Hi,
Just wanted to ask about experiences with Rohloff hubs ?
Considering building my bike packing bike with one but have never had any experience with one.
Any views, recommendations, pros, cons etc fully appreciated
Cheers

Those who've got them tend to be quite evangelical about them. I've just done a 700km race in Andalucia on my Van Nicholas Zion with a Rohloff and didn't touch it, not even to adjust the chain. They're not the lightest setup and the gripshift and double gear cable arcing round the headtube is a bit clunky these days and makes fitting a bar roll tricky. The most often criticism is having all the weight on the back wheel but given most bikepacking setups bias weight onto bar bags, I find this evens things up nicely and mine actually feels better fully loaded. If someone, or even Rohloff came up with a Di2 type shifter as an aftermarket upgrade, I'd be very tempted, they do an ebike in conjuction with Bosch but afaik, there's no retro fit option as yet.

Fitted a Rohloff to my Surly ECR from new and have about 8000 miles on it with zero problems. Just did 2500 miles around Scotland and all I did was adjust the chain twice. Yes they're about 0.5kg more than a 1x set-up with an equivalent range but i find the advantage of being able to change gear when stationary and not having a suseptible to damage derailleur is worth the penalty.
They also result in a stronger rear wheel build due to zero dishing and short spokes.

If you want to keep buying the latest greatest kit and be on trend it’s probably not for you.
If you want ultra reliable, solid state engineering from a company dedicated to a limited product range then go ahead.
I’m a long time Rohloff user across many applications and would never go back to derailleurs on my MTB, trad tourer or ‘adventure bike’.
They may be quirky with some aspects that could take a little bit of getting used to but I’ve been riding Rohloff for do long I forget what they are.
The engineering is superb - if a little industrial - and always done with an eye to backward compatibility. My oldest Rohloff has been retrofitted for disc brakes and external shifting since I bought it 21 years ago. I still use it almost daily for commuting..... (insert yawn emoji here!)

Mines around 10,000 miles old.
It's only on it's 3rd chain and cogs.
It's as good as new with an oil change that even I can do every 2 years.

Trust me the only weight issue I have is me!
I want reliability and less risk of component failure
How are they in terms of low gearing for climbing etc, I could look it up but I prefer to get real world experience from the horses mouth as it were

woodsmith wrote: ↑Wed Sep 23, 2020 5:21 pm Fitted a Rohloff to my Surly ECR from new and have about 8000 miles on it with zero problems. Just did 2500 miles around Scotland and all I did was adjust the chain twice..

You shouldn't need to adjust your chain twice in 2500 miles, probably shouldn't need to adjust it at all in that distance. You can run the chain fairly slack on a Rohloff no problem.

I used to have one, sold it as it was on my main MTB and the mass being at the back did bother me in the end. Just made the bike ride a bit odd for what I wanted it for.
However, I regret selling it. Every time winter emerges and I listen to the crunch of peak district grit in my drivetrain I hanker for another.
Resisted so far tho....

Functionally, its a very good product.

ripio wrote: ↑Wed Sep 23, 2020 7:32 pm

woodsmith wrote: ↑Wed Sep 23, 2020 5:21 pm Fitted a Rohloff to my Surly ECR from new and have about 8000 miles on it with zero problems. Just did 2500 miles around Scotland and all I did was adjust the chain twice..

You shouldn't need to adjust your chain twice in 2500 miles, probably shouldn't need to adjust it at all in that distance. You can run the chain fairly slack on a Rohloff no problem.

A good chunk of that mileage was off road with multiple river crossings etc. ( 2nd city divide, Chunks of HT550, Great North Trail etc)

Catrike16 wrote: ↑Wed Sep 23, 2020 6:34 pm Trust me the only weight issue I have is me!
I want reliability and less risk of component failure
How are they in terms of low gearing for climbing etc, I could look it up but I prefer to get real world experience from the horses mouth as it were

Rohloff weight has never been the problem with me on my bike packing bike, although when I had one on my Jones it was noticeable, but again was maintenance free

Low gearing is all down to the cogs that you fit on it, I think I sometimes think that I need a lower spinny gear on mine at times on steep hill's, but then on the other side of the same hill I then think that I'll miss the top gear on the downs.

Main cons are weight and drag in the lower 7 gears, initial cost.
Pros are low maintenance,ease of maintenance (oil change ) long service life, (claims of 100,000+ miles) A lot of round the world riders have used them.
Can be used with gates belt drive instead of chain drive for even lower maintenance.
I have two bikes with rohloff hubs,one chain drive one belt.
The enigma MTB I used today is 17yrs old with a rohloff hub with chain drive.
That hub has so far performed faultlessly.
Take a look at "cycling about " website.

Not really Rohloff's fault but if you do get one, make sure you avoid SJS Cycles. I wanted to order a small paper gasket and drain plug screw to do an oil change, the cost of the parts is a fiver, they quoted £38 for postage and wouldn't budge when I queried it.

pistonbroke wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 2:43 pm Not really Rohloff's fault but if you do get one, make sure you avoid SJS Cycles. I wanted to order a small paper gasket and drain plug screw to do an oil change, the cost of the parts is a fiver, they quoted £38 for postage and wouldn't budge when I queried it.

GULP!!

SJS have always been fine with me and I like the fact if you need something odd you know they will have it !

I too am a long standing customer but their attitude of blaming Covid for their unwillingness to pop these very small items in a jiffy bag and put a stamp on it is total bullshit. I could book a return flight to Bristol and taxi to Bridgwater to collect in person for virtually the same cost.

pistonbroke wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 2:43 pm Not really Rohloff's fault but if you do get one, make sure you avoid SJS Cycles. I wanted to order a small paper gasket and drain plug screw to do an oil change, the cost of the parts is a fiver, they quoted £38 for postage and wouldn't budge when I queried it.

I take it that's from the UK to Spain?

Yes. I sent a headset to Shaf a few weeks ago for €3 and received a light from another forumite with £3.50 postage on it so P&P should be a fiver at most.

Maybe.

Then again I struggle to send anything for less than a £5 in the UK, it seems

Maybe you just fell outside their usual sphere of customers or somewhere that their existing courier service priced competitively for? Profit on a £5 of goods probably didn't make it worthwhile for them to go an extra yard.

Hey ho

One bad day/experience doesn't change the fact they're one of the best bike shops in the UK. I go out of my way to buy from them when it comes to quirky bits, Brompton parts or SON kit, etc. The spares stock they hold is incredible. I phoned them up to order and ask a Q on a dynamo set up and the guy there answered a couple of wiring Qs in rapid time (he just knew how to do it all) and gave me some good tips on one aspect. How many UK shops can match that? Maybe less than a handful.

Rohloff - my mate Andy has one, has had a few issues with it but knowing him it's no suprise - far far less grief than he'd have on a mech set up. He's been at least 1/2 way round the world on it in the last few years.

Without derailling the topic too far, my last order from them, which was also some Rohloff bits, was delivered here to Spain for the princely sum of £2.50. Blaming Covid for turning into inflexible jobsworths seems to be a thing these days.

pistonbroke wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 10:57 pm Without derailling the topic too far, my last order from them, which was also some Rohloff bits, was delivered here to Spain for the princely sum of £2.50. Blaming Covid for turning into inflexible jobsworths seems to be a thing these days.

Ah well, it's good to see you've got another mail order business to hate on as well as PX

How is your blood pressure

Fine thanks for your concern.
Re PX, I can't recall being a hater, maybe my experiences and anecdotes of the 3 years I worked there may have given that impression but they were mild compared to some of the antics that they got up to. I'd consider them quite generous with their treatment of me when I successfully sued them for constructive dismissal via ACAS. Anyway this is way off topic so needs a veil drawing over it.