rohloff — willow bike

Rohloff Speedhub

The Rohloff Speedhub is an Integrated Gear Hub (often known as an IGH) which means all of the gears you normally find on a bike are sealed away inside the hub.

All of the complicated stuff is protected from the elements with no derailleurs hanging down waiting to get banged up or caught up on a branch.

The Speedhub has 14 gears. These are sequential, meaning when you shift, you have just one control that runs through the full range of gears. It's not like having a front mech controlled by one lever and a rear mech controlled by another. A huge benefit with the Rohloff hub is that you can shift gear while stationary. No more frantically changing down gears as you come to a stop. Just pull up and once you’re stopped, select the gear you want to pull away in. This is especially useful on a loaded touring bike, trying to get started on a steep hill.

Because there's no derailleur, we can swap out the chain for a belt. The belt is stronger and lighter than a chain. There's no moving parts so doesn't need maintenance or oiling. The belt and Rohloff hub are perfect partners for maintenance free cycling.

Although the gear ratios themselves are fixed inside the hub, you can change the range of available gears by swapping out the rear or front sprockets. Changing these will effect where the start and end points of the gear range are. A smaller front cog or larger rear cog will give you a lower set of gears, ideal for mountain bikes or loaded touring. Conversely, fitting a bigger front chainring or smaller rear cog will give you a range of gears more like that found on a modern race/road bike.

The chart below gives you some numbers so you can make a comparison between a traditional derailleur drivetrain and a Rohloff hub. This chart is primarily aimed at those wanting to fit a belt as beltdrive sprockets/rings are only available in certain sizes.

  
									Examples
								
									Front Rings
								
									Rear Sprockets
								
									Development low
								
									Development high
								
									Roadbike (700x35)
								
								Touring Triple
							
								12-32
							
								30-39-50
							
								2.4
							
								9.06
							
								Modern Road/Gravel
							
								11-32
							
								34-50
							
								2.31
							
								9.88
							
								Rohloff 1
							
								18
							
								50
							
								1.69
							
								8.86
							
								Rohloff 2
							
								19
							
								50
							
								1.59
							
								8.39
							
								Rohloff 3
							
								18
							
								55
							
								1.86
							
								9.74
							
								Rohloff 4
							
								19
							
								55
							
								1.75
							
								9.23
							
									MTB (29x2.3)
								
								XT Double
							
								11-42
							
								26-36
							
								1.43
							
								7.57
							
								Eagle 1X
							
								11-50
							
								32
							
								1.48
							
								6.73
							
								Rohloff 5
							
								18
							
								39
							
								1.4
							
								7.36
							
								Rohloff 6
							
								19
							
								39
							
								1.33
							
								6.97
							
								Rohloff 7
							
								18
							
								42
							
								1.5
							
								7.93
							
								Rohloff 8
							
								19
							
								42
							
								1.42
							
								7.5

Examples	Front Rings	Rear Sprockets	Development low	Development high
Touring Triple	12-32	30-39-50	2.4	9.06
Modern Road/Gravel	11-32	34-50	2.31	9.88
Rohloff 1	18	50	1.69	8.86
Rohloff 2	19	50	1.59	8.39
Rohloff 3	18	55	1.86	9.74
Rohloff 4	19	55	1.75	9.23
XT Double	11-42	26-36	1.43	7.57
Eagle 1X	11-50	32	1.48	6.73
Rohloff 5	18	39	1.4	7.36
Rohloff 6	19	39	1.33	6.97
Rohloff 7	18	42	1.5	7.93
Rohloff 8	19	42	1.42	7.5

The 'Development' column (high and low) on the chart tells you how many metres the wheel will travel in one revolution of the crank. It's not a particularly useful piece of data on its own but it helps you to get an idea how the Rohloff gear range relates to a traditional derailleur drivetrain. These numbers show the extremes at either end of the gear range. You have a total of 14 gears so there are lots of available gears between these extreme values. One really nice thing about the Speedhub gearing is that all of the jumps between gears are consistent. This makes shifting gears very predictable.