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Yeah shimano is fine in certain cases, is your bullitt electric?
I think it depends so much on the weight of the bike, if it’s used in a hilly area and the power / torque put through the drivetrain. The heavier and more powerful the cargo bike the more robust the IGH needs to be.
a plus of using enviolo and Rohloff is there is no hub flange offset, so spokes are the same length and it builds into a stronger more reliable wheel. The shifting is also not really reliant on cable tension which is good from a maintenance perspective… Also if the cable snaps you can set it manually into an ideal gear.
Some bike weights and capacities-
Bullitt max total weight 180kg
Tern 200kg
UA XL 250kg.- I know from experience that Enviolo will fail and quite quickly if using the bike at its capacity in non flat areas.
If I was in Amey’s shoes I’d prob go for the external drive train. I don’t think he needs to spend that premium on the E rohloff… but he knows better what he does or doesn’t need :-)
MCamb-
Think most R+M, Douze, Bullitt, Tern and others are all on the 180kg train weight limit now, some EU directive or traffic regulation issue within some European countries so they moved all of them from 200 kg category to the 180 kg category. Even though the actual bikes are quite happy moving more than that. UAXL is one big puppy though, think the UA Tender gets a 350kg limit sticker? Basically a van at that point, but defo quicker around town than a van :P
Other aspect with IGH, most bikes I've come across with an IGH fitted are geared way too high. Bullitt with Nexus 5 for example is in the 50-130" range, which is fine for the flatlands, but where we are, you'll never use 5th, barely use 4th unless you like a low cadence, and wish you had at least 1 gear below 1st. With a regular chain you can put a smaller chainring on it, though sometimes becomes a warranty issue as you are then transmitting more torque to the IGH than it was designed for (Alfine + Nexus have quite low limits I think compared to Rohloff and other higher end hubs).
BrickMan
I've done 600 miles on a bullit with the 5 speed Shimano and have been happy with it. Never have to think about it really.