Rohloff touring bikes

[Rocky]

Here’s my Thorn Raven (picture taken on my ride this morning). 10 years old, 25,000 miles. The gear shifter numbers all very clear. It’s had 2 chains. I’ve changed the tyres once. It’s lighter than the Nomad and slightly faster. It’s a nice do it all bike.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Here’s my Thorn Raven (picture taken on my ride this morning). 10 years old, 25,000 miles. The gear shifter numbers all very clear. It’s had 2 chains. I’ve changed the tyres once. It’s lighter than the Nomad and slightly faster. It’s a nice do it all bike.

View attachment 467920

A bit racy for me with those red highlights

 

[geocycle]

Here is my Thorn Raven Sport Tour from a Scottish trip. It’s used everyday as my commuter as well.

 

[Blue Hills]

Cripes, i fear crankarm is out to change the impression of rohloff owners - move over golf gti.

On the "clunky" I did find things a tad clunky when I test rode one (for i did consider one) but in truth I didn't find it a problem on that kind of bike. In fact kind of liked it. A 3x8 rear mech self build i took over the moors with colinj the other day is also kinda clunky, but I like that as well in that bike.

Unless my antennae are shot pale rider is saying a similar thing (it's subjective) not casting to hell the absolute best thing in the world which shall not be commented on.

 

[Venod]

It is not a mountain bike on which you might want to slam up and down the gears at a moment's notice.

Mine was a MTB and I did slam up and down the gears at a moments notice.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Resurrecting this thread to say that it seems Intec, the German company who make a lot of frames for other bike-makers now make their own bikes, and appear to have one dealer in the UK at least, Sonic Cycles, https://soniccycles.co.uk/ - Intec do two different Rohloff frames / bikes: the more traditional T-09 http://intec.soniccycles.co.uk/?cat=39&id=85 which is £2099 - £2499 depending on your options.

and the M-02, which is an MTB / bikepacking model http://intec.soniccycles.co.uk/?cat=40&id=99 for £1799 to £1999.

This one only comes in one frame size whereas the T-09 is available in S-M-L variants. There is also a large range of F&F colours available (some are extra).

But in general this seems like the best value Rohloff- equipped steel workhorse around.

 

[cisamcgu]

£2,700 from Oxford Bike Works : https://www.oxfordbikeworks.co.uk/models/rohloff-tour (other colours are available)

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Unless I'm missing a trick here, I really can't see very much difference between any of these really expensive heavy duty touring frames based on 26" wheels, and a simple old-school 26" steel MTB! Rack/mudguard mounts are standard, as are bottle cage mounts for at least one, and often two, bottles. A good proportion of the old stuff will also have horizontal dropouts, so are compatible with any hub gear that will fit between the chainstays.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

The difference? About two and a half grand I'd say 😁

 

[rualexander]

Unless I'm missing a trick here, I really can't see very much difference between any of these really expensive heavy duty touring frames based on 26" wheels, and a simple old-school 26" steel MTB! Rack/mudguard mounts are standard, as are bottle cage mounts for at least one, and often two, bottles. A good proportion of the old stuff will also have horizontal dropouts, so are compatible with any hub gear that will fit between the chainstays.

Correct.
But the main difference is in the Rohloff hub itself, which is where the expensive cost comes from.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Correct.
But the main difference is in the Rohloff hub itself, which is where the expensive cost comes from.

I get that the hub gear is the main cost thing, and the rest of the bike is almost incidental. What I don't get, given that steel frames have a virtually unlimited lifespan, is why more riders who specifically want a Rohloff don't just source the hub or a hub/wheel and convert an existing derailleur bike with suitable geometry and dropouts.

 

[rualexander]

I get that the hub gear is the main cost thing, and the rest of the bike is almost incidental. What I don't get, given that steel frames have a virtually unlimited lifespan, is why more riders who specifically want a Rohloff don't just source the hub or a hub/wheel and convert an existing derailleur bike with suitable geometry and dropouts.

That's exactly what I did.
I had a Thorn Sherpa derailleur bike, which I bought frame only and moved components across from my 20 year old mountain bike, the frame of which had come to the end of its life (not sure i'd agree with your 'virtually unlimited lifespan' theory unless meticulously maintained and cleaned).
After a couple of years with the Sherpa with derailleur gears, I got a second hand Rohloff hubbed wheel for £400, and put that on, and it's been going strong for nearly 10 years now.

 

[Tenkaykev]

Mrs Tenkay had a custom rohloff tourer madefor her by Chas Roberts as her 60th birthday present, weights a fair bit but it rides beautifully and is used for all our shopping as it has twin Panniers.

It's 7 years old and was only a few hundred quid dearer than the Thorn Raven mentioned above.
I earned so many Brownie points I'm probably still in credit 😉

EDIT:
AFTER giving it some thought I dug out the receipt. I was well out, it actually cost over 4k 😯

 

[Bonefish Blues]

It's not just horizontal rear drop outs but having a means to fix a torque plate to prevent the torsional rotation of the hub under load. The torque arm that you sometimes see on the non drive side looks some what inelegant. Also you can use a frame with vertical drop outs but would need to fit an eccentric bottom bracket as a means of tensioning the chain or belt as you cannot move the wheel fore or after in a vertical drop out. You could use a chain tensioner similar to a derailleur, but that then rather defeats the object of the Rohloff hub imho.

Interested in this, because there's a difference of opinion (as often) between Thorn and others on dropouts/chain tensioning.

I struggle to see how sliding a wheel to and fro is a good solution if V brakes are being used, a la OBW, whereas a eccentric BB like Thorn and others seems more satisfactory. Also wondering if you could expand on your thoughts re tensioners, which actually seem an admirably low-tech solution?

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

There's no point in doing away with all the external clutter and putting it inside a hub where it won't get damaged and won't grind itself to death when it gets abrasive muck on it, only to stick a crude spring loaded tensioner on which will do both those things. For the same reason, I wouldn't use a frame with vertical dropouts to build a SS/fixed bike with either. The whole point of having internal hub gears, or doing away with the gears entirely, is to make a bike as simple, durable, and low-maintenance as possible. Chain tensioners merely recreate some of the problem that was eliminated by getting rid of the derailleurs!