VSF FAHRRADMANUFAKTUR - TX-1000 Rohloff. Thoughts please?

[donnieban]

Any thoughts please on this well equipped German touring bike:

https://www.fahrradmanufaktur.de/katalo ... -gang-hs22

Comes with Magura HS22, hydraulic rim brakes including Brakebooster which means nothing to me. The Rigida Andra/Ryde 30 rims get decent reviews, presumably long lasting?

http://www.cyclingabout.com/review-rigida-andra-30-rim/

Any deals to be had on 2015 models? (2016 comes to about £2300 inc carriage).

All advice very welcome

donnieban

[Sweep]

Magura hydraulic rim brakes are excellent.

But i'd be wary of using them on a tour of any length.

Edited long after original post. I meant rim brakes, not disc. I have a set of the rim brakes.

[Freddie]

My thoughts are it is very expensive, isn't what I'd want for touring Europe (too heavy/utilitarian) and isn't what I'd want for the back of beyond (Maguras/Rohloff won't be easy to fix in the middle of nowhere).

What were you hoping to use it for?

[Gattonero]

Any thoughts please on this well equipped German touring bike:

https://www.fahrradmanufaktur.de/katalo ... -gang-hs22

Comes with Magura HS22, hydraulic rim brakes including Brakebooster which means nothing to me. The Rigida Andra/Ryde 30 rims get decent reviews, presumably long lasting?

http://www.cyclingabout.com/review-rigida-andra-30-rim/

Any deals to be had on 2015 models? (2016 comes to about £2300 inc carriage).

All advice very welcome

donnieban

Nothing to worry about Magura HDS brakes and Rohloff. The problem of "fixing them somewhere" doesn't exist as there's nothing to go wrong in the very first place.
Going to that path of being over-careful, one may need to bring a spare headtube and spare chainstays?
Magura brakes won't leak or need bleeding, in fact they come with a 5 year warranty, something I don't know from any other brakes.

That bike seems an expensive price tag, but if you look better all the parts are top-notch, only the racks and lights are worth over £400! For £2.200 you won't get all that stuff even if starting with a 2nd hand frame or one <£300 (you may find a used Surly).

For the rims, the Rigida/Ryde Andra are super-sturdy, I've some friends using them and are more than happy

[pwa]

The dyno hub is arguably the best. The hub gears are probably the best. The front light is a well thought of unit. There is some top end kit there, partly justifying the high price. The whole is a bit of a tank, verging on the bomb-proof. If that is appealing, it looks like an impressive bike. (Too heavy for me, and wrong shape bars, but that is just me). I'd choose vee brakes rather than Magura, for simplicity of maintenance. Can they be set wider if a spoke breaks and a wheel goes out of true? And if practicalities like that don't matter, why go for such a sturdy bike?

[Freddie]

Gattonero, I beg to differ. Someone on this very forum has had problems with a Rohloff shifter, granted not the hub, but they had to cut short a tour because of it, Rohloff shifters not being something easy to pick up just anywhere. I don't think they knew it was a shifter problem until they had returned, something that could have easily been assessed with standard equipment available all round the world.

All this potential trouble is easily avoided with standard equipment, if you are going somewhere remote. I know you were attempting to be comical, but one doen't take spare frame parts, because a typical steel frame is often fixable out in the wild.

[donnieban]

The dyno hub is arguably the best. The hub gears are probably the best. The front light is a well thought of unit. There is some top end kit there, partly justifying the high price. The whole is a bit of a tank, verging on the bomb-proof. If that is appealing, it looks like an impressive bike. (Too heavy for me, and wrong shape bars, but that is just me). I'd choose vee brakes rather than Magura, for simplicity of maintenance. Can they be set wider if a spoke breaks and a wheel goes out of true? And if practicalities like that don't matter, why go for such a sturdy bike?

Yes, its sturdy. I have a 94 Galaxy, great bike, I have a Tricross Sport also a very good bike. Previously had a Trek 520 which also proved itself. This is a 50th treat to myself. Probably wont need its full capability but no harm in thinking towards more time availability on 2 wheels.

[pwa]

The dyno hub is arguably the best. The hub gears are probably the best. The front light is a well thought of unit. There is some top end kit there, partly justifying the high price. The whole is a bit of a tank, verging on the bomb-proof. If that is appealing, it looks like an impressive bike. (Too heavy for me, and wrong shape bars, but that is just me). I'd choose vee brakes rather than Magura, for simplicity of maintenance. Can they be set wider if a spoke breaks and a wheel goes out of true? And if practicalities like that don't matter, why go for such a sturdy bike?

Yes, its sturdy. I have a 94 Galaxy, great bike, I have a Tricross Sport also a very good bike. Previously had a Trek 520 which also proved itself. This is a 50th treat to myself. Probably wont need its full capability but no harm in thinking towards more time availability on 2 wheels.

For purely road use I woudl feel that bike is a bit overbuilt. But if you see it as a way of venturing offroad along tracks occasionally while carrying baggage it looks very well specced. I'd just prefer vees, unless Maguras can cope with a deformed rim.

[Brucey]

the claimed weight is about 38lbs. That might be OK for a bike that I'm going to load up anyway, but it is about 10lbs more than I'd like for a bike that I'm going to ride unladen.

It seems there are only three frame sizes, so you just have to hope that one of them fits you properly; not great for a bike that expensive.

There are a lot of 'marmite' parts on the bike; the handlebars, the gears, the brakes, the chaincase.... about these opinion will be divided. There are also one or two cheap bits, like the pedals for example. The chainset is OK but it is one that is commonly found on some £300 Giant models IIRC. For that money I'd expect a mudflap that would protect the eccentric BB from crud and consequent seizure...

Honestly...? I'd look long and hard at other bikes (eg Thorn models if you want a Rohloff) before splashing out.

cheers

[Gattonero]

Gattonero, I beg to differ. Someone on this very forum has had problems with a Rohloff shifter, granted not the hub, but they had to cut short a tour because of it, Rohloff shifters not being something easy to pick up just anywhere. I don't think they knew it was a shifter problem until they had returned, something that could have easily been assessed with standard equipment available all round the world.

All this potential trouble is easily avoided with standard equipment, if you are going somewhere remote. I know you were attempting to be comical, but one doen't take spare frame parts, because a typical steel frame is often fixable out in the wild.

One person with a problem doesn't make for recurring problems. In fact, hundreds and thousands of people do tour everywhere with Rohloff, and the hub has been thee same for about 20 years, so it's pretty hard to say it's "troublesome". I can't tell you I see many times people snapping gear wires inside Shimano shifters, and the percentage of this problem is quite high for a mass-product.
If the shifter of the Rohloff is faulty all you need is brains: either you move the shifting box with an 8mm spanner, or you replace the shifter with two cheap friction shifters that you can find anywhere in the world. Now, please find another shifting system that has a bombproof indexing inside the hub, so you can use any shifter. I don't know any.
Most people are intimidated by hubgears, and I can never understand why.

(btw, I do not own a Rohloff, but I know many people using it, including Mtb users)

Btw, do you carry a torch in the wild, so to fix a frame? Any village you find will have a blacksmith? C'mon

[OldBloke]

This guy uses Rohloff for extensive touring and swears by them:

http://www.bikepacking.com/



OB

If I'm wrong blame Tapatalk.

[Gattonero]

This guy uses Rohloff for extensive touring and swears by them:

http://www.bikepacking.com/



OB

If I'm wrong blame Tapatalk.

And he's not the only one.
Many guys who do bikepacking do use Rohloff, and quite a few of the ones that do not have it it's only because they can't afford it.

The point here is not "Rohloff yes/no", the OP seems keen to go for hub gears with all its pro's and con's

[PH]

Someone on this very forum has had problems with a Rohloff shifter, granted not the hub, but they had to cut short a tour because of it, Rohloff shifters not being something easy to pick up just anywhere. I don't think they knew it was a shifter problem until they had returned, something that could have easily been assessed with standard equipment available all round the world.

They did and the point about it being non standard equipment is valid. But to be accurate, it's worth noting that it was a third party shifter rather than the Rohloff one, and had they realised what the problem was there were several bodges they could have come up with to continue.

I like the bike, though I would say that as it's not dissimilar to mine. I use mine for just about everything, despite also having two other excellent bikes. Everyday transport, CTC club runs, touring, Audax... the weight penalty (around 4kg heavier than my lightest bike) is balanced by it's other advantages.

[honesty]

Gattonero, I beg to differ. Someone on this very forum has had problems with a Rohloff shifter, granted not the hub, but they had to cut short a tour because of it, Rohloff shifters not being something easy to pick up just anywhere. I don't think they knew it was a shifter problem until they had returned, something that could have easily been assessed with standard equipment available all round the world.

All this potential trouble is easily avoided with standard equipment, if you are going somewhere remote. I know you were attempting to be comical, but one doen't take spare frame parts, because a typical steel frame is often fixable out in the wild.

Someone, ON THIS VERY FORUM, had a problem with a bike. Dont use bikes!!!!1111!

[syklist]

The Syklists bought a pair of VSF T400 Rohloff bikes in 2008, they are nice stable touring/trekking bikes. So far I have changed the cables on Mrs Syklists bike once, changed the oil in the hubs once a year and changed the chains at least once. No problems with the Rohloffs nor SONs in the front wheels so far. Our bikes are laden with up to 20kg of stuff (including water) on tour and have been used to tow 35kg of trailer and child behind them in Norway. Currently running 39/17t chainwheel/sprocket combination.

The Maguras have been fine, apart from occasional adjustment I have replaced the brake pads a few times. If you really get stuck in a remote place you can remove the Maguras and replace them with V-brakes. You can easily adjust the standoff from the rims with a control on the brake levers. So you can compensate to a degree if a rim is not bent too badly.

I've seen a TX-800, the derailleur version of the TX-1000, a WarmShowers guest had one and was pleased with it. The frame looks similar to a T400. Detail differences in the headset and type of bottom bracket fitted. Plus the T400 had horizontal dropouts for tensioning the chain and a derailleur hanger built into the rear forks. The TX-1000 has a concentric bottom bracket which is more convenient.