On Jan 22, 8:52*am, Chalo wrote:
Andre Jute wrote:
Less pleasing is the agricultural quality of the Rohloff gearchange,
which I expect to be able to adjust a little and then to have to live
with, the reference being the well-used Rohloff box and controls I had
on loan, which after a few thousand miles were still pretty resistant.
[snips for bandwidth, sense intact]
In my limited observation, the shift feel of Rohloff hubs is pretty
variable. *The ones I own and the others I have seen firsthand are
relatively early production-- mine is #5XXX and my wife's is #6XXX.
Mine is _very_ stiff to shift; I have twisted the shifter cuff loose
from its tube twice. *After the second time I tore it loose, it was
not in suitable shape to reuse, so I glued on a section of a BMX grip
instead.
My wife's hub, on the other hand, is quite easy to shift. *She tends
to shift three or four steps at a time, and she would complain
bitterly if her hub took as resolute a twist as mine.
Aah. I can shift several gears at once and do; I don't fear I'll twist
the control collar loose, either. It might be that my expectation (and
my Nexus experience) is colouring my judgement.
For a time, I thought the difference between my shifter and my wife's
was all in the installation. *So I kept making changes to the cable
housings and routing in the attempt to make my shifting feel like
hers. *Three or four recabling jobs may not sound like much, but
stringing the Rohloff is an odious chore. *It got a little better for
my efforts, especially after I switched to full housing, but it never
freed up like I had fixed something wrong with it.
That's not a happy thought for me. I'm forty years past the age when I
thought the reptilian ripple of a Porsche steering wheel was a
desirable connection to the road's imperfections. I have for decades
preferred my mechanisms to serve unobtrusively.
The rotary control for the gearchange is beautifully finished but the
entire, sturdy design is a ton less pleasing or ergonomic than
Shimano's Nexus (manual) rotary control
Pleasing is of course subjective. *
........
The nicest bike shifter of any kind I have ever experienced is the one
that comes with the Fallbrook NuVinci CVT hub. *
........
http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?...ler_1000px.jpg
Classy!
I shall probably change to
standard length, long grips on both sides to give me somewhere to rest
my hands where they won't be blistered or worse.
Blistered? *Them's some soft paws you got there. *
Not many admit it, but a writer is a manual worker too. He operates a
keyboard. But yeah, when I leave the house I wear gloves, and ditto
when I use tools. I look after my hands because they're the tools of
my trade.
.........
I'll probably make dabs of
white luminous paint on the rubber numbers.
I see you already thought of that. *I suppose since you live in the
UK, you can get tritium paint if you want it. *Yes?
I don't know but probably not; the EU is one big nanny-state. I have a
light on my handlebars (common small clipon hinged booklight sold on
gifts counter at Marks & Spencer -- their Stateside arm is Brook Bros)
for reading my favourite heartrate monitor, by which I regulate my
cadence, gears and speed. That will do to light up any old white paint
on the numbers.
I expect the
Rohloff control will settle in a little with wear.
That's a nice thought, but don't count on it. *Like most German
mechanisms, this one breaks in over a period that Shimano would
consider in excess of their products' service life. *Mine doesn't have
astronomical mileage, but it has been working for me a long time, and
it shows little sign of easing up at the shifter.
The guy who lent me a Rohloff wheel to try said it became "a little
easier" over what he thought was maybe 5-6000 miles total during
several seasons. It's starting to look like he means "a very little"
when he says "a little".
Thanks for the info, Chalo.
Andre Jute
http://members.lycos.co.uk/fiultra/Andre%20Jute's%20Utopia%20Kranich.pdf