Cliff notes at the bottom because I suck at brevity.

I sold my car and decided to build a new bike/touring tank with some of the money. I have chosen a Mercian 'King' for the frame, and I want a Rohloff speedhub. I hope this doesn't degenerate into a general "pros and cons of Rohloff" discussion, because I'm well aware of the general disadvantages, but am forging ahead anyway because of all the cool advantages, and I couldn't be more excited.

I'm still deciding what kind of crank and cog combo to go with (I'll probably do something like a Shimano Deore 44t-17, but I may go much smaller, on Thorn's suggestion [38t-16], tbd), and I'm also deciding what wheels to build around the hub, which cantilever brakes to get, etcetera...so all suggestions on other components will be most welcome, but I'm most concerned about wheels.

I'm used to big gears and light touring wheels, the first of which I do not like for touring, and I'm thinking that I'd like to offset the spinning weight of the speedhub somehow, but it's hard to come up with good ways to do it, considering the function of a typical heavy touring wheel. My idea was to sacrifice comfort and weightbearing ability slightly by still using larger, thinner, "randonee" style wheels--against the norm in today's heavy tourers--and to still choose a 'mountain bikeish' Rohloff gearing configuration that would allow me sub 20-inch gears for the California mountains, essentially a 'have your cake and eat it too' compromise between a light and heavy touring ethic and the Rohloff. I'm a 6'1" pavement-only rider who is used to these types of wheels, and I usually walk the bike to my stealthy off-road camping spots, so there's no real trailbusting factor involved in any of this. I'm not eXtreme about touring, despite my desire for a fairly bomb-proof bike. Likewise, comfort for me is more of an issue of posture. It is rare for me to cover more than 55-60 miles in a day. I've been on loaded 700 x 28c vittorias/Mavic MA3s for two years now, with no problems at all, but I'll probably go with 700 x 32s on the Mercian..Any opinions or suggestions otherwise are invited, including suggestions for appropriate 26" wheels.


Another *big* question I have right now is: What are the pros and cons of getting the OEM version of the hub, and Rohloff-specific drop-outs? Since Mercians are custom, I can do the OEM version if I want, but the proprietary nature of it sends shivers down my spine. Why would you want the OEM, other than the almost $100 off the hub, the flush installation of the wheel every tiime, and the nice lines/weight/lack of the tensioner thingee or axle plate? What's so bad about those two thingees? Weight only? Aesthetics? Functionality?

I'm concerned about this because I wonder if someday something will come out that blows the speedhub away, and my (hopefully beloved) Mercian will sadly be forever married to the Rohloff OEM because I made a poor decision on the drop-outs (or I'll have to send it back to Mercian and have them rebuild it for normal drops). I'm also concerned because I have to make that decision and tell Grant about it if I want to get the ball rolling before summer.


CLIFF NOTES:
1. Building up a new Mercian for heavy loaded touring. I'm trying to figure out a Goldilocks wheel solution to offset the spinning weight and potential sluggishness of a Rohloff speedhub. Suggestions for strong but comparatively light touring rims and tires are welcomed; try to keep it within reason $$-wise (no custom-built $1000 superwheels, in other words), since I'm spending most of my gaudy excesses on the frame and the speedhub already. Probably in 700 x 32 size...

2. OEM version of the Rohloff worth it, compared to the normal Rohloff?

3. Other component and Rohloff gearing suggestions are welcome.

4. You're great for helping. Bicyclists are the best people.