Slightly?
My only problem with Hewitt was on the delivery date for the frame. I took a day off work and it never arrived. When I phoned I was lied to. Explanations that it had been dispatched the day before were punctured when I pointed out that the day before had been a Sunday. Eventually, it was admitted that the carrier had only collected from them that morning and it was in the carriers warehouse. It was completely unnecessary. A simple truth of 'we've got it wrong' would have been better.
I put the component list to my lbs who knowing of my back problem, and what I wanted the bike for, sent me to Hewitt rather than squeeze me ala Thorn onto what he had, or could get. Some components I used XTR (hubs and block come to mind) most were XT.
It is a very comfy bike with a full camping load and equally enjoyable for two day B&B rides or day tours.
HTH
Re: Rohloff
The search for the perfect low maintenace gearset has been going on for a long while and still there are mostly derailleurs about on touring bikes. I happily use a Sachs 3 speed on my Brompton and my old series 3 Moultons I had 5 speed SA hubs that gave no problems and I am thinking of a SA 5 in my recumbent.
If you are touring and get any kind of gear failure a derailleur is likely to be easiest to repair.
There is a guy going around Oz at the moment on a Rohloff and it is leaking oil. He has communicated the problem back to Rohloff and the bike supplier - Thorn - and been told, efectively - don't worry about it. It hasn't caused him any real problems yet but I'd worry. I like faults fixed. If oil is leaking out something isn't right and how much leeway have you got between constant topping up and it running dry?.
I have a friend who lost 7 rear spokes in a Rohloff equipped rear wheel in France, and I'm sure that I have read of at least two round the world riders who had hub flanges snap off on Rohloffs. Both had to wait for replacements to be flown to them where derailleurs could have been repaired or replaced on the spot.
When I'm absolutely certain that the Rohloff is more reliable than derailleur for loaded touring then I'd think it the ideal gear solution. I don't think it is yet. Rohloff faults in the average European town aren't going to get repaired at the local bike shop.
My view is that any failure on a Rohloff is going to delay you longer than a fault on a derailleur set.