We have had a Nevo with the Nuvinci hub, now own 2018 Delight Mountain a 2018 Homage with manual Rohloff and a 2019 Homage with E14, Every shifting system benefits in durability if they are shifted with a slight hesitation in power applied to the cranks. The chain will last far longer as will the teeth on the chain ring and the rear cassette. It is easiest not to execute a brief pause on a derailleur system, less so with a Nuvinci and absolutely necessary using a Rohloff. It may be possible to change gears without a pause if you are not climbing a hill but you will get grinding gears and your chain will not last very long at all.
We all know what a derailleur feels like. I found the Nuvinci the easiest to shift quickly and smoothly. That said it was noticeably slower than a bike with the same CX motor with 11 speed derailleur due to the inherent inefficiency of the transmission with its 17% loss of wattage from the cranks to the rear wheel. The Rohloff feels equally efficient to a derailleur system.
The manual Rohloff took a bit of time to accommodate the need for a hiccup in power to the cranks but once I learned to do so with my feet at 6 o'clock and 12 o'clock I soon was able to shift up or down while climbing a 15% grade without issue. With the manual shifter it took two grabs of the rotary shift to go more than three gears at a time.
The E14 does have a 180 millisecond pause during a shift. That is less than 1/4 of a second. When I first rode with the E14 I was not happy with the jerky feel of the e shift. Then I realized I was not easing up on the pedals as I had been with the manual shifter. When I resumed the momentary pause with my feet, the shifting instantly became butter smooth and nearly instantaneous. After a few rides I have committed the process of shifting 1,4,7 or ten gears at a time by varying the press and hold time to muscle memory.
Not only would I never willingly return to a manual shift but I had our 2018 Homage which my wife rides retrofitted with the e-14 electronic shift system. After three rides Nancy is also sold on the superiority of the the E14 over manual shifting.
I really like how one of the fields on my Nyon display shows the gear I am in with an x/14 (x being the present gear). It also has an up and down arrow for shift recommendation when spinning to high or low. On the Intuvia display the current gear is one of the info fields that can be selected and displayed.
I understand the reluctance of some to rely on electronics to be able to shift. My experience to date is that the system is absolutely reliable. I have ridden E14 for over 3,000 miles without issue.
There is a learning curve but really after less than 5 rides I pretty much had it all down. In return I get rock solid reliability, a huge gear range from billy goat to speed demon, great longevity and minimal maintenance.
Rohloff with E14 rules.
