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Agreed on all those points. I was warned about the lace pattern I was asking for because of the broken hub flange risk, but then... I use Hope M4 disc brakes and have toured heavily loaded (I'm not very good at travelling light yet) in the alps and braked on descents at speed and it was solid.
If you find yourself loading web pages to view the info... take whatever is your comfortable fast cruising gear inch on a single speed and that is gear 11. You get 3 gears up and 10 down, all evenly spaced.
The only things that have bugged me about mine are:
- Weight centralisation, it's only a fraction more than a traditional drivetrain but it's all in one place at the rear.
- Gear change between 7 and 8 can't be done under high torque, you need to back off on that one. This is because there's 7 gears and then a step gear to give you the range of 14, and 7-8 is the biggest move internally.
Otherwise it's fine. Drive train stays very clean and is super easy to service because you just run a basic chain and it's always in contact. The hub itself is fully sealed so if it's running smooth you're good for a few tens of thousands of Km before you need it serviced (though I've never serviced mine, maybe I should).
- Weight centralisation, it's only a fraction more than a traditional drivetrain but it's all in one place at the rear.
Velocio-
But what about the efficiency? Ie they are meant to waste more power than a derailleur.
I've not run numbers on it to see what difference it makes to speeds, and in these races people's drivetrains get dirty so derailleur drivetrain efficiency reduces.
That comparison would dictate if it would be a good option
frank9755
Many riders tend to follow fashions and so setups tend to be pretty similar.
I have to admit I didn't know how broad a range a Rohloff have until I googled it just now, and it's 526%. That makes it very interesting as an option.
Agree that weight not such an issue if it gives good ratios and performance
My reservations about them are