The all carbon fork, including carbon steerer tube, gives better shock absorbtion than other aluminum frames I have ridden, without Carbon forks. Still relatively few miles on it though as I just got it a short time ago.

The Rohloff hub is IMO the best gear hub I have used and the Civia installation is very clean. The frame was designed for it from scratch it looks like to me. Shifting is excellent and the Rohloff design does not put the shifting cables under any spring loading so the shifting feel is the same whether upshifting or downshifting. It uses Rohloff specific adjustable and replaceable bolt-on dropouts for chain adjusting.

My gear hub experience includes 3, 7 and 9 speed SRAM hubs as well as an old Sturmey Archer AW 3 speed prior to the Rohloff. Never ridden a Shimano hub bike.

Hard to get used to the fact that the twist shifter rotates in the opposite direction for shifts than SRAM gear hub twist shifters I have used. On the SRAM shifter twist the top towards you for higher gears, like opening a motorcycle throttle. The Rohloff twist shifter top is rotated away from you for higher gears.

The bike is set up with 31.8mm center flat bars stock and comes standard with mudguards and a rear rack as well as a generator front hub. Also has Shimano juice disc brakes front and rear and 700-28 tires. Claimed weight is close to 30 pounds so it is definitely not a roadies choice for a fast ride. Overall I would describe the handling as on the slightly slow and stable side compared to the average road bike. Still maneuverable but stable. Close to tourer handling characteristics. Supposedly designed as a fast commuter bike.

Build parts are good quality with a Thomson seatpost and stem and a Cane Creek headset. Rims are DT X470 Disc and the cranks and brakes are Shimano Alfine.