I'm thinking of asking my LBS to build me a Curve SL with a Rohloff hub, instead of the Shimano Premium Nexus 8 that it normally comes with.

What do you think? Anybody done that?

Pros & Cons?

All input greatly appreciated.

Pros: A wonder of engineering

Cons: Rohloff very expensive and not utilised fully on a Curve SL. Shimano Nexus 8 gear sis enough, Rolhoff's 14 is unnecssary on a bike like the Curve SL. Also a heavy hub counteracts the natural lightness of the SL. Rolhoff suited more to long touring or off-road use.

According to the Dahon spec sheet, the Curve has a gear inch range of 38” - 85”. So what would it be with the Rohloff?

BTW, my Strida is a single speed, if I remember correctly, has a gear inch of 52", and right now is my preferred ride for my daily commute. So.... I probably don't NEED the Rohloff, but it is sooooo cool!

I've had this posted here for over 30 minutes, and I get one lousy reply? WTF?

Are all you guys out riding when you should be on www.bikeforums.net ? Or are you all in your garages practicing folding your bikes so you can claim bragging rights about having the fastest folding time?

YOU WILL NEVER BEAT MY STRIDA's folding time of 6 secs. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!

And I thought you were serious bikers. POSERS!!!

I've had this posted here for over 30 minutes, and I get one lousy reply? WTF?

Are all you guys out riding when you should be on www.bikeforums.net ? Or are you all in your garages practicing folding your bikes so you can claim bragging rights about having the fastest folding time?

YOU WILL NEVER BEAT MY STRIDA's folding time of 6 secs. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!

And I thought you were serious bikers. POSERS!!!

You trying to be funny? Your attempts are futile :roflmao2:

And I thought you were serious bikers. POSERS!!!

This is a bike forum - we're POSEURS, thank you very much!

"YOU WILL NEVER BEAT MY STRIDA's folding time of 6 secs. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!"

Perhaps you have not seen this video? Strida is fast but beatable...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQscBxx7wLE&feature=related

I'm thinking of asking my LBS to build me a Curve SL with a Rohloff hub . . .
There may be some technical issues to consider.

The Rohloff requires either a torque arm to be mounted to the left chainstay, or a special dropout that the hub can key into. As the Curve's frame doesn't have the conventional seatstay/chainstay arrangement, you will have to mount the torque arm to the rear frame member of the Curve. It's going to look a little goofy, IMHO, to have the torque arm angled at 45° and attached to the Curve's frame with some big ole hose clamps. The coolest thing about the Curve, to me is the unusual line of the frame, which will be spoiled by the torque arm and clamps. It may be possible to adapt the dropouts to accommodate the Rohloff and thereby avoid the torque arm. That will take some research. I would take a picture of your left rear dropout and email it to Rohloff and ask them what your best option is.

The other thing is that the Rohloff is a really wide hub. You may need to fiddle with the bottom bracket or chainrings to straighten the chain line.

If you have your LBS do it, and they don't deal with folding bikes every day, give some special thought to how you want the cables to be routed, so that they don't impede the fold, and aren't damaged by it.

The Rohloff is heavy, but I don't notice it when riding. It is very obvious when I'm carrying the bike, though.

Hope that helps.

My Brompton folds beautifully thankyou, I'm not really bothered about the extra 15-20 seconds as the ride more than makes up for it compared to the strida :P

Replacing a working 8 speed gear hub with heavier 14 speed gear hub?
I don't see any point in doing such, but you have the right to spend your money as you wish.
What about fitting a mountain drive to make it 16 speed instead?

Replacing a working 8 speed gear hub with heavier 14 speed gear hub?
I don't see any point in doing such, but you have the right to spend your money as you wish.
If you want to extend your gear range from 307% (Nexus) to 526% (Rohloff), that would be a compelling reason.

What about fitting a mountain drive to make it 16 speed instead?
It would take a lot of work and special tools to install a Mountain Drive. There are a couple of versions of the Mountain Drive, as I understand it. There is a torque-arm version, which requires chainstays (which the Curve lacks.) The other version requires the bottom bracket shell to be chamfered, which requires special tooling and rare expertise. If you are intrepid, though, I think Schlumpf Innovations will lend you the tooling free, except for a deposit and shipping both ways from and to Switzerland. :rolleyes:

The other version requires the bottom bracket shell to be chamfered, which requires special tooling and rare expertise.


Actually, the same tool as required for fitting a Mavic threadless BB. Several shops should have that. Rare expertise - not really.

"YOU WILL NEVER BEAT MY STRIDA's folding time of 6 secs. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!"

Perhaps you have not seen this video? Strida is fast but beatable...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQscBxx7wLE&feature=related

I've seen that video quite a few times, but it always raises a smile on my face. It's quite amazing really to have something that functional as a bike and also instantly collapsible.

I'm thinking of asking my LBS to build me a Curve SL with a Rohloff hub, instead of the Shimano Premium Nexus 8 that it normally comes with.

What do you think?

Just an observation - the curve SL is a lovely little machine. It has a good gear range, why not just ride it and enjoy it. I saw one ride down my street the other day - a real head turner.

I wish I could make my 3-speed Curve D3 into an 8-speed SL with a Nexus hub but the frame behind is 12mm too narrow for the Nexus. Sigh.

I wish I could make my 3-speed Curve D3 into an 8-speed SL with a Nexus hub but the frame behind is 12mm too narrow for the Nexus. Sigh.
I think the 2007 D3 has steel (the Dahon website simply calls it "Sonus") tubing. If I'm right -- Please check! -- and that's the model you have you should be able to spread the dropouts 6mm each side without harming the frame. On how to do this check out the late Sheldon Brown's advice here (http://sheldonbrown.com/frame-spacing.html).
Jonathan

For what it's worth: if you are really looking for a Rohloff, I highly recommend you go for a Bike Friday.

Bike Friday does lots of custom work and will do Rohloffs. You'll also get a custom fit, can customize all the other parts (including handlebar type), will get a better fold for suitcase packing, can get a frame type specific to your uses (e.g. heavy touring, light touring, commuting etc), will have fewer proprietary / irreplaceable parts to deal with, and just a better bike overall.

Plus, I expect that your LBS will charge a lot for the swap, they'll have an extra Nexus on their hands (which I doubt they'll credit you for), and may not really know how to set up the Rohloff very well to begin with....

The range listed on the Dahon website is 38 - 85 gear-inches.
This is technically false, and not the 307% range of the Nexus 8. The 38-85 range was probably true for the previous SA 5 speed.

I emailed Dahon a while back and asked them to update the info. I don't know what they are waiting for, but it is not updated yet.
I do not know for sure what the gear-inches are, which tires are supplied, or the actual weight of the 2008 Curve SL.

What's up with Dahon?

Also a heavy hub counteracts the natural lightness of the SL. Rolhoff suited more to long touring or off-road use.

I had a plain Rohloff and a plain Nexus 8sp redband in my basement two weeks ago. On the scale they were very close to each other in weight (a couple of ounces different). There are plenty of good reasons to stick with the cheaper hub, but weight isn't one of them.

The SRAM i9 is heavier than the Rohloff.

alex

I wish I could make my 3-speed Curve D3 into an 8-speed SL with a Nexus hub but the frame behind is 12mm too narrow for the Nexus. Sigh.

If you don't use the roller brake you can remove about 10mm from the Nexus easily. Look at the <a href="http://bike.shimano.com/media/techdocs/content/cycle/EV/bikecomponents/SG/EV-SG-8R25_BR-IM70-R-2315D_v1_m56577569830609192.pdf">Exploded Diagram</a>

You can remove nut #29 and replace it with nut #27 (or a thinner one if you can find it). You don't need the dust cap shown in #29. This drops 10mm from the axle. If you go with a thinner nut (it is 3/8", 24 or 26tpi) then you can remove even more, up to 15mm.

alex

The range listed on the Dahon website is 38 - 85 gear-inches.
This is technically false, and not the 307% range of the Nexus 8. The 38-85 range was probably true for the previous SA 5 speed.

I emailed Dahon a while back and asked them to update the info. I don't know what they are waiting for, but it is not updated yet.
I do not know for sure what the gear-inches are, which tires are supplied, or the actual weight of the 2008 Curve SL.

What's up with Dahon?

The 2008 also has 16 x 1.5 inch marathon racer (probably an attempt to get the weight down), however this will affect the gearing. I still think it's going to be a lot heavier than the 07.

If the 2008 Curve SL has 16T rear sprocket (smallest I think you can go with hub) 53T front and 16 x 1.5 inch tires. The range will be close to 23.5-72. This I think will be majorly undergeared.

I love my 2007 SL the gearing is pretty good, the big apples are the way to go on a 305mm wheel. I personally think the 08 SL is a big mistake.

I say bring back the 07 SL gearing specs with the 08 frame improvments, maybe a SRAM P5 hub with 13T sprocket and room for customizable size front sprockets and that would be perfect to me.