Wow – what a sweet-looking bike. I wondered if Steve Cole was the Steve I remembered from the Boathouse – now I know.
I have zero issues shifting my Rohloff, except from 7th to 8th, and even then only when I try to make that shift under load. All other shifts can be made at rest or under anything short of a full load (of course better not to shift an IGH under any significant load – I'm just reporting that it works if you do, as long as the shift cable is adjusted correctly). Your experience is definitely NOT normal. You shouldn't have to do anything to make the hub disappear when riding – to me, the ease of shifting – any time, without any advance planning -- is half the benefit of the hub. (Of course, thinking ahead for upcoming shifts is fun, too.) Like others, I would suggest that you loosen the cables. If I recall correctly, I couldn't get mine to shift when I first installed it, and that was the solution. That's several years back, though, so the memory may be faulty. From: rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com [mailto:rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Steve Cole Sent: Tuesday, October 27, 2015 9:21 PM To: RBW Owners Bunch Subject: [RBW] Re: Rohloff IGH Questions Well, I guess I'll try to explain my situation. I hope others find it of interest. Background. For a few years, I've been doing a deep dive on bicycles and cycling, a source of constant and great enjoyment. For years, I commuted to work on my 1968 Falcon San Remo, a bike that was my very first purchase with the first credit card I ever had (credit limit: $200; bike cost: $195). As part of my deep dive, I had this bike restored. I also have a 1973 Gitane tandem, also recently restored. When I began my dive, I purchased a Kickstarter bamboo bike (see: www.herobike.com<http://www.herobike.com>; check out the Semester bike). I found it great in some respects -- it had 650B Col de Vie tires which made for an extremely comfortable ride. The frame, however, suffered from shimmy in the front end, which a need-bearing headset did not fix, so, I started to look for a more satisfying ride. I found it in an A Homer Hilsen (59cm), which I've been riding with great pleasure. (Tom, we met at Fletcher's Boat House, when you and the group that Pondero put together headed up the C&O-- I didn't go along. I admired your Rohloff-converted Bombadil.) The AHH in addition to replacing the bamboo bike also replaced a Specialized Rubaix Comp and a Scott city bike. I guess I'm always in search of the perfect ride. When I heard about the Rohloff hub, I thought this might be the key. It seems like Daniel, I had a fascination with the design, German engineering, and I had been riding a bike with an 8-speed Shimano Alfine IGH (the aforementioned Scott). I liked the Shimano a great deal; the only issue for me was that it did not have sufficient range (I've since sold that bike) and thought the 14-speed Rohloff would address this. I found a used Rohloff, purchased it, and set it aside. I wasn't sure what to do with it; I expected some opportunity would present itself. When it did, I thought, I could learn how the Rohloff compared to my AHH drivetrain, a Shimano Deore Riv standard buildup. It has even occurred to me that after some time riding both bikes, I would settle on one and make it my life's ride. We'll see. I purchased a Simpleone frame (58 cm) off the RBW list a couple of months ago to have it built up with my Rohloff. I'd seen a similar conversion so I knew it could be done with some adjustments. A framebuilder did respace and reset (make them parallel again) the rear dropouts to accommodate the wider hub (135mm vs 120mm). I then had the bike built up mostly with components of my choosing -- Paul Cantis, Albatross handlebars, Brooks Saddle, Nitto stem, seatpost, and racks Shimano bottom bracket, SP dynamo and the Rohloff drivetrain, importantly with a Berthoud shifter rather than the standard Rohloff shifter. The shifter choice was mostly aesthetic -- all of the other components are silver, so I wanted the shifter also to be silver -- the Rohloff shifter is black. I also had the hub serviced and added an external gear mechanisms. With the QR axle it came with, the external gear mechanism would make fixing flats pretty much like other bikes. So, what are my issues? First, I find the shifter, a grip shifter, incredibly difficult to turn from one gear to the next, up or down. I don't think I'm stronger or weaker than most riders. Still, if the shifter were any more difficult to turn, it would come close to seeming frozen. Second, when I change from almost any gear to the next highest or lowest, I often, but not always, find that for a revolution or so of the pedals I feel like I am not in gear. When this happens, if I stop pedaling or pedal backwards I then can pedal forward in the gear I have chosen. I've read about the problem with shifting from 7th to 8th gear and don't think this is what am experiencing. I worry that this isn't safe as I have less control over the bicycle and cannot depend on being able to do what is sometimes needed to avoid problems. I have never ridden another bike with a Rohloff hub. I have no point of reference -- I simply don't know what is normal, what to expect. If my experience is normal, I assume I will become increasingly familiar with the mechanism and will know what little things I can do in riding it to optimize performance. I may also look for other changes to address the shifter issue (e.g., a different shifter). On the other hand, if what I have described is not normal, I want to know this so I can seek changes to the drivetrain to make it normal. I welcome any and all advice, reactions, etc. I truly want this experiment to work. I'll close by adding that already it seems to me that the Simpleone handles at least as well as the AHH, in fact, probably better. If you have thoughts on this, I'd be interested as well. Thanks, Steve Cole Arlington, VA p.s. Here's a photo of the Simpleone On Tuesday, October 27, 2015 at 5:26:33 PM UTC-4, Steve Cole wrote: I'm looking for a rider who is experienced with the Rohloff hub to respond to some questions I have. I recently converted a Simpleone to a Rohloff and have been riding it for about a week, a couple of hundred miles. The experience is different than I expected -- more challenging -- and I want to see whether my experience is typical or uncommon. I would those who might help me to respond with a private message. I don't want to clutter the discussion group postings. Thanks, Steve Cole Arlington, VA -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com<mailto:rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com>. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com<mailto:rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com>. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This email (and any attachments thereto) is intended only for use by the addressee(s) named herein and may contain legally privileged and/or confidential information. 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