Mileage 254,000 kilometres - for a petrol engine this is already starting to become critical, for a diesel it's nothing special. But almost unbelievable for a bicycle. And for a single Rohloff hub, almost a piece of cake. "Our Speedhub is built to last," announces Barbara Rohloff, not without pride. The Speedhub with a quarter of a million miles on the clock belongs to a normal Rohloff customer. He rides a lot and is already on the third frame of his gear hub, says his dealer. He has serviced the hub from the beginning, noted the speedometer reading each time and can therefore provide plausible proof of the kilometre total.
Transmission fans love stories like this. Because that's what it's all about: as many kilometres as possible with as little effort as possible.
- Cooper Levante Pinion P 1.18
- Cooper Trekk Lite Rohloff
- Gudereit SX-P 4.0 Pinion
- Idworx oPinion Ti Travel Spec
- KTM Life Levanto P18
- Maxx Crossmaxx Pinion 12
- Norwid Spitsbergen PI
- Koga Worldtraveller 29
- Patria Terra Rohloff
- Pegasus Estremo R14
- Poison Chromate
- Simple Away 14
No dirt in the gearstick - no cleaning necessary
A little more weight on the bike, but with today's usual wheel weights of around 16 kilos, one to two kilos extra weight can often even be compensated for by lighter parts. With the appearance of Pinion's gearbox family, which gives cyclists the choice between 18, 12 or 9 gears in various gradations, the range of geared bikes is also growing rapidly. "We are not in competition with Rohloff," says Pinion CEO Christoph Lermen. "We both want to take customers away from derailleur gears."
This area of tension also characterises our test field. When it comes to weight, a simple shoot-out between Rohloff and Pinion is not possible - because it depends on which criteria are more important in each case. The wheel weights in the test averaged 16.175 kg for bikes with Pinion and 16.133 kg for Rohloff bikes. The lightest bike (Böttcher Rohloff) weighs 13.75 kg, the lightest Pinion bike (Maxx with P1.12) 14.00 kg. If you add the additional weight of 350 grams to the P1.18, the Maxx would be 14.35 kg and therefore only 600 grams heavier than the Rohloff bike.
If you only weigh the gearbox, cables, shifter, control unit and axle nut ("system weight"), there is almost exactly one kilo between the Speedhub and P1.18. But on the bike you need a crank, bottom bracket and chainring for Rohloff. Pinion integrates all this, but requires a frame that is built differently at the bottom bracket. And you have to choose a rear hub, which is included with Rohloff.
That leaves the gear range: The Pinion 1.18 offers the widest range of gear progression and places the gears closer together. Many hills, a lot of luggage or a lot of headwinds can therefore be tackled more effortlessly with the finer-stepped, wider gear ratio. But you also have to move the extra weight. The P 1.12 offers only slightly less gear range, but has the longest gear steps. The speed differences and the extra weight (650 grams) compared to the Rohloff require stronger thighs.
Finally, the Rohloff Speedhub is the lightest gear solution. Although it also has the lowest gear range, it graduates the gears very ergonomically. This internal gear range can be easily shifted up or down by changing the number of teeth on the chainring or sprocket. Fit a longer chain or rivet out a few links and you're done. It's more difficult if you ride your gearbox with a belt. In terms of low maintenance, this combination scores top marks.
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