For some time now I had been wanting to build an All Mountain/XC bike around an internally geared hub (IGH). I do not sit in either the internally geared hub or the deraileur camp – both have their merits, various options and flaws, I just wanted to build something different and thought the IGH would be a good starting point. I didn’t want purely single speed (although I see the attraction), but I wanted to do away with multiple chainrings and deraileurs. After much research, I decided on a ‘Rohloff Speedhub 500/14’ as the internally geared hub (IGH) to use and the Chumba HX1 as the frame I wanted.

The Rohloff Speedhub 500/14 has 14 different gears with ratios very similar to what is achieved using a 27 speed derailleur set-up. The gears are all contained inside the rear hub, manipulated via a twist shifter.

The Chumba HX1 frame is lightweight, agile and has an eccentric bottom bracket to provide chain tensioning for the Rohloff and ultra-wide seatstay and chainstay yokes for BIG tyre clearance (I think this would be a good choice for a 650b conversion – Chumba also do a 29er, the HX2). It also has some of the best welding I have ever seen on a bike frame before – really superb and exactly what I was looking for.

There were 3 IGH options that I was seriously considering for the build;

1.) Rohloff Speedhub 500/14 (Circa 1100 quid – Eeek!)
2.) Shimano Alfine 11 (Circa 450 quid with fittings – Hmmm, okay)
3.) NuVinci n360 from Fallbrook Technologies (Circa 360 quid – Nice!)

With the NuVinci n360 you don’t actually change gear as such, you just vary the transmission ratio anywhere between high and low. I really wish someone had a NuVinci that I could have demo’d. I loved the idea of the NuVinci and the NuVinci’s ability to shift under load (the Rohloff’s achilles heel, although unloading the pedals when shifting becomes second nature), however the thing that put me off in the end was the limited range ratio and the weight. I think it would be perfectly suited to an urban cruiser. That is not to say that I don’t think it could handle a pounding off road. It looks like a well made quality component.

If looking to build again I certainly would not write off the Shimano Alfine – it has the benefit of being able to be serviced at a local bike shop, has a reasonable range ratio and is relatively cheap in comparison to the Rohloff. It also uses a trigger style shifter rather than a twist-shift (some people just do not like twist-shifters). The Alfine is not as tried and tested as the Rohloff but gets good reviews nonetheless.

Personallly I pretty much knew it was the Rohloff I wanted from the start (it really is the Rolls-Royce of IGH). One night after far too much beer for eBay to be a safe place, I put in a bid on a Rohloff Speedhub that was never going to be beaten (thank god it didn’t go for my maximum bid!!!) and the seed was sown. The Rohloff Speedhub I bought was not meant for disc brake use (Doh! Note to self – never ever drink beer when bidding on eBay). After thinking I was going to have to put the Rohloff back on eBay, I contacted Rohloff in Germany who informed me they could carry out a disc brake conversion. Although it was not cheap it was still cheaper than buying a brand new one. The Speedhub was sent to Rohloff in Germany, converted to a disc brake hub, fully serviced and a lighter shifter indexing spring fitted – Rohloff managed to turn the conversion around in about 10 days and the results are fantastic.

Finding the frame I wanted proved to be more of a mission. So many different options; track ends, eccentric bottom bracket, chain tensioner… I knew that I wanted a frame with an Eccentric Bottom Bracket (EBB) rather than horizontal drop-outs to provide the method of tensioning the chain. I stumbled across 2 other options during my search; Forward Components and Exzentriker make a universal eccentric bottom bracket which allows you to install an eccentric bottom bracket on any bicycle frame. Great I thought.. I’ll get an unbranded carbon frame from eBay (sober) for ?250 and use the Universal Ebb to convert it!! Things didn’t work out that way. A friend of mine had just bought an unbranded carbon frame from eBay. The frame, although brand new was crooked. The seatstay/chainstays were out of alignment and one of the drop-outs was considerably lower than the other, resulting in a wheel that rubbed on the seatstay and could not be fitted with a tyre mounted!! Oops.. he has since had a refund, but I was put off this route; regardless of this Forward Components were out of stock, Exzentriker were pricey and I wanted to get cracking, so I continued my search for the perfect frame with an EBB….. It was actually whilst on Singletrackworld that I stumbled across the Chumba HX1 frame and Simon at ‘Progressive Bikes’ http://www.progressive-bikes.co.uk.

I must personally thank Simon for all his help and advice on the frame and components. Even taking my phonecall during the build at nine in the evening when I had a question about the Eccentric bottom bracket – thanks Simon!! I couldn’t be more pleased with the frame – it is incredibly well built, the welds are beautiful, it rides beautifully (so agile, yet planted) and is a real head turner with the anodised black finish and angular tubes. Apparently the angular tubes help rigidity and strength.
Chumba also make a 29er – the HX2. The HX1 looks like a good candidate for a 650b (27.5″) conversion, although I can’t justify this for some time now having just had the 26″ wheels built.

Thanks must also go to Roger and Dan at ‘Head for the Hills’ in Dorking who build many custom bikes, including custom Rohloff bikes. I originally demo’d their Nicolai Argon FR (w/ Rohloff) and Genesis iO iD Alfine 11. They were an invaluable source of information and supplied and built the wheels (Mavic X719) for me (including lacing the Rohloff Speedhub). They did a fantastic job and I couldn’t have been more pleased. The Nicolai Argon frame is Rohloff specific and has the shifter cable bosses running down the downtube and chainstay. The Chumba is not Rohloff specific and does not have these bosses but it did not stop me routing the cable the same way using cable ties. I feel the downtube/chainstay routing gives a much cleaner optic to the bike over a toptube/seatstay routing, however in practical terms there was nothing to stop me routing the shifter cables on the same bosses occupied by the rear disc hose which would have alleviated my need to use cable ties on the downtube. Whilst the Nicolai frames are great, they are over twice the cost of the Chumba!!!

Thanks also to my best mate Richard for coming round and helping to bolt it all together!! I don’t think I could have stopped him even if I had wanted to! Thankfully he is very mechanically minded, although once when removing a wheel from his Land Rover I did have to tell him it might be helpful to put a jack under it before removing the last two wheel nuts!!

Fitting the Rohloff to the Chumba was a breeze using a ‘monkeybone’ adapter (?25 from Head for the Hills) and a Rohloff TS OEM2 axleplate. No modifications were required to any of the components and they all fitted together perfectly. Adjusting the bottom bracket was quick and simple using a 5mm allen key. It seems rock solid and was a simple five minute job to re-adjust after the first ride had helped to settle things down.

Stupidly and in desperation to get out on the new bike the first test ride was a 20 mile singletrackathon after two months out of the saddle. I was left feeling sore and exhausted (a stupid get off where I looped the bike through a combination of tiredness and lack of concentration, landing on my cocyx didn’t help matters). After the ride I was smiling, but if I’m honest slightly unsure if I had made the right decision and wondering what changes I should make to the bike. However, the second test ride (same route as the first) after having been back in the saddle and having made a few tweaks to the stem, bars, saddle, tyres, forks etc. was a completely different story. The bike was transformed by the tweaks and bang on the sweet spot – I was grinning like a kid and could have kept on going and going! It had changed from being a good bike I was happy with into a great bike I was/am in love with. Retrospectively I had spent far too much time in the saddle on the first ride – literally, both in terms of distance covered and with the saddle, bars and stem not quite adjusted correctly too much time sitting over the jack-hammer root sections when I should have been standing.

I was not looking to build a bike that was the lightest, fastest, most expensive etc. I was concious of weight but not to the point of buying XTR cranks to save the weight of a bag of crisps over the SLX, or worrying too much about tyre weight. The bike is beautifully balanced, I had worried the hub would have placed too much weight at the rear. It has taken around a week to get accustomed to the Speedhub, but I absolutely love it now. Most of my riding is technical singletrack with friends where we tend to ride a combination of 15 minute blasts, 30 minutes or so of endurance riding, hit the smaller jumps, stop occasionally, talk about and swap each others bikes, rather than flat-out racing/training. For my needs and wants, I could not be happier. Sure if I had bottomless pockets I would have upgraded some of the components but the frame and hub would ultimately have remained the same – the Rohloff Speedhub and the Chumba HX1 – everyone should ride one….. at least twice!!

Bike weight: 13kg – 28.6lb

Fork: Fox 32 Float RLC 130mm Tapered 15QR
Frame: Chumba HX1 (Medium) Anodized Black
Brakes: Shimano Deore M595 (Mineral oil)
Stem: Ritchey Carbon WCS 100mm 6deg
Handlebars: Ritchey Carbon Pro Riser Bars
Chainring Front: Renthal SR4 38T
Sprocket Rear: 16T
Crankset: Shimano SLX Hollowtech II
Rims: Mavic X719 (Hope Evo 2 QR15 Front)
Gears: Rohloff Speedhub 500/14 TS
Tyres: Maxxis Advantage 26×2.4
Seatpost: Unbranded Carbon Seatpost
Saddle: Selle Italia C2

Cost – around 2,500, would have been around 2,800 with a new Speedhub.

[img]http://www.flickr.com/photos/65452580@N02/5959885569/in/photostream[/img][img]http://www.flickr.com/photos/65452580@N02/5959885327/in/photostream[/img]

I struggle with long sentences – is there an abstract ?

😉

pics? Looks good, in fact thats the best looking roloffd bike I’ve seen for a while.

I’ve got one and it surprised me how good it is for what you say, 2-3 hour social rides. Much better than I thought it would be for some reason.

pics won’t show yet as I’ve just started my Flickr Account…

Chumba HX1 Rohloff

Chumba HX1 Rohloff

looks good. can i ask how much rohloff charged to convert the non-disc to disc hub? just i’m thinking of getting a rohloff too and will open up more options to buy a non-disc hub if its not too steep. cheers

The price for the conversion depends upon the exact type of hub that you have to start with.

Mine was:
Disc Brake hubcap + EX gear Mech, small parts, seals, gaskets oil and testing = 159.00 Euros
Labor (30 mins) = 33.00 Euros
Return postage = ???10??? Euros

Special 4 hole disc 160mm Avid (cheapest available) = 33.00 Euros
TS OEM2 axleplate = 21.70 Euros

MonkeyBone = 25.00 pounds from Head for the Hills in Dorking.

Additionally, if your particular SPEEDHUB has a serial number lower than 18,100. Rohloff offer an upgrade on these models to a lighter shifting spring. This eases the force required to twist the shifter and change gear. Part and labour for this totals 54.00 Euros (I had this done and was glad I did).

The SPEEDHUB has been fully serviced and is running like a Swiss watch! In truth it would have been cheaper to have bought a Disc Brake model in the first place.

gazc, you’ll need to give Rohloff the exact model number for them to give you a price. I contacted them a while ago about it and they asked for that in order to give a price. I didn’t follow it up as the cost of doing it getting my frame modified and buying another disc brake didn’t seem to make sense just to get a disc brake on the rear, I put the money towards a second bike instead.

thanks for the info guys, worth bearing in mind. cheers

Goodgugu – That is a very nice looking bike. Have a similar build myself but as i am doing more longer days and events now weight has become a wee bit of an issue and so…

gazc – I am thinking of selling my Rohloff soon, I have all the parts for a two bike setup (one HT and one FS) two shifters, tensioner etc. Drop me an e-mail (ijs445ra@tiscali.co.uk) if you are interested.

Nice looking bike 🙂
Might try an Alfine myself for winter duties on an HX1.

stunning looking bike.

that is very nice 🙂 am really interested in the rohloff hub system.if i ever had the funds,would love to convert my duster steel to it (would be ideal for winter!)