Choosing a Rohloff Hub Bike?

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MacB

Lover of things that come in 3's
Been looking at this and am very tempted and am trying to narrow down my selection. Would be used for my 40 mile commute, all road, poodling around with kids(towpath at worst), maybe the odd lengthier ride/short Audax, and general dogsbody. No current plans to do any full touring and pretty unlikely for forseeable future. So far I've looked in detail at 5 bikes, Thorn, Cannondale, Koga, Fahrrad and Amazon-

Cannondale - seems a bit more bling than I need and not keen on disc brakes, also doesn't look like it'll take racks etc.

Koga/Amazon - the prices get really steep and I haven't found much in the way of reviews.

Thorn - most accessible for information and was looking at the Raven Tour or Sport Tour. But price does climb steeply once you start adding all the bits on. Reviews are good though and would be tempted over the others. Comes with 26inch wheels.

Fahrrad T900 - pricewise, at £1675, this is the most affordable and this price includes many things charged as extras on others. Rack, guards, hub dynamo lights etc. But I can't find any reviews on it other than the usual blurb 'German make, reliable, last years etc'. It comes with 700c wheels.

As I'm not intending it for heavy loads/touring should I look at others, maybe frame only and get it built up? But the price of the Rohloff itself makes the T900 seem a very good deal.
 

srw

It's a bit more complicated than that...
MacBludgeon said:
Been looking at this and am very tempted and am trying to narrow down my selection. Would be used for my 40 mile commute, all road, poodling around with kids(towpath at worst), maybe the odd lengthier ride/short Audax, and general dogsbody. No current plans to do any full touring and pretty unlikely for forseeable future. So far I've looked in detail at 5 bikes, Thorn, Cannondale, Koga, Fahrrad and Amazon-

I'd certainly recommend a Rohloff - it's a robust system, simple to use and almost maintenance-free. It's not going to be the zippiest bike in the world, which may make a difference on your long commute.

When you're looking at price, make sure you've got the current price, especially if the dealer has to import specially from Euroland. If you're lucky you'll find a dealer who bought last summer when the pound was strong and wants to offload stock. But anyone who has to import (gear or bike) now will have to pay current Euro prices.
 
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MacB

MacB

Lover of things that come in 3's
srw said:
I'd certainly recommend a Rohloff - it's a robust system, simple to use and almost maintenance-free. It's not going to be the zippiest bike in the world, which may make a difference on your long commute.

When you're looking at price, make sure you've got the current price, especially if the dealer has to import specially from Euroland. If you're lucky you'll find a dealer who bought last summer when the pound was strong and wants to offload stock. But anyone who has to import (gear or bike) now will have to pay current Euro prices.

excellent point, have just checked and the T900 has miraculously increased by £325:ohmy: Have also spoken to my bike mechanic and he does do Rohloff and it could be fitted to my current bike. So cost of hub, the EX version of the CC, the black anodised finish, chain tensioner, new wheel build, new chain ring. Probably somewhere between £1200-1300, could offset this slightly by selling off the spare bits it creates, so £1k to me. I reckon I could shift about £600 of golf stuff, make the kids get paper rounds, suggest an evening job to the wife.........yeah it's doable:biggrin:
 

tyred

Legendary Member
Location
Ireland
I would love to try one of these but totally out of my price range, unfortunately.

Oh well, I suppose three gears are enough...
 

Cranky

New Member
Location
West Oxon
MacBludgeon said:
Been looking at this and am very tempted and am trying to narrow down my selection. Would be used for my 40 mile commute, all road, poodling around with kids(towpath at worst), maybe the odd lengthier ride/short Audax, and general dogsbody. No current plans to do any full touring and pretty unlikely for forseeable future. So far I've looked in detail at 5 bikes, Thorn, Cannondale, Koga, Fahrrad and Amazon-

Cannondale - seems a bit more bling than I need and not keen on disc brakes, also doesn't look like it'll take racks etc.

Koga/Amazon - the prices get really steep and I haven't found much in the way of reviews.

Thorn - most accessible for information and was looking at the Raven Tour or Sport Tour. But price does climb steeply once you start adding all the bits on. Reviews are good though and would be tempted over the others. Comes with 26inch wheels.

Fahrrad T900 - pricewise, at £1675, this is the most affordable and this price includes many things charged as extras on others. Rack, guards, hub dynamo lights etc. But I can't find any reviews on it other than the usual blurb 'German make, reliable, last years etc'. It comes with 700c wheels.

As I'm not intending it for heavy loads/touring should I look at others, maybe frame only and get it built up? But the price of the Rohloff itself makes the T900 seem a very good deal.

I've been looking at all this myself, too. On other option you may want to look at is an off-the-peg frame from Bob Jackson. It's a touring frame with the option of dropouts for Rohloff.
 
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MacB

MacB

Lover of things that come in 3's
Cranky said:
I've been looking at all this myself, too. On other option you may want to look at is an off-the-peg frame from Bob Jackson. It's a touring frame with the option of dropouts for Rohloff.

Yep, had a look and they are very nice but think I'm going to go with adding it to my current bike. Knowing me I'll need to get a new front wheel made up to match, so I'm already building up a collection of spares:biggrin: In fact if I do this I'll only be a frame and fork away from a second bike:evil:
 
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MacB

MacB

Lover of things that come in 3's
Arch said:
I hope you'll get a dynahub in the front, for ultimate commuting bomb-proofness....:rolleyes:

Oh yeah, that's it, any more ideas, get the cost up a bit higher, you gonna offer to feed my kids???:ohmy::biggrin: Crawls away to look at dyno hubs:blush:
 

Bollo

Failed Tech Bro
Location
Winch
I've got a Thorn Sports Tour and a very good long distance commuter it is. Not pretty, but extremely practical, very carefully put together and the 853 tubing is a touch of class. You're right about the options which have a BMW-like way of bumping the price.

The Rohloff does add a bit of weight and feels slightly less efficient than a derailleur equiped bike, but it is ultra-low maintenance and very reliable.

MacB - if you can get yourself to either Basingstoke (weekdays only) or Winchester and you're 5'9" to 6'1" ish then you're welcome to have a test ride of mine. PM if you're interested.
 

J4CKO

New Member
I have the Cannondale Bad Boy 700 and did fit a rack with a bit of bracket ingenuity !

Not the Rohlhoff but I love the concept of them.
 
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MacB

MacB

Lover of things that come in 3's
Very generous offer Bollo, I may take you up on that, I'm in Farnborough, but I think I'm pretty well committed anyway. I could get away with just the new rear wheel built around the Rohloff. But I reckon I'd be unhappy with just removing chainrings, and adding spacers, at the front. So I'm going to go the new cranks/chainset.
 

Hugo15

Über Member
Location
Stockton-on-Tees
My mate has a custom fit Bob Jackson with a Rohlhoff. It looks very nice and he reallt likes it, but set up in touring spec it is a couple of mph slower than his winter hack. Not cheap either, north or £2k IIRC.
 
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MacB

MacB

Lover of things that come in 3's
Hugo15 said:
My mate has a custom fit Bob Jackson with a Rohlhoff. It looks very nice and he reallt likes it, but set up in touring spec it is a couple of mph slower than his winter hack. Not cheap either, north or £2k IIRC.

Slow can be relative, I'm still striving to reach my first goal of a 12mph average, my final goal(until the goalposts move) is 16.5mph over a 20 mile run. The Giant, even with Rohloff hub, should be easily capable of that. To someone of my limited prowess, and large girth, the Rohloff 'drag' effect, and extra weight, should be immaterial. If I lose the 63lbs I want to, then I may start to fret over the extra 1lb of the hub:laugh:

At the end of the day, if I really don't like it, I'll still have the original wheel, gears and shifters that can be refitted. From what I can see I wouldn't have any trouble selling on a wheel built around a Rohloff hub:biggrin:
 

Bollo

Failed Tech Bro
Location
Winch
MacBludgeon said:
Very generous offer Bollo, I may take you up on that, I'm in Farnborough, but I think I'm pretty well committed anyway. I could get away with just the new rear wheel built around the Rohloff. But I reckon I'd be unhappy with just removing chainrings, and adding spacers, at the front. So I'm going to go the new cranks/chainset.

Offer's open any time.

Bear in mind that Rohloff's do genuinely 'run-in', especially in gears 1-7, so don't despair if it feels like you're pedalling a coffee-grinder for the first few hundred miles. Also, how are you intending to tension the chain?
 

just jim

Guest
Are Rohloff's really worth that kind of wedge? Spend the money on a decent frame and robust, quality kit instead.
 
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