1,000 dollars for a hub is ridiculous and in all honesty, doesn't make much sense. While maintenance and durability would be an issue, I also wonder; what if I want a different gear range? Pardon my ignorance in this matter but do Rohloffs come in 259 different variations to accomodate for peoples need/want to have different gearing?
Besides, Rohloff how durable are other internally geared hubs? I'm about to start building a single speed commuter (endurance training) and was interested to know if there are any internal gear hubs that can withstand abuse past simple road riding? I like the idea of a hub in a commuter application because some days you are just too tired to pedal. However, the days I am not too tired, I'll be beating the thing up pretty bad. Are there any hubs that can compete with Rohloff in terms of durability? Outside the DH school that is...