Rohloff

Wily-Quixote

Anyone use a rohloff hub on a mtb. I'm thinking of a van Nicholas 29er with rohloff as my 'last' mtb... Well at least for a decade anyway... Any experience with them? I only race mtb once or twice a year and am not particularly competitive so suitability for racing is not the biggest deal, more robust thrash machine for fire trails, commuting, trail riding exploring. Comments wwould be appreciated.

Jimfrandisco

sorry to hijack (can't find the 'follow the thread' button anywhere!) - i'm interested in exactly the same thing after meeting a bloke in NZ that had cycled there from Peru on a full suss with a rohloff, he'd been on tour for a year and a half and hadn't touched it once. I'm thinking of the much cheaper alfine 11 too, the rohloff will take some convincing price wise.
Thanks

oodboo

I once read somewhere the only advantage of the rohloff over the alfine 11 was extra lower gears for a heavy loaded touring bike. I'm sure there's more to it than that though. Didn't Mark Beaumont used one when he rode round the world.

Cunobelin

The trick with Rohloff is planning the setup.

Get your gear range right and they are brilliant.

I have several Rohloff bikes, and have used a front double chain ring on one recumbent trike(42/52), and a Shlumpf HSD (equivalent of 34/ 85 front chainring) on another to extend the gear range.

However on the two Thorns and the Birdy I have set ups where on a really good day I can spin out, but will always be able to do hills.

You then adjust your pedalling style to match

Run a quick log of the gears you use and then see which Rohloff setup suits

leaflite

Never really seen the point of a rohloff or alfine tbh, expensive, heavier than most geared setups, and most of that mass is in the wheel, making the wheelset heavy and affecting acceleration. If you cant be bothered with any sort of maintenance or are continually destroying rear mechs on rocks, I can see that there are advantages, but for most people I think a standard gear setup is best.

Wily-Quixote

Thanks leaflite, but that wasn't really my question. My question relates to people who have/ do use them and comments on suitability for my intended purpose, clearly I'm willing to trade off cost for reliability and longevity. I haven't gone so far as to check diferent weights for comparison. If the rohloff is way heavier I may baulk at it. I'm not convinced that, if the weights are comparable, that where the weight is makes any difference whatsoever (mass is mass). To me a sport which regularly exposes the gears to an abrasive paste is crying out for a sealed solution.

andy_welch

Wily-Quixote wrote:

I'm not convinced that, if the weights are comparable, that where the weight is makes any difference whatsoever (mass is mass)

Not quite. Rotating mass will have a bigger effect on acceleration, which you do a surprising amount of on a bike. However, the weight of the Rohloff is obviously the hub, so it shouldn't make that much difference (since it is distance from the centre of rotation that is the important factor with rotating mass).

I must admit, it does seem a bit daft having delicate (10 speed) gear systems hanging off the back of a mountain bike, so a hub gear makes a lot of sense.

Cheers,

Andy