"There aren't that many ways a Rohloff can fail and leave you with nothing. In fact there is only one that I have heard of actually happening and that is shearing the nylon shear pins - although if you do that it is likely because you're using the hub outside of its specification, those pins are designed to shear in order to protect the hub."
A broken spoke flange won't take long to leave you with nothing - I know someone who has had this happen twice.
"There aren't that many ways a Rohloff can fail and leave you with nothing. In fact there is only one that I have heard of actually happening and that is shearing the nylon shear pins - although if you do that it is likely because you're using the hub outside of its specification, those pins are designed to shear in order to protect the hub."A broken spoke flange won't take long to leave you with nothing - I know someone who has had this happen twice.
Can't that happen with a normal hub too? Does that leave it not functioning at all (I genuinely don't know)?
Yes, but at around a £1000 for a Rohloff hub and with them being sold as almost maintenance free and ideal for world tours and tandems, people expect better.
If you break a normal hub, no matter where you are in the world, you won't be far from a suitable replacement.
A replacement Rohloff hub has to be posted out from Germany.
I don't think it's a common problem, but there are a few stories and pictures on the web.
A Rohloff hub flange is one of the few things I have never broken on a bike.
It can only be a matter of time.
I'd be inclined to go for the Alfine 11 on the basis that the gears are arranged pretty evenly either side of 1:1. Being Shimano as well there's almost certainly going to be a wider support network and more chance of getting parts / replacements in a pinch. I'd like them to offer 48H versions for heavy duty cargo bike use and they should really give you stuff like the non-rotating washers with the hub (cheeky devils).
Yes, but at around a £1000 for a Rohloff hub and with them being sold as almost maintenance free and ideal for world tours and tandems, people expect better.
If you break a normal hub, no matter where you are in the world, you won't be far from a suitable replacement.
A replacement Rohloff hub has to be posted out from Germany.
I don't think it's a common problem, but there are a few stories and pictures on the web.
A Rohloff hub flange is one of the few things I have never broken on a bike.
It can only be a matter of time.
I agree but my point is about the number of failure modes that leave it totally unusable, which as far as I am aware is not many. I suppose it depends on how remote your tour is or what kind of country it is but there might not be too much difference in getting a hub sent out and having to source 'normal' bits. I have read, mostly on the Rohloff site, that they have sent out hubs for free to people while on long distance remote tours. I cannot imagine any other drivetrain part company doing that, try getting Shimano to send you a new Alfine hub to the middle of Africa. No way.
They're not perfect, I've talked about my experiences on other threads but I still think they are the best drivetrain choice for reliability and lack of required maintenance.
Personally, I'd go with the Alfine. Mate has a rohloff - its heavy and a faff to set up.
I have the 8 speed Alfine, and have now done > 10000 miles on it with no issues, and most importantly - minimal faff.
Been through about £50 of chains, chainrings are still original.
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