Rohloff touring bikes

[Bonefish Blues]

I had a look at them before, and as far as I can see their frames are all aluminium, right? I'm looking for steel.

Yes. I wonder what that's done, if anything, to their market share - they used to be pretty much the default Global Tour bike.

 

[HobbesOnTour]

I had a look at them before, and as far as I can see their frames are all aluminium, right? I'm looking for steel.

I know their World traveller version used to be steel. No idea now.

 

[dmorgorg]

Ah, but there are ways around import duty: as I have family and friends all over the UK, I would probably pick it up and do a tour in Britain, and then just bring 'my bike' back to Canada as as extra luggage (no need to say that I'd just bought it and it would be very obviously already 'used' if anyone actually did more than x-ray it, which is unlikely).

I have just brought a pinion mountain bike from the US into Canada and was charged 5% GST only. There has to be some advantage to NAFTA, I suppose. I also have a Troll with a Rohloff, built for me by the main (only?) authorised Rohloff dealer in the US: Cycle Monkey in Richmond (nr. San Francisco). Happy with both.

 

[dmorgorg]

As Rob (@Pale Rider) has mentioned I have a Rohloff geared bike. In fact I have two. Both are Thorn bikes. I acquired the first 2 years ago after my car was written off by an incompetent motorist whilst parked outside my house . Around the same time I took up an opportunity of early retirement from work so I decided to not replace the car and treated myself to a new Thorn Mercury instead. It has proved a good decision. So much so, that in February last year I also acquired a 14 year old Thorn Raven Catalyst (with Rohloff hub gears) from a private seller. It has mountain bike geometry, can carry heavy loads and is the bike I use for riding routes that are predominantly bridleways, tow paths and off road cycle ways. I use my Mercury for long day rides and weekend touring.

For me, the key combined considerations in choosing a Thorn Rohloff geared bike are comfort, simplicity, quality and low maintenance. I have found SJS Cycles who produce the Thorn bikes a fantastic company to deal with. They provided superb customer service in the sale process and also for after sales queries and advice.

I haven't found any problems with the twist grip gear change as alluded to by Rob but would agree with @Surly Bruce regarding the best technique is to stop pedalling momentarily whilst changing gear.

I'm certainly interested in Pinion and I haven't totally discounted it, but 1. I don't like the way it looks and 2. I've seen studies that show that it's significantly less efficient than the Rohloff Speedhub, indeed as far as I can see Speedhubs seem to be the most efficient thing after SS. The weight distribution question is interesting. I remember this being the big issue with Rohloff as far back as people have been discussing them on the Cycling Plus forum, but these touring bikes are designed to take weight on the back so I can't see that it's a huge problem especially once you've got 40 lbs of baggage back there.

I mostly tour without gloves. The twist shifter can be tricky with sweaty hands.

Also, intrigued that you think Rohloff is more efficient than a derailleur. It doesn't feel that way to me - although it's few years since I've used a derailleur. I know that if I flip my bike over and spin the rear wheel, it will come to a stop many times before a derailleur-geared bike will finally slow down. That indicates (to me) that there is drag from the rear hub. If you have access to those studies you mention, could you send me a link?

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Also, intrigued that you think Rohloff is more efficient than a derailleur.

It's not more effcient than a derailleur - sorry I should have mentioned that derailleurs weren't included in the study, it was just a comparison of various hub and pinion gear systems, they just used an SS bike as the baseline for efficiency.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I have just brought a pinion mountain bike from the US into Canada and was charged 5% GST only. There has to be some advantage to NAFTA, I suppose. I also have a Troll with a Rohloff, built for me by the main (only?) authorised Rohloff dealer in the US: Cycle Monkey in Richmond (nr. San Francisco). Happy with both.

Hi brother, I mentioned your bike earlier in this thread. Oh, and welcome to cycle chat!

 

[Spoked Wheels]

Surly Troll from me.

I have two other Surly bikes (Big Dummy And Disc Trucker) I just don’t like the aesthetics of the Ogre’s seat tube. I have seen Rohloff upgrades. That would be in my top three N+1 bikes anyway.

I hear what you are saying about the Ogre, I remember noticing the seat post when I first saw it but honestly, I had to go and look at it again when I saw your post...

Here is a picture of the bike on a two days outing with my wife, I have no complaints.... it handled everything very well, including 20 miles of off road trails. The troll looks very similar, hence known as its sister. I was a little reluctant to go 29er but now I'm sold.... it works well for me and my needs.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

I've found another 3 German brands which sell Rohloff-equipped tourers and trekkers: the cheapest is VSF Fahrradmanufaktur (available through Bikefix in the UK, or Curbside in Toronto), and then there are Velo-de-Ville and Patria, which sell for about the same price as Rotor (see the OP). I suspect all of these firms use the same Intec (German-manufactured Rohloff-specific) steel frame.

I've also come across another German firm with a French name, ToutTerrain, who make distinctive touring bikes with integral rear rack and carriers, and also available in the UK via Bikefix - they are a another step up in cost, though not quite in the range of Stanforth or Shand. This is the Silkroad model:

 

[Andy in Germany]

View attachment 467634

Drool.

 

[Blue Hills]

Have you tried a Rohloff bike?

The twist gear change is a bit clunky, and I reckon there is extra resistance over a derailer bike.

@Littgull has done plenty of miles on both types of bike, so may be able to comment.

Intererestinmg what you say about the resistance.
I saw a Rohloff gear changer up close for the first time the other day on a ride - was surprised by its design, though it did look tough.
On Rohloffs, I did consider one for a while back in the day when you could get one on a Thorn bike for not much over a grand.
I wouldn't consider one now.
OP - are you sure you want to use a three grand bike for commuting?
Or maybe you have somewhere very secure to store it at the work end?

 

[Blue Hills]

Yes that's very very bad.

The only time I have had this with shimano stuff is on low end 7 speed shifters where the numbers were printed on the plastic - applied some GT85 so clean things up and lube and was p'ed off to see that some of the numbers disappeared. Some folks I know pedal as a matter of pride thinking the markers are irrrelevant, such is their intimacy with the machine, but I like to see a visual representation telling me where I'm at.

Anyway, now prefer derailleurs - can usually fix/bend on the road - if the worst happens get something for £15 which will power me anew.

Hub gears I think are wonderful in principle and often in practice but beyond a certain price point it rather strikes me as dogma.

 

[Blue Hills]

such is my dimness palerider that I'd never thought of that.

So will definitely be sticking to derailleurs.

If you could still get a Rohloff for £500 (even included in a bike) I think I would consider - otherwise not.

Declaration - in case folk think I am dead set against hub gearing - I do have two hub geared bikes - one with SRAM dual drive - clever, like in many ways, but now I think discontinued, also a 5 gear SA brommie - very nice but a tad fernickity.

Both have maintenance issues.

Anything happens to my other bikes I can fix myself - bending,. new jockey wheels, new bit. Pretty confident I could fix on the road.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I never look at the gear the Rohloff is in. I either turn it one way to make it easier or the other way to make it harder. If in wrong gear starting then a quick shift of four or more gears is easy and super quick. Like others change oil once a year and that is about it. The wider chains also last much longer.

 

[Venod]

Its been mentioned about poor shifting with the Rohloff, I never experienced this, my setup used the external shifter box, are those finding the changing poor using a box or the straight connected cables ?

I have always thought the gear indicators on bikes useless and in derailleur guise ugly, I always remove them, but I can see the advantage with the Rohloff, if you want to know what gear you have come to an halt in, as its easy to select another whilst stationary.

 

[geocycle]

I think those who have Rohloff hubs where the shifting is poor, they've not been set up or maintained properly.

Particularly set up. Once installed they are pretty bomb proof. The only shifting issues I have ever had are worn or frayed cables. These need replacing every few years or so. The fact that you don’t have to carefully adjust cable tension eliminates a lot of routine tweaking you have to do with derailleur or other hub gears.