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Thanks for the detailed response. I keep kicking around the idea of getting one. The problem that I have is both the cargos we have now came with nexus 7s that have been flawless so far. Not a ton of gears but its pretty flat where we use the bikes. So this would mostly be a boredom upgrade. Basically if i find a hub for cheap i would do it I guess. Maybe it will become more clearly needed when converting to mid drive.
Wife wants a bullitt now to replace her 3 wheeler but wants less gears then her current cargo (like a nexus 3) so she wants to go the other direction lol
young_gun-
The quantity of the gears isn’t really important on Rohloff, the increments are too small imo but then they weren’t designed for E cargo bikes but primarily for tourers / tandems etc. I would regularly cycle through 2 or 3 increments at a time when changing gear.
The important thing is the total range (536%) and max. torque capacity. high torque is what breaks cheaper hubs rapidly if you abuse them.
Forgot to say in earlier comment, oil changes are easy, sprocket changes are also easy with the C clip version.
Also iirc shimano IGH aren’t symmetric, so they build up into weaker wheels too (all other things being equal)
I like Rohloff service centre too. Never had any issues that they couldn’t fix.
MCamb
My experience is limited really to only have enviolo to compare it to. Was looking after a fleet of Urban Arrow XL with enviolo (10-15 bikes) . Problems almost every day (with freewheel, cables, shifter etc). , a hub would have to be stripped and warrantied every other week almost. There’s no repairing the hubs when they break inside either, warranty process and replacement every time. Long asf. We ditched the enviolo in favour of Rohloff at that point and gradually expanded the fleet to 70+ (while I was there). It would have been completely overwhelming if it was a fleet of enviolo for me and + another mech to stay on top of.
In use, the Rohloff is many many times more reliable. It rolls better and the actual useable gear range is much better, like you can run v low gear inches (there are still limits, outlined in Rohloff manual) to get up those steep asf hills fully loaded without breaking the hub (for me this is one of the key differences, they can handle higher torque / low GI than cheaper IGH).
When you’re actually doing maintenance it’s much nicer and more user friendly- (removing gear box for puncture repairs etc). Much easier to train people to use it as well. Just good quality and reliable and nice to use.
Hard to go into it in loads of detail but the money is worth it, it’s just a lot more expensib so if you can get away with a cheaper hub then 🙌... one of the biggest complaints on the urban arrow groups I’m on are hub failures. Powerful mid drive motors, heavy bikes, hills and cheap IGH are not a reliable and long lasting mix.
Sorry for the tldr ;)