Changing the CrossTour gear hub

[Ebike Noob]

I bought a ready-to-ship CrossTour a couple of years ago, and I haven't ridden it very much because it came with the Sturmey Archer 3 speed IGH, and I live in a place that's hilly enough for that to not really work. I'm wanting to upgrade to something else but I'm not sure what my options are. I think the CrossTour is 170mm so there's no Kindernay option right now? Maybe it's just the Rohloff? I'm not sure which exact model I need and how involved the upgrade process might be. Any suggestions would be welcome!

 

[Deacon Blues]

I have a UC Pro with the same rear axle spacing.
From what I can tell the Kindernay (as you mentioned) won't fit and I don't believe the Rohloff will either.
Your only choice. as far as I can see, is to have your rear wheel re-laced with a 170mm hub and then go with a derailleur setup.
Then, you will run into the same situation that I did.
When I bought my UC Pro from WW it had an Archer 3 speed Igh, which I didn't want. Pushkar readily swapped it out for a derailleur setup and sent it to me.
When I finally got the bike it suffered from massive chain skip in 4 of the 11 cassette cogs. My local bike mechanic said that he had never seen a chain cross that severe in the 20 years he's been wrenching bikes. To put it bluntly, the drivetrain was a royal cluster f*ck. Pushkar told me he'd had the bike test-ridden and everything seemed to work perfectly.
Working with Pushkar and others on this forum I was able to get the derailleur to shift decently in 10 of the 11 cassette cogs. The chain still skips in the smallest cog.

You can PM me for more discussion, if you wish.
Ron

 

[Ebike Noob]

Thanks for quick response, @Deacon Blues! Is it bad form to continue the discussion here? Maybe someone else will find it useful some day. Happy to move to PMs if that's more appropriate.

Why wouldn't the Rohloff fit? I thought it was an option for the crosstour, and in one review I found (https://www.electrifiedreviews.com/watt-wagons/bikes/160-crosstour) it mentions having a 14 speed Rohloff speedhub. They list a number of 170mm options on their website but I don't know which of these would be the right thing: https://www.rohloff.de/en/shop/speedhub-500/14/ts-db-xl-170mm or https://www.rohloff.de/en/shop/speedhub-500/14/cc-db-xl-170mm.

I'm glad to hear you got everything working pretty well with your setup!

 

[Deacon Blues]

I mis-spoke when I said the Rohloff probably wouldn't fit. I didn't realize it came in a 170mm hub width.
Does your bike have the Archon X1 controller (2200 W)?
If you go with the Rohloff I'd be very interested in how the install goes.

 

[Deacon Blues]

Try contacting Pushkar. He'll know what hub fits. I'll PM you his cell phone number.

 

[jjonesx86]

Did you ever end up solving your problem...did you go with Rohloff?

 

[Ebike Noob]

Did you ever end up solving your problem...did you go with Rohloff?

@jjonesx86 Yes, I did end up going with the Rohloff, specifically this model: Rohloff - TS DB OEM XL 170mm - 32h - Black

The bike shop that I had do the install ended up having to build a new wheel for the hub, I think due to the number of spokes, so it ended up being a bit more expensive than I was hoping for, but it was definitely worth the upgrade.

 

[jjonesx86]

Thanks for the quick confirmation. Since the swap, how has the Rohloff handled the power? Any other issues other than install complexity?

 

[Ebike Noob]

It’s handled the power great, and the extra gears have been invaluable where I live. I don’t ride as much as a lot of people though so I don’t have a ton of miles on it yet. It’s only been about a year since I got it installed. No issues so far though.

 

[Gionnirocket]

Thanks for the quick confirmation. Since the swap, how has the Rohloff handled the power? Any other issues other than install complexity?

I've been using a Rohloff with a 1000w M620 for 2 years now and it's been absolutely wonderful. I've tuned the hyper aggression out of the motor for a more natural feel and to be less strain on the drivetrain, but I still have access to full power, just with a more natural ramp up.. especially in lower PAS.
4200mi on a KMC e8 chain in one year and still not at 0.75
The M620/Rohloff are a awesome match (imo)

 

[Gionnirocket]

It’s handled the power great, and the extra gears have been invaluable where I live. I don’t ride as much as a lot of people though so I don’t have a ton of miles on it yet. It’s only been about a year since I got it installed. No issues so far though.

With the M620 and a Rohloff you can climb a tree!