Rohloff Speedhub or Derailleurs

[earlgrey]

My old battered derailleur equipped tourer is due for retirement and I' am thinking about its replacement. Gone are the days when I had to lug full camping gear/food/clothing etc for our family of four so I' am seeking to replace my heavy Koga Randoneur (19.5kg) with something a little lighter. I have been doing a little reading and am leaning towards a Thorn Raven equipped with a Rohloff speddhub. I' am hopeless mechanically and hate the attention derailleurs seem to require so will a Rohloff be a good idea. My wife and I like to tour all over Europe both on the flat and in the hills. Has anyone got any experience please that you could share with us regarding this type of bike. Many thanks Ian.

[geocycle]

Brilliant bike, fully recommend if you do high mileage, want the ability to do some offroad stuff, want comfy tyres, hate fettling and are not worried about going overly quickly (think of a low maintenance landrover). There's currently one in the for sale section.... Mine weighs about 15.5kg. But, if you don't want to carry much kit you could get something much sportier and lighter for the price.

[Gearoidmuar]

I've toured on three different derailleur equipped touring bikes, on three mountain bikes, on a hybrid and on a Moulton APB.
Now I tour on a Thorn Raven tour with bullhorn bars. This is THE best tourer I've used. I love the gears.

My advice. If you get one, go for 42 x 15. This is plenty low and plenty high. From about 18in up.

[gremlin]

Have just bought a Koga World Traveller with a Rohloff hub and although I have only put about 150 miles on it in 5 days, I think the Rohloff hub gears are brilliant. Even though the bike is a lot heavier than my other mostly commuting bike (a Specialized Allez) I have found the Rohloff gears very intuitive to use and ample gearing for my needs.

[speedsixdave]

+1 for the Rohloff, or +0.75 if you've got drop bars!

If you're after a lighter bike, though, I'd worry that a Thorn Raven might be a bit chunky. How about a Van Nicholas Amazon? Or I think Cannondale do a Rohloff tourer. Or of course you could go for a custom Mercian or Bob Jackson. Or a Raven Sport? It's a good choice to have!

[gilesjuk]

Almost all my bikes have hub gears. I'm contemplating buying a second speedhub for one of my other bikes.

The only downside is fitting one to a frame without the cable mounts. It's a bit untidy having cable ties on the frame. But the Thorn frames will be designed for it.

[iandennis]

Many thanks for all your replies. I think a visit to Thorn is in order. Just one quick question when ridden unladen is the bikes top speed compromised because of the gearing.

[Colin Stanley]

We have a Rohloff on our tandem. The gear ratios seem to match 9 speed derailleur cassette (26,23,21,19,17,16,15,14,13) very well in all but the 13 to 14 ratios. There the Rohloff gaps a bit. See attachment as I can't remember how to embed the pic within the text. So unless you are trying to keep up with the bunch and just want a one tooth ratio change, the Rohloff should be ok. Have to say for a tandem, I find the Rohloff is a pain as it sometimes locks up into 14 when changing, baulking 8 to 7, and sometimes freewheeling (no drive). It has been back to GE for a tweek but still not impressed. Probably ok on a solo where you can instinctively back off when changing, but this is very difficult to co-ord on tandem. The BB excentric is a pain as with the tandem we get a lot of chain stretch so have gone to a longer chain with jockey wheel tensioner. Needs a flush and re-oil every year. Have to say on our old tandem with bottom of the range Shimano Altus, I had no trouble at all with the derailleurs. They needed very little attention and worked well.

[geocycle]

Many thanks for all your replies. I think a visit to Thorn is in order. Just one quick question when ridden unladen is the bikes top speed compromised because of the gearing.

Not in my experience. If you want to ride with a group at club speed then having smaller increments and a bigger top gear would be important and I would go for a derailleur bike with a close interval cassette. With the rohloff you select the ratios you want based on the teeth in the chain wheel. Most folks go for one between 40 and 44 teeth which gives a useful top end 95 - 104 and a good granny gear 18-20 inches. If you want a dinner plate and have Hoy-esque thighs then spec a dinner plate 50 tooth ring which gives 22-120 gear inches.

[willem jongman]

I find the ratio's perfect for loaded touring. You still have to choose the part of the range that matters most to you. My advise is to go for the lowest gearing that Rohloff will allow, i.e. 38 front and 16 rear or 40 front, 17 rear. This will allow you to ride the 11 most often, and will get you up just about any slope. Very occasionally this means that I do not have a high enough gear, but this really does not happen often, and matters little. I happily use a Mittelmeyer shifter for a drop bar: http://www.mittelmeyer.de/html/rennlenker.htm
Willem

[random37]

They do gave the problem, though, of making stupid clockwork noises in half of the gears.

[willem jongman]

Yes the lower gears are a bit noisier (which is one reason to choose the lowest range so you need these least) but it really is not that bad, at least in my case. The higher and more frequently used gears are totally silent, and quieter than a derailleur system.
Willem

[rualexander]

They do gave the problem, though, of making stupid clockwork noises in half of the gears.

My Rohloff hub does not make any clockwork noises. It has only around 600 miles on it and it is totally silent in gears 8-14 and makes a soft whirring sound in gears 1-7, with a barely detectable ticking in seventh gear only. Much quieter than I expected it to be.

[random37]

Your barely perceptible whisper is my stupid clockwork noise.

I could live with it if they were cheaper. But for the price, they have to be as good as people say they are. And they're not.

[willem jongman]

I think that technically they are as good as it gets, and made under civilized European working conditions and proper wages I think the price is right. However, I would never replace a good derailleur bike just to have a Rohloff hub. I think they are the right choice for any expensive new loaded touring bike. However, if your budget is tighter, you would not regret bikes like the Fahrradmanufaktur T400 or the Surly Long Haul Trucker. And if you want a really fast audax bike, I would go for an ultra compact double derailleur bike.
Willem