I don't really know how a rider would feel drag, or not, in a Rohloff. What sensation do you expect there to be, or not to be? That is the question.
You feel drag in how often you have to pedal to repeatedly overcome it.
Trailrat and I are probably doing what Al says - trying to push on. We raced seriously when we both had Rohloffs and the drag bothered the pair of us. I was a bit of a spinner then. The drag did bother me, and returning to normal gears felt markedly faster. Even today, when I only race ttwo or three times a year, my regular rides without company are almost all done as fast as I can and efficiency is important to me.
I also don't find modern derailleur drivetrains unreliable, and I ride in total filth.
Trailrat and I are probably doing what Al says – trying to push on. We raced seriously when we both had Rohloffs and the drag bothered the pair of us. I was a bit of a spinner then. The drag did bother me, and returning to normal gears felt markedly faster. Even today, when I only race two or three times a year, my regular rides without company are almost all done as fast as I can and efficiency is important to me.
Interesting point. I was struggling to work out whether I experienced drag when I had a Rohloff. It was a different riding experience no doubt - the gripshift and changing gear when stationary being the most obvious mechanical differences, but it also had a different riding feel. I was riding to work in central London during the week, then swapping tyres and riding Swinley etc at weekends. The weight balance felt very different, and the weight being at the back wheel made the bike feel more sluggish in changing direction, shifting the weight of the bike around, or accelerating. And I think it felt like it was perhaps dragging/ less efficient when really standing up and mashing, but I don't know if it actually was draggy.
Excellent piece of engineering overall, and makes even more sense in a time of 1x12 drivetrains than it did when the alternative was 3x9. I never full sorted out the issue of chain tension tbh; that and the weight balance eventually got me to switch back to derailleurs, even though the Rohloff was technically a far better solution
I don’t really know how a rider would feel drag, or not, in a Rohloff. What sensation do you expect there to be, or not to be?
You feel drag when you are pedalling up a hill and think 'flippin eck this is slow I should be going a bit faster than this'. If you only ever ride a Rohloff you won't feel it, no. But if you regularly ride multiple bikes you'll feel it when one is slower than the others.
This is of course due to things like tyres (probably the biggest thing) and also riding position has an effect, but if you have experience with tyres and know what to expect you will notice if something is particularly draggy. It all depends on how sensitive you are to things like this, and how much you care about performance. Again, no right or wrong, and in many ways you are lucky if you don't care because there are of course major advantages to hub gears in the form of maintenance, reliability in mud and so on. Like I say I'd have bought one years ago if it weren't for the cost.
My theory is that a fair percentage of the ‘drag’ is psychosomatic due to the noise.
I rode them for years and have the same suspicion that part of it is the noise and partly the different feel through the pedals. And the weight balance and the friction back-pedalling add to it. I never felt it was an issue, but a conventional bike definitely feels 'livelier'. The Pinion, despite being a heavy bike, didn't feel the same.
bedmaker
...My theory is that a fair percentage of the ‘drag’ is psychosomatic due to the noise....
I think you're right, but it still feels like drag.
Trying hard to love mine. I figure now I'm getting old and frail I might need a few gears, but I think I still prefer my 3 speed Sturmey-Archer. Less gears to confuse me (when I remember to change them). 🙂
