Scott Sumner is one of the most devoted Rohloff converts we know. We've set up four of his mountain bikes with SPEEDHUBs, and he says he'll never go back to a derailleur system. He has even convinced a number of his riding buddies to try out the Rohloff internal gear drivetrain, and afterwards they had us build up bikes for them.
Read on to learn why Scott is such a fan of his Rohloff SPEEDHUBs.
What type of bikes are you using your Rohloff hub on and
why did you choose it?
My main bike is a Niner RIP 9, but the first one I did a conversion on was an
Ellsworth Moment that I use for big downhill runs at places like Downieville. I ride
the Niner on most rides that are not full-on downhill bombs. I also have a Gary Fisher Superfly I use to chase the kids around on the high school MTB team I
help coach. Lastly, I have a Santa Cruz Blur that I set up for my kid.
What type of riding do you do mostly?
Mostly mountain biking, as you can tell from my bikes. Those
four bikes serve my purposes well, but I’ve toyed with the idea of getting a
27.5 inch bike for Downieville, but the Ellsworth works well enough.
How do you plan to use the bike in the future? Do you
have any major rides or trips planned?
No long tours, but I’ve done plenty of trips where I ride
two runs a day at Downieville for a few days in a row. That puts a lot of
stress on a bike.
What attracted you to the Rohloff hub for the type of
riding you do?
About 95 percent of what makes a ride disappointing is when you have
shifting issues. The Rohloff hub is so reliable that it makes suspension your
main maintenance issue, and suspension doesn’t really need maintenance except once a year.
It also improves the handling of the bike a ton because you
can shift into the right gear without having to pedal. A lot of people don’t realize
how much of an advantage this is. You get a lot more 'micro shifting,' which improves
your traction, because you can have the right amount of torque at any time. It makes about as much sense for mountain biking as suspension and disc brakes.
What is your favorite feature of the Rohloff hub?
It’s definitely the reliability. Unless your cables are
shot, the hub shifts the same all the time. When I ride my road bike after a
long time on my mountain bikes, I find myself mis-shifting or shifting at the wrong time.
At first I questioned the weight of the hub, but I figured it’s a one pound difference compared to Shimano XT shift system. Cost-wise, you don’t have to go through too many derailleurs till you’ve paid for it. Weight distribution is in the center of the hub, so it’s in the perfect place. The weight in the rear offsets the weight of a suspension fork and gives the bike more balance.
At first I questioned the weight of the hub, but I figured it’s a one pound difference compared to Shimano XT shift system. Cost-wise, you don’t have to go through too many derailleurs till you’ve paid for it. Weight distribution is in the center of the hub, so it’s in the perfect place. The weight in the rear offsets the weight of a suspension fork and gives the bike more balance.
-Scott Sumner
Thanks to Scott for taking the time to talk with us and keep enjoying your Rohloff-equipped mountain bike rides!
We'd love to hear stories and see pictures of your Rohloff and Schlumpf equipped bikes in action! Send them to adventures@cyclemonkey.com.
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