Originally Posted by Juha
You have a very complicated way to say that you actually have no data or first-hand experiences to support your doubts about Rohloff's claims.
I do not understand. You "like the Rohloff" and yet you spend several posts bashing it, expressing your subjective concerns about various issues, most of which have already been discussed elsewhere in the Forums. Based on these you are even ready to say everyone should give it a pass. And you have
not even tried the thing once, fer crying out loud!
Let's be honest: if you're interested in it, take a look at these Forums and other sources as well, talk to owners, try to get to test ride one if possible. If you're not happy, THEN keep the 9 speed (or whatever) folks. But don't forget it just because Steve (and I) don't have it. Trust me, what does not work for us may well work for you.
--J
You're correct in stating that I don't have any real experience with the Rohloff hub. My statements come from experience in riding with other hub gears. Unless this German company made some scientific breakthrough, I don't see how they're going to develope a hub significantly better than Shimano, Sram or Sturmey Archer when it comes to friction losses. As I said before, Shimano made similar claims on performance gains and left me disapointed. There is no way I'm going to risk $1,000.00 dollars when the current offering works fine for commuting purposes.
This summer I intend to get my first road bike. There is no way I want a heavy hub gear from ANY manufacturer on the back of that rear wheel. If you have the money, buy the Rohloff hub and take it to the hills and race with it if you like. Experience has shown me that an internal hub with all those moving parts was NOT designed for this activity. I can tell you stories from personal experience if you like about what happens when you abuse Sturmey Archer hubs or race with the Nexus 7.
I've looked at the information on this forum and found lots of misinformation concerning hub gears. I'm going to write to Sram, Sun Race and Shimano and find out what they think about this hub and why I should buy from them. It might be interesting to see how the competition view this product. I'll post any responses on this thread.