# Rohloff Speedhub for an Audax bike?



## middleagecyclist (14 Sep 2011)

I'm just getting into Audax riding with a view of going for LEL 2013. I have a lovely, heavy duty (18kg) touring bike with a Rohloff Speedhub I use for multi-day, fully loaded trips covering 60-85 miles per day. I plan to use this bike (with some stripping off of none essential items like racks, kick stand, etc.) for 200 and 300 km rides. This should bring the weight down to 16.5-17kg. I'll make a decision after a few of these rides if I need to get a lighter more traditional Audax bike for longer distances. 

I have one question. I love the Rohloff Speedhub on my bike. I would have thought the robustness of the system was a plus point for Audax rides. Does anyone have any experience of using them for this purpose? Just curious?


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## frank9755 (15 Sep 2011)

middleagecyclist said:


> I'm just getting into Audax riding with a view of going for LEL 2013. I have a lovely, heavy duty (18kg) touring bike with a Rohloff Speedhub I use for multi-day, fully loaded trips covering 60-85 miles per day. I plan to use this bike (with some stripping off of none essential items like racks, kick stand, etc.) for 200 and 300 km rides. This should bring the weight down to 16.5-17kg. I'll make a decision after a few of these rides if I need to get a lighter more traditional Audax bike for longer distances.
> 
> I have one question. I love the Rohloff Speedhub on my bike. I would have thought the robustness of the system was a plus point for Audax rides. Does anyone have any experience of using them for this purpose? Just curious?



Firstly, audax, more than most forms of cycling, is not about the bike - you can and do see all sorts of bikes taking part. Secondly, a comfortable bike that you are happy with is most important, especially as distances go up. So, to answer your question, there's no reason why you shouldn't use a Rohloff if you have one already and like it, but you don't tend to see many of them on audaxes. Traditional derailleur gears, when properly set up, are pretty reliable; I can't recall ever seeing or hearing of anyone who had had to pack in an audax due to derailleur issues. 

The trend, especially on longer audaxes, is towards lighter bikes. There are still plenty of people going very well on older 531 bikes. Especially on longer audaxes, you don't tend to see many heavier touring bikes. I did my first audax (100km) last year on a Super Galaxy, but I've not used it for audax since. I then did a few on a lighter bike with 23mm tyres, but soon switched to 25s for comfort and put on 28s for PBP. 

Best thing to do is to start with what you have - be it tourer and Rohloff - and ride a few, working up the distance, and refine your kit as you go to suit your own style and objectives.


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## middleagecyclist (15 Sep 2011)

frank9755 said:


> Best thing to do is to start with what you have - be it tourer and Rohloff - and ride a few, working up the distance, and refine your kit as you go to suit your own style and objectives.


Thanks Frank. 

This is what I intend. My bike is very comfortable and reliable. As well as the Rohloff I have a SON hub and Schmidt Edelux. I think it will be fine for the 200-300 km range including night riding. I'll work up to 400 km+ from Summer 2012 and make a decision then if I need/can justify a dedicated Audax bike.


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## Greenbank (15 Sep 2011)

middleagecyclist said:


> Thanks Frank.
> 
> This is what I intend. My bike is very comfortable and reliable. As well as the Rohloff I have a SON hub and Schmidt Edelux. I think it will be fine for the 200-300 km range including night riding. I'll work up to 400 km+ from Summer 2012 and make a decision then if I need/can justify a dedicated Audax bike.



I've seen plenty of Rohloff hubs on Audaxes. OK, well maybe not 'plenty' but quite a few, and they don't get any kind of "you're using a Rohloff?" type of reactions. Thorn bikes are quite common.

And SON dynohubs. And Edeluxes.

As Frank says, it's not really about the bike.


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## PpPete (15 Sep 2011)

Slightly "different" suggestion....

For less than the price of a Rohloff hub you could buy an entry level road bike.
Get one with a carbon fork and clearance for mudguards (with 25mm tyres)
Ride a few audaxes on it and a few on the tourer. That will give you much more to go on about what sort of bike YOU will eventually want to buy for longer distances including LEL2013.

Frank (writing elsewhere) mentioned the Carrera Vanquish as being a "surprising suitable first audax bike".

You might find it's so different from the tourer that considerations about gears go into the background for now.
At worst you could find you hate it and lose a couple of hundred pounds reselling it - but it could help you avoid making a much more expensive mistake later.

As for SON/Edelux .... there is a school of thought that says that battery lights are best for 200s & summer 300s (where little time is spent night riding) and for 1200+ rides (again, hopefully you will do most of the riding in daylight hours) whereas the dyno option comes into it's own on 400/600 where the time limits mean you cannot avoid riding long periods in the dark. But as Greenbank says - a lot of bikes on even 100s seen with dynohubs and accompanying lights.


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## Greenbank (15 Sep 2011)

I tend to use my SON dynohub on all of the qualifiers, and then use two battery powered B&M Ixon IQ lights on the big event (LEL 2009, PBP 2011). This gives me a boost (mainly psychological) from knowing I have a lighter front wheel with less rolling resistance, and the B&M Ixons are excellent with 90% of the riding only needing one to be on and only on low power (where I get 10+ hours from a single set of AA batteries). For tricky descents I can put both on full power and have no problems seeing where I'm going.

On PBP I ended up lending one of my B&M Ixons to an Italian recumbent who's hub dynamo had failed, leaving him with just his spare front light that wasn't good enough for fast night riding. Stuff fails, often at the most inopportune time, so it's worth thinking about a backup. I took a B&M Ixon as a backup for my SON lights setup on all of my qualifiers.


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## middleagecyclist (15 Sep 2011)

Greenbank said:


> ...and they don't get any kind of "you're using a Rohloff?" type of reactions. As Frank says, it's not really about the bike.


Good to know I won't get laughed at when I turn up for my first calendar event!


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## middleagecyclist (15 Sep 2011)

PpPete said:


> Slightly "different" suggestion....
> 
> For less than the price of a Rohloff hub you could buy an entry level road bike.
> Get one with a carbon fork and clearance for mudguards (with 25mm tyres)
> Ride a few audaxes on it and a few on the tourer. That will give you much more to go on about what sort of bike YOU will eventually want to buy for longer distances including LEL2013.


Kind of thinking along these lines, complicated by the fact I was going to get a CF road bike for some serious, good weather fun early next year when I have lost 15 kg (£100.00 per kg). Now i'm thinking I should get an Audax bike instead which I can still have fun on and it would be faster than the tourer for Audax rides. Or I could get a two...oh no, forgot about the wife!


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## PpPete (15 Sep 2011)

One of the great things about Audax is that nobody ever got laughed at for having the "wrong" bike.


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## MacB (15 Sep 2011)

I think I'd give serious thought to a Rohloff if I was getting into audaxing mainly around cost and reliability. Expensive as the Rohloff is I'd imagine a serious mile muncher would soon pile up the costs on the consumables like chains, rings, cassettes, etc. I'd also give serious thought to a SON Delux for the front wheel.

I suppose this only really applies to those that use multiple gears, SS/Fixed riders would be cheaper and lighter anyway.


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## Greenbank (15 Sep 2011)

MacB said:


> I suppose this only really applies to those that use multiple gears, SS/Fixed riders would be cheaper and lighter anyway.



Indeed: http://www.greenbank.org/audax/pbp_02.jpg


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## PalmerSperry (15 Sep 2011)

middleagecyclist said:


> Good to know I won't get laughed at when I turn up for my first calendar event!



You, or at least your bike, might get jealous covetous stares though!


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## MacB (15 Sep 2011)

Greenbank said:


> Indeed: http://www.greenbank...udax/pbp_02.jpg



 Oh I had you in mind with that comment, possibly not as instantly recognisable as I didn't use the normal descriptor of nutters/nutjobs/masochists/crazies etc, delete as applicable


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## Glover Fan (15 Sep 2011)

PpPete said:


> <br />One of the great things about Audax is that nobody ever got laughed at for having the &quot;wrong&quot; bike.<br />


<br /><br /><br />
Definately. Hence why i'll be doing the Dartmoor Devil on my mountain bike!


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## middleagecyclist (15 Sep 2011)

PalmerSperry said:


> You, or at least your bike, might get jealous covetous stares though!


My bike maybe, defintely not me!


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## zigzag (18 Sep 2011)

MacB said:


> I think I'd give serious thought to a Rohloff if I was getting into audaxing mainly around cost and reliability. Expensive as the Rohloff is I'd imagine a serious mile muncher would soon pile up the costs on the consumables like chains, rings, cassettes, etc.



chains, sprockets and chainrings wear out on rohloff'ed bike as well - they are consumables. i clock 6-7000 miles a year between the two bikes. i replace 2-3 chains (3x£10), maybe one chainring (£20) in that time. cassettes are still good, shifting is perfect, and they last few years anyway and cost about £25-45. this doesn't look too expensive to me.


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## MacB (18 Sep 2011)

zigzag said:


> chains, sprockets and chainrings wear out on rohloff'ed bike as well - they are consumables. i clock 6-7000 miles a year between the two bikes. i replace 2-3 chains (3x£10), maybe one chainring (£20) in that time. cassettes are still good, shifting is perfect, and they last few years anyway and cost about £25-45. this doesn't look too expensive to me.



True, but it will also depend on what level of componentry you use and the maintenance/replace schedule you follow. I've seen numbers bandied around, re a Rohloff, that equates to it paying for itself in anything from 2 to 15 years.

Personally I think you either fancy a Rohloff or you don't


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## pkeenan (19 Sep 2011)

I'm also hoping to do the LEL2013, and am also considering my various bike options. 

I have a lovely Thorn Nomad, which would be able to do the ride at the drop of a hat - my only thought against it is that it is moderately heavy and slow. My other option is my Specialized Allez. 

I know that with some minor modifications, both would be up to the task. I would really like to go with my Rohloff... but I simply think that my Allez would be more than sufficient, with a light rack put on the back, and some more rugged tyres. It'll be nice and light, quick, and with my Brooks taken off my Thorn, it'd be pretty damn comfy. 

It's still 2 years away - so no decisions will be made soon! Though it's looking more likely to be my Allez. 

[I would really like to do it with my Rohloff, and even considered having my Rohloff built into my Allez specially for the cause! Though I'm sure the price that (combined with the price of building it back into my Thorn) would be pretty expensive, so it's probably just a bad idea!]

Following my tour this summer, I've not done nearly enough riding. So more importantly than working out which bike to ride, I think I should just get training!


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## middleagecyclist (19 Sep 2011)

pkeenan said:


> I'm also hoping to do the LEL2013, and am also considering my various bike options.
> 
> I have a lovely Thorn Nomad, which would be able to do the ride at the drop of a hat - my only thought against it is that it is moderately heavy and slow. My other option is my Specialized Allez.
> 
> ...


You should use the Rohloff pkeenan. I was going to get us some T shirts made up - The Rohloff Randonneurs. What size you want?


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## frank9755 (19 Sep 2011)

middleagecyclist said:


> You should use the Rohloff pkeenan. I was going to get us some T shirts made up - The Rohloff Randonneurs. What size you want?



You should get them made up in 14 sizes, none of which fit anyone exactly...


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## MacB (19 Sep 2011)

frank9755 said:


> You should get them made up in 14 sizes, none of which fit anyone exactly...



Sharp Frank, very sharp, whereas a buff, for example  , is more a one size fits all thing isn't it?


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## pkeenan (19 Sep 2011)

middleagecyclist said:


> You should use the Rohloff pkeenan. I was going to get us some T shirts made up - The Rohloff Randonneurs. What size you want?



Sounds good! That clearly has made my mind up on the matter!


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## middleagecyclist (19 Sep 2011)

frank9755 said:


> You should get them made up in 14 sizes, none of which fit anyone exactly...


My 14 fit me very well thank you very much!


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## Greenbank (20 Sep 2011)

zigzag said:


> chains, sprockets and chainrings wear out on rohloff'ed bike as well - they are consumables. i clock 6-7000 miles a year between the two bikes. i replace 2-3 chains (3x£10), maybe one chainring (£20) in that time. cassettes are still good, shifting is perfect, and they last few years anyway and cost about £25-45. this doesn't look too expensive to me.



Rohloff, like fixed or single-speed, has no shifting (between sprockets or chainrings). This has several benefits:-

* you can use a much bulkier single-speed chain/sprocket/chainring - more resistant to wear - takes longer to wear
* perfect chainline (non-perfect chainline multiplies chain/sprocket/chainring wear)
* everything tends to wear together, and since there's no shifting you can just leave it all on there to wear way past the normal 1/8" 'stretch' per 12".
* not being fixed, a Rohloff can tolerate even more wear in the chain as slop isn't a problem.

In 30,000km I used 3 chains on my fixed, the chainring and sprocket were only slightly worn, they would probably need replacing at 100,000km.


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## RecordAceFromNew (20 Sep 2011)

frank9755 said:


> You should get them made up in 14 sizes, none of which fit anyone exactly...



True, but according to Rohloff they will be better off if they all wear size 11.


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