drain. once drained repack the unit with new cv joint grease and reaseble, its realy easy and makes the gear change like new, i would love a rohloff but its very expensive, i'm thinking of replacing my bike now and i would like the rohloff i think, does anyone know of a model of step throu ladys bike with rohloff? i'm 30" leg

julk

Thorn make 2 step thru models under the Raven Tour name, i.e. Rohloff equipped.
This link will download the PDF which contains relevant details on page 3.

Cunobelin

I own a Thorn Raven Nomad and my wife A Thorn Raven Tour - brilliant bikes and well worth the cost.....