MD 1000 with Rohloff Speed Hub & Gates Belt Drive

[RMK!]

I know Yeili has 50 of the Rohloff 500/14 Speed Hub equipped MD 1000's being built and I'm wondering if anyone here has ordered this bike with the Rohloff option? I have a bike with that drive train although mine is electric shift with a chain drive vs the manual shift Gates belt drive on the MD 1000. I'm curious because my current bike (Riese & Muller) has the small Bosch mid-drive 350W motor and no throttle that cuts the assist at 28mph. That means the 12th-14th gears are useless unless riding down hill. The over 500% gear range of the Rohloff 14 makes climbing the steepest hills possible even with the little Bosch motor. When combined with the Ultra motor climbing in the low gears and very high speeds in the highest gears should be attainable if the Bafang controller is unlocked. I hope that is still possible on the current versions of the Ultra motor.

In any case, I'm looking forward to owner impressions and chomping at the bit to make an order myself. I think this very interesting new model deserves it's own thread.

 

[RMK!]

Yesterday I pulled the trigger on the MD 1000 Rohloff bike. I've had such a great experience with the Rohloff and I believe that the Ultra motor, Gates Belt Drive Rohloff Speed Hub will be a fantastic combination. I see that Bikonit is only offering the MD 1000 in that configuration so they should start appearing here in the next month or two. I'm probably in for a long wait (3-4 months) and hope some of the early purchasers will post comments somewhere in this section.