Throwing off the Chain

After five thousand-plus miles of belt-drive bicycling, I wanted to share my experiences with a Rohloff equipped Proletariat (my primary commuter) and a Shimano Nexus equipped Bike Friday Tikit. Belt-drive technology and internally-geared hubs promise lower maintenance, quiet operation, flexible gear shifting, and freedom from oily/greasy chains. With a few caveats, I've found these advantages to be real and have been very pleased with belt-drive technology. I know there are many in the cycling community who have rejected internally-geared hubs (IGHs) in general and belt-drive bikes in particular. Whether or not the advantages of IGH/belt-drive will be realized for you depends on several factors. I'll start with my experience with the Bike Friday Tikit and conclude with the Rohloff-equipped Proletariat.

CDrive versus Gates

When I purchased the Bike Friday Tikit, I opted for lower-priced CDrive-equipped model and that was a mistake. The CDrive worked for a while, but after about 300 miles I found the belt slipping when pulling away from a stop in a slightly higher-than-normal gear. The belt "snubber" that held the belt firm against the rear pulley (meant to prevent this behavior) actually seemed to cause the belt to deteriorate. After 500 miles of use the, belt slippage became too annoying and I had the good folks at Cycle Monkey replace the CDrive with Gates Center Track pulleys and belt. Changing to the Gates components meant replacing the crankset, but I was able to re-purpose that crankset on my Prole. With the Gates equipment installed, the belt slipping stopped. If I had it to do over again, I would pony up the extra cash for the Gates belt-drive from the get-go.

Shimano Nexus

I originally had an 8-speed Alfine on my Prole and still have an 8-speed Nexus on the Tikit. My conclusion is that the Shimano 8-speed hubs (I have no experience with the 11-speed Shimano Alfine) are not ideal for belt-drive applications. Belts require tension and perhaps it is that force that causes Shimano's internally-geared hubs (IGHs) to make unhappy noises. And then there are occasional missed shifts, occasional slipped shifts, and the general feeling that things are not right. My theory? The Shimano design uses a large diameter roller bearing on the drive side and it isn't up to the stress that the belt tension produces. The Rohloff uses sealed bearings on both the drive and non-drive sides. A heavier, but more robust and reliable design.

I can live with these shortcomings on the Tikit for shorter, intermodal style transportation. I seldom ride the Tikit more than 8 or 10 miles at a time, but when I do ride farther the Shimano Nexus really starts to bug me. With the CDrive set-up, the ride characteristics became intolerable. With the Gates equipment and the Nexus, the Tikit is quite usable. I'd like to put a Rohloff on the Tikit, but will have to keep saving for that upgrade.

Proletariat, mit Rohloff

On the brighter side, my Rohloff-equipped Prole has turned out to be everything I hoped it would be. After over 4,000 miles of cycling pleasure, it is difficult to describe the Rohloff without using superlatives. The Rohloff SpeedHub is rock-solid, bullet-proof, solidly-engineered, confidence-inspiring, ultra-reliable. The Rohloff is more expensive than the Shimano IGHs, but it's in a totally different class.

Proletariat, with recently added drop bars

After a year, I experienced stripped axle threads on the non-drive side of the Rohloff caused by a slightly too-short axle for the Prole's thick dropouts. That was quickly fixed, under warranty.

I noticed after 300 miles or so of use that the belt would start to become a bit noisy, making a slight squeaking/whirring noise. To stop the noise, I had tweak the belt tension every 300 miles or so. The culprit turned out to be rear axle slippage in the horizontal dropouts. Reinstalling the original tensioning nut that I had removed from the drive side was the solution. If you have a frame with horizontal dropouts and are using a belt-drive, I suggest using a drive-side tensioned arrangement such as the Surly Tuggnut.

Another issue was the bearing seal on the drive side began to weep a small amount of oil after about 3,500 miles of use. Again, that problem was fixed under warranty and has not returned. The leak may have been caused by me running a bit too much tension on the belt. It took quite a while to clean the mess off of the Gates belt with mild soap and water!

Good Tension, Good Alignment

Many bike mechanics tension Gates belts solely by feel. I like the Gates iPhone App because it lets you set the tension by plucking the belt like a guitar string and reading the vibrational frequency. You'll need a quiet environment and a bit of patience. Avoid too much tension. I suspect that might lead to the aforementioned bearing seal problem.

I've also discovered that the rear wheel alignment needs to be pretty precise if you want quiet belt operation and consistent tension across the rotation of the belt and crankset. I currently tension the belt on my Prole to about 45Hz with good results.

Bicycling Unchained

What's the best part of having a well-maintained and properly-adjusted belt drive bike? Belt-drive bikes are uncannily quiet and smooth, especially with the Rohloff. Be sure you have a bell on your bike that you can ring as a courtesy to pedestrians who might not hear you approaching. When it comes to Rohloff versus Shimano, I've become a SpeedHub evangelist: The Rohloff is not just a little bit better, it's a whole lot better. You get what you pay for and in my book, the Rohloff Speedhub is worth the cost.

Rohloff Conversion

After putting about 1000 miles on my Stop Cycles Proletariat, I found myself really liking the Gates belt-drive but feeling a bit frustrated with the Alfine 8-speed internally geared hub. One issue was the Alfine was not as low-maintenance as I had hoped. I found myself having to re-lube the hub's internals every 300 - 400 miles (about once a month). Another issue was the feeling that if I pushed the Alfine too hard, it was going to let me down. Odd noises, occasional missed shifts and too few gears were also weighing on me. So I decided to investigate converting to a Rohloff Speedhub. Lucky for me, the sole US service partner for Rohloff, CycleMonkey/East Bay Bicycle Workshop (EBBW), is only a mile or so from my house. I visited their blog, saw the various bikes they've built or converted to the Rohloff and the Gates belt drive system, and knew I'd found the right guys. After an email exchange with Neil, the shop's owner, we had a plan in place.

The MonkeyBone replaces the ISO disc brake adapter and engages the Rohloff axle plate.

EBBW would build the Rohloff SpeedHub using a Velocity Dyad rim. The interesting part? With any internally-geared hub, the hub axle must be anchored to the frame to prevent it from turning. This can be done with a custom frame drop-out or a torque arm, but Neil's shop has another way for frames equipped with disc-brakes: The MonkeyBone. Turns out this solution works fine with the my Proletariat, but the rear disc diameter was reduced for 206mm to 160mm. Fine by me as the larger discs seem more susceptible to being knocked out of true in everyday use.

The Rohloff design philosophy differs significantly from the Shimano approach. For example, the Alfine cable connection, while lightweight, is ... well, flimsy. To my mind the single shift cable design contributes to much of the Alfine's missed shifts because there's a single cable acting against a spring. Rohloff on the other hand, uses a two cable design that provides positive shifting action. It's a bit heavier, but not as heavy as the doubt you feel when you're not sure if your hub will shift at a critical moment, threading your way through heavy traffic in downtown Oakland.

The Rohloff has 14 speeds, which is a big advantage over the 8 speed Alfine. Many times I found myself pedaling into a stiff headwind with the Alfine, shifting down, but finding I needed a gear in between what I had. With the Shimano you have two choices: Man (or Woman) up and go for the taller gear or slow down and accept the shorter gear. With the Rohloff, there seems to be a gear for every occasion.

About the only complaint with the Rohloff Speedhub, and it is a valid concern, is that it's expensive. A Speedhub will run you five to six times what you'd pay for a Alfine 8 and about three times the cost of an Alfine 11. Why would you want to pay that much? After you ride the Rohloff, I'll wager that you'll appreciate their solidly designed product is worth the extra expense and never want to go back.

What's so special about the Rohloff? It's hard to describe but easy to understand once you experienced the Rohloff in action. First, the Rohloff just feels bulletproof. Want to push it hard? Do you have quadriceps as big as Iowa hams that can generate lots of torque? Like to stand in the pedals up steep hills? Relax. The Rohloff appears to be able to handle whatever the rider can dish out. Missed shifts are a thing of the past as long as you slightly reduce pedal force right before shifting.

The Rohloff makes some noise, especially in 7th gear and lower (when the planetary gears come into play), but it's normal. When the Alfine makes noise, it seems abnormal and you get the feeling you're doing damage or something isn't right. In 8th gear and higher, the Rohloff is basically silent, especially with a Gates belt drive system.

The bottom line is the Rohloff costs more, but it is utterly reliable. Their motto is "No Slogans, Just Facts." And the fact is that Rohloff is the best internally-geared hub out there.