Rohloff Speedhub for an Audax bike?

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middleagecyclist

middleagecyclist

Call me MAC
Location
Prestwich, Manchester
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?
 
frank9755

frank9755

Cyclist
Location
West London
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?
Click to expand...

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.
 
OP
OP
middleagecyclist

middleagecyclist

Call me MAC
Location
Prestwich, Manchester
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.
Click to expand...
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.
 
G

Greenbank

Über Member
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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
PpPete

PpPete

Legendary Member
Location
Chandler's Ford
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.
 
G

Greenbank

Über Member
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.
 
OP
OP
middleagecyclist

middleagecyclist

Call me MAC
Location
Prestwich, Manchester
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.
Click to expand...
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!
 
PpPete

PpPete

Legendary Member
Location
Chandler's Ford
One of the great things about Audax is that nobody ever got laughed at for having the "wrong" bike.
 
MacB

MacB

Lover of things that come in 3's
Location
Farnborough, Hampshire
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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