Rohloff for Surly XCheck
 

Hi there everyone,

I've had a look around the forums and on the internet more broadly, and I can't find the answer to this question, so apologies if it's already been asked and answered.

I have a Surly Cross Check SS, but I was looking to fit a a Rohloff internal hub in preparation for a tour of the States next year.

Those of you who have had the misfortune of needing to purchase bike components in Australia would know that you tend to pay an extra 30% on any purchase by dint of being an island, so I was looking to order it online from an offshore retailer and save a few hundred bob.

I've used Rohloff's little app to try and determine which model I'd need and it suggested the 8042 with torque arm. I emailed an Australian dealer and they suggested that an OEM 2 axle plate would be a simpler way of doing it. Unfortunately, they seem unwilling to provide any more info without extracting my credit card details.

Could anyone give me a leg up on this?

Cheers,
Sebastian

I have a Rohloff on a custom bike. I am pretty certain that only a tourqe arm will work for that bike. A very long and strong DO is needed. I tried both also but needed the TQ arm, which helps keeps the axel from sliding around. Make time to ride it lots to break it in. Mine has 48/16T for 22.5 to 120 GI, seems plenty low to me.

Much obliged, sir. Genuinely appreciate it.

I've been touring single speed the past few years; I cannot wait to try riding with the speedhub. Gonna make it way easier to catch a vibe.

I have a 44/16 chainring to cog ratio. But if I travel to somewhere with terrible hills, I have a 36 chainring that I can swap over to instead. I did a 100 mile vehicle supported mountain bike tour last spring, I switched to the 36 for that. I bought my Rohloff from an internet retailer in Germany after doing a google search for rohloff sale price and other such phrases identified a much better price in Germany than I would otherwise have had to pay in USA.

I do not yet have enough miles on mine to know if I will get better chain life by using this method, but I cut a small slot in a rear cog tooth and in a chainring tooth to mark the teeth that I put the links with outer plates on.
Extending Bicycle Chain and Sprocket Life

If you are using drop bars, have you figured out how to mount the shifter?
Cycling About ? 19 Ways to Run Rohloff Shifters with Road Drop Handlebars
http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/...p?topic=4049.0

This might help with the various hub configurations.
http://cyclingabout.com/understandin...f-rohloff-hub/

Rohloff's retrofit kit includes a Chain tensioner for vertical drop out frames ,and a Torque strut with a QRthat will go on the left chain stay with stainless bands.

Then you pick external shifting , housing runs aall the way from the handle bar , or the Internal Shift there the cable is bare above the hub with a QR bayonet connector

The whole owner service manual is in PDF form to Read . Documentation: www.rohloff.de

Now Have 2_1 in a 20" wheel And another in a 26" wheel only the chainring is bigger when wheel is smaller .. [both bought as built bikes and got a good deal]

Hey, thanks man.

I'm thinking of forking out and going with the Cinq5 thumb shifters. So pretty. A little pricey for something relatively untested, I know, but there doesn't seem to be much bad press about them. They're external shifting I think.

The hub end is a choice the cables rotate the gear change sequence either way eternal thru a Box Outside the dropout ..


Internal , a second cable that is inside the dropouts ..

You got the disc version of LHT? Or Rim Brake.

to note:

I think they use a different external box setup than the standard Rohloff shifter, might use a different amount of cable pull for each shift. I have not been following them very closely, I am happy with my setup. More on teh Cinq5 here:
Anyone using the Cinq5 shifters?

Mechanically R'off is a Pull-Pull shifter, It rotates the sequencing shaft in the Hub. 2 cables No return springs .

Looks like the ratchets in the new Cinq5 EX box let the paddles return to center, for another paddle push , so Rolling Thru the whole range
is not as easy as it is with the grip shifter.. but just shifting up/down a gear at a time, It may be fine..

Using Trekking Bars, I've been fine with their standard grip shifter for a Very Long Time. It has the benefit of simplicity.


BTW also in Australia Is someone making a servomotor electronic shifter for Rohloff hubs..

Never got an answer to above question 'SS' has no meaning to me nothing about the brakes at least.


so If its Disc Brake the OEM 2 torque stop on the left end engages a Bolt head on the back side of the lower ISO standard Caliper adapter Mount

Rim Brake You have to use the long torque arm supplied in the Retrofit Kit.

Like Fietsbob, I also prefer the rotary shifter. I often shift about 3 or 4 gears at a time when I crest a hill, stop at an intersection, start accelerating after I start from a stop, etc. Having to shift one gear at a time would drive me nutty.

I have an odd setup, I use the Thorn T Bar to hold my handlebar bag bracket, but I also mount a cut-off section of a mountain bike bar end on the end of that T Bar, put the shifter on the cut off bar end.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=416444

I never stand on the pedals to accelerate, my knees can't take that stress. But if I did, by putting the shifter where I did, the shifter might get in the way. You can see the shifter under and to the right of the GPS.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=416445

SS is Single Speed.

I've only ever toured single speed. This will be the first time I've ridden with gears for about five years, so not being able to switch a few gears at a time won't really bother me, I don't think. But I do like to get out of the saddle to accelerate and on tough climbs, so I'll have to be mindful of where I install the shifters.

Anyhow ... Kneeing a grip shifter wont make it change gears ..

Got any 40 degree C summer days ahead of you down there?

For Australia, last I checked, the best prices were from Starbike
http://www.starbike.com/en/brands/rohloff/
and Bike24
http://www.bike24.de/1.php?content=2...lang=2&mid=118
in Germany.
Unfortunately with the Aussie dollar dropping in value, you'll maybe get stuck paying duty and gst (tax) as you'll likely be over the Au $1000.00 cut off point for duty/tax free.
I was lucky and got in just before it dropped and my external mec, QR disk braked 36H Rolloff came in at $999.00 escaping the govt's cut.
Buying from the EU means theres no European VAT (tax) to pay (delivery to non EU states).

Suggest you ask on the forum at bicycles.net.au to get a local heads up on best prices and where etc.
Price and availability change regularly.
From time to time business's lose the ability to ship different brand names overseas.
eg. Wiggle no longer ship Ortlieb to Australia nor Amazon Nikon cameras - swings and round about.

I bought fitting spares from sjscycles.com
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/find.asp?...page=1&geoc=AU
in the UK and grabbed a torque arm from ebay so I'm good to go if I ever get sick of my current bike and wish to retro fit my hub to a different frame, such as yours.

Have a squiz at:
http://www.ecovelo.info/2009/01/21/g...y-cross-check/

Good luck

Ended up getting the hub from starbike for half the price it would have costed me at the store I would have otherwise visited in Sydney, and $500 cheaper than the Australian distributor - absolute joke but glad I didn't get got.

That's arrived and it's sitting at my place now. Much bulkier and heavier than I anticipated but you can tell it's special just looking at it (I sound like a parent talking about their unremarkable child).

Now I'm waiting for the Cinq5 shifters to arrive from cycle monkey. They reckon they're restocked in about two or three weeks, so I hope I'll have the whole thing ready to set up in about a month or so.

Cheers for your advise everyone. Proof is in the eating of course, but I'm entitled to feel a bit giddy.