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Internal gear hub drivetrains, with their rugged design and low maintenance compared to derailleur systems, are a reliable option for an e-bike setup. Kindernay’s two offerings, the XIV 14-speed and VII 7-speed gear hubs, additionally offer smooth hydraulic shifting and a removable hub shell that allows easily swapping wheel bodies. Neil installed the Kindernay XIV hub on his Orbea Rise e-MTB to see how it performs.
This Nicolai Eboxx was built for a customer down in New Mexico. She was previously riding a 2018 specialized turbo levo so e-bikes were not a foreign concept for her. She was interested in the Eboxx for its modern slack geometry, insane customization, and the use of a belt and gearbox system.
This Soma Wolverine was built up for a customer looking for a solid do everything bike. After his Soma Double Cross was “nailed by a car” he was in the market for a new bike. He wanted to stay with the same brand, but wanted the bike to be a do it all workhorse. It needed to be light enough to haul on and off of busses for commuting, strong enough to carry groceries, pet food, and other acutremonds from the store, and be able to ride anywhere from long paved roads up the coast to light fire road climbs.
This Co-Motion Divide belongs to an avid bicycle tourer from Carson City, NV, who frequently spends time traveling and riding in Asia. The bike was purchased complete from Co-Motion, and the customer later stopped into Cycle Monkey to have his wheels rebuilt with sturdier rims. This build is perfectly suited to long-range tours with its strong steel frame frame, low-maintenance drivetrain, and dynamo lighting system.
Rohloff's SPEEDHUB 500/14 provides a multitude of advantages over traditional derailleur-based drivetrains, making it an excellent choice for riders looking to get more reliability and performance out of their bike. Here are just a few of the reasons Rohloff gets our vote as the gold standard of bicycle shifting systems:
This SOMA Fabrications Saga touring bike was built for a customer in Poughkeepsie, NY, completing a coast-to-coast tour following her college graduation. The Trans-America ride is something of a rite of passage for dedicated bicycle tourers, and we were eager to help this rider build up a vessel worthy of the voyage that also wouldn’t break the bank. Soma’s Saga frame was an ideal place to start as an affordable but purpose-built platform for loaded touring that could easily accommodate a Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 internal gear hub.
Danny MacAskill is best known for the type of stunts that make most parents cringe with fear, and the Scottish trials rider’s latest edit, Danny’s Daycare, takes things to a whole new level. The video includes the shocking two-wheeled shenanigans Danny is famous for - including rocks, drops, wall rides, and backflips - with one crucial difference. Danny has a young passenger, Daisy, along for the ride in her Tout Terrain Singletrailer the entire time! (sort of…)
Check out the video here:
Why is the Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 so expensive? Is it really better than other internal gear hubs out there like Shimano’s Alfine 8 or 11 or the Nuvinci/Enviolo N360 or N380? Is there another gear hub on the market worth using?
This Jones Plus is a sure-footed, classic trail bike built for a customer in Montgomery Center, Vermont, who was looking for an ultra-reliable, low-maintenance build to explore the wide network of trails that snake through the woods surrounding this small town at the northern tip of one of America’s northernmost states.
There are many factors to consider when shopping for a new bicycle. Type, frame size, wheel size, component spec, and even color are all important considerations. But many riders fail to consider which drivetrain system is best-suited to their needs before purchasing a new ride.
