My Review of the Riese & Müller Delite GX Rohloff

[Dmitri]

Finally made a separate channel for all this stuff. The above videos have all been updated, so going to any of them takes you to my new channel. Called "Bikerelated" due to lack of imagination.

P.S.: finally got a reply from 720bike so the fenders are on the way. I expect some hackery ahead trying to get them to fit.

 

[Dmitri]

Well, I got the fenders but, as always, there are plenty of issues, including:

• These mudguards need to be drilled through to fit them. The positions to drill at are far from obvious.
• Rear mudguard doesn't have two sets of struts to attack. Instead, there's just one strut per side and then there's a side bracket on each side for extra stability. This is weird and I don't like it.
• The rear fender is too thick and will not allow a rear 3" tire. This is terrible :|
• The front fender, naturally, doesn't have any sort of attachment to a suspension fork, either to the legs or to the top. These all need to be improvised.

TL;DR is that, while these fenders sure appear to be high quality, and the mounting kit seems seems to be good, it's going to be both difficult and painful fitting these on the Delite and, furthermore, it totally kills the idea of having a 3" rear tire.

 

[niveksilliw]

I was more a fan of the first video and less so of this one although it is still well done. I think in all the literature and videos I've seen describing the bike they specified that it was based on the preferences of the two company founders implying it isn't meant to be a mass seller. So arbitrary and capricious component decisions maybe but also we could take them at their word that they really reflect the personal design preferences of the founders. Now, I would definitely buy the theory that it is their individual preferences from parts they are already sourcing and I wouldn't expect them necessarily to try to source new premium parts for a bike they are sure to sell in a very small quantity.

Your preference for knobbier and fatter tires, wider rims etc is equally arbitrary and I would suspect fits a bit outside the primary use-case the designers envisioned for the bike. I have 35mm rims and Super Moto X on my Haibike and 40mm rims and the same tires on my R&M. For city commuting or mostly smooth surface riding I'd much rather have that setup vs wider rims and fatter tires. For me that setup offers a good blend of of commuting/road efficiency, secure and robust handling and comfort.

I agree that it seems weird they didn't choose the Rohloff but also the electric version of the Rohloff may not be ready yet (?). And the founders personally prefer this setup to the Rohloff for their primary use-case?

Yes, I wasn't a fan of the pedals that came on my R&M but I've changed the pedals on every bike I've purchased except my folders. Surely it reflects that they realize that pedals and seats are highly individualized and expect that most purchasers will switch them out.

Didn't really get the point on the Fox website. A lot of times they don't show the versions they sell to the manufacturers. I was thinking you pointed that out in your first video but maybe I'm not recalling correctly. If the primary use-case for the bike per the vision of the designers is road and smooth surface riding (hence Super Moto X tires and 40mm rims) then the Fox 100mm fork is more than adequate.

Personally, I would never consider buying a 20 mph bike for that price. I'd rather have two or three good bikes for a similar amount of money. When I read of the introduction of the bike I immediately thought "they'll sell about 5 of those".

Videos are really well done. Very educational for me even if I didn't agree with several of the points in the second video. Thanks for posting them.

I think Dmitri is becoming a bit long-winded. I watched half his video and had to let it go!

 

[WelshBazinNZ]

I managed to fit front mudguards to a suspension fork using a couple of cat eye seat post brackets like this

https://247cycleshop.com/cateye-rea...-stay-handlebar-adjustable-clamping-band.html

Then attached the mudguards at the top of the fork with a couple of neatly placed cable ties. It works quite well.

 

[Dmitri]

I managed to fit front mudguards to a suspension fork using a couple of cat eye seat post brackets like this

https://247cycleshop.com/cateye-rea...-stay-handlebar-adjustable-clamping-band.html

Then attached the mudguards at the top of the fork with a couple of neatly placed cable ties. It works quite well.

Thanks for the pointer! As for the top attachment, the first (sad) thing is I have to drill the fender. I was thinking of doing the attachment in the same way as R&M themselves have done it - a bolt that holds on to a loop around the arch.

 

[christob]

Fascinating to watch and hear all the mods you've done.
Unrelated, 9 years ago I spent 8 days vacationing with a friend in St. Petersburg and it remains a highlight memory for each of us whenever we talk about past vacations. We're both glad now that we went when we did, as it seems much more daunting in today's political climate, to imagine such a trip. But what an incredible city and its suburbs, to experience!

 

[Wanabxtrm]

Thanks the post and the in depth video. It’s hard to find info on the delites for whatever reason. Just recently ordered a gx Rohloff after much debate. Now starts the long wait for receipt. I’ll post up a thread with details separately

 

[Dmitri]

So I finally installed the Pletscher R80 mudguards (discussed above). It took a lot of drilling and some extra hardware (screws and fork clamps, specifically), but in the end it fit just fine and is looking pretty good! I'll make a video a bit later to show all the gory details.

On a sadder note, I suspect my Rohloff hub is leaking oil

 

[Ebiketraveller]

Hi everyone! I made a video review of my Delite bike halfway through all the planned upgrades. Here it is. Comments welcome!

Thank you Dmitri - great post! I can certainly endorse much of what you have to say about the Delite GX Rohloff with setup for touring, as I went through the same issues, but, like you, overall I find the bike fantastic. I recently covered 16,800km touring around Eastern Australia in 6 months, towing a Topeak Journey single-wheel trailer (to carry a 1000 watt Yamaha generator for re-charging). All-up weight, including me, was 175 kg. I tried desperately hard to get a Gates carbon belt drive because I've been going through a lot of chains, and, like others, I was told it's not currently possible because R&M haven't submitted the Delite frame to Rohloff to pass their flex test, which is needed unless you want to void the Rohloff warranty. But I think this is not correct information, and that possibly the real reason is the backstay on the Delite would be in direct line with the return side of the drive chain/belt without the snub pulley, and a snub pulley is not permitted with the Gates. By the way, I went for a Jones H-bar handlebar on the touring setup because of the relaxed upright ride position it gives.

 

[Dmitri]

Thank you Dmitri - great post! I can certainly endorse much of what you have to say about the Delite GX Rohloff with setup for touring, as I went through the same issues, but, like you, overall I find the bike fantastic. I recently covered 16,800km touring around Eastern Australia in 6 months, towing a Topeak Journey single-wheel trailer (to carry a 1000 watt Yamaha generator for re-charging). All-up weight, including me, was 175 kg. I tried desperately hard to get a Gates carbon belt drive because I've been going through a lot of chains, and, like others, I was told it's not currently possible because R&M haven't submitted the Delite frame to Rohloff to pass their flex test, which is needed unless you want to void the Rohloff warranty. But I think this is not correct information, and that possibly the real reason is the backstay on the Delite would be in direct line with the return side of the drive chain/belt without the snub pulley, and a snub pulley is not permitted with the Gates. By the way, I went for a Jones H-bar handlebar on the touring setup because of the relaxed upright ride position it gives.

Yeah, having a Gates Carbon Drive would be nice. I personally don't know what the limitations are -- the Delite NuVinci uses the carbon drive just fine, so I'm thinking maybe it's possible to do the retrofit myself just for the fun of it (the Delite does eat through chains rather quickly). Only possible concern is that the chainline must be very precise, but I can always engineer new dropouts (and also make them of steel, because R&M uses aluminum, surprise!) that move the chainline slightly back if that's what's required.

The Jones H-bar is great btw, I don't have it on Delite but have it on some of the fatbikes, both mine and ones we sell. It's excellent for long-distance touring.

 

[Dmitri]

@Dmitri - How is your Rohlhoff holding up?

It's leaking, I think

Last time I disassembled it to install the R80 fenders, I saw oil on the QR skewer. Not good. It seems to be holding up OK so far, no more noise than usual, so perhaps it's the skewer that's containing it for now. I ordered some oil for an oil change, but if it is really leaking, that obviously won't help.

 

[PBVideo]

I read that the Rohloff can leak under certain conditions. Here’s their explanation; https://www.rohloff-au.com/faq-oil-leaks

Let us know what you find out about your leak.

 

[Dmitri]

I think I've finally reached the endgame as far as this bike is concerned:

 

[Over50]

Really nice job.

 

[dblhelix]

I think I've finally reached the endgame as far as this bike is concerned:

Appreciate your taking the time to make these videos and looking forward to the next one.

 

[Wanabxtrm]

Did you add much suspension travel either front or rear?

 

[Dmitri]

Did you add much suspension travel either front or rear?

On the front, I went from 100mm Suntour to 120mm Fox, not a major change and no change in bike geometry (both forks are same size). On the rear, I didn't add any travel — this is in fact impossible because the rear bracket is defined specifically for a 6.5×1.5 shock and any change to that would simply not work.

Also, I get a lot of pedal strikes, the motor is already low enough as it is. Wouldn't want to add more rear travel anyway.

 

[Dmitri]

Summary of changes from the 2017 to the 2018 model:

• Gates Carbon Drive. R&M claims they have changed the rear swingarm to accomodate this, but notice how the website doesn't show even the preview picture for the Rohloff Delite — they show an Enviolo-equipped one instead.
• Deepsea Blue Metallic shown as an option in the listing despite not being enabled in the preview.
• Front fork is now Boost
• Rody Trip 35mm rims: these replace the excellent MD40 rims from AlexRims. 35mm is good enough for 2.6" but I'm not sure about 3.0" (e.g., Wrathchilds).
• Rohloff E-14: a major plus!
• Display: Kiox option. I'd take Kiox anytime! Or no display at all!
• Brakes: Magura MT4 no no no no no major epic downgrade. The XT brakes are fine. Could have updated them to the BR8020 (quad-piston) ones or the awesome Shimano Saint. Magura brakes are spongy nonsense.
• Front light: supernova M99 Mini Pro-25. Major, epic downgrade. The M99 Pro is the only light worth having on a bike like this.
• Rear light: supernova M99, which is actually good compared to Toplight which it replaces.
• Lower transmission ratio: my GX Rohloff is 22-18, whereas with Gates it's 22-20 (22-19 on the HS model, why?).
• Bike lock: Abus Bordo Plus Alarm. Woo-hoo, integrated lock alarm.

Overall many downgrades here, specifically the rims, I'm not sure how comfy I'd be with 3" tires on these.

 

[pedelecsva]

Hi everyone! I made a video review of my Delite bike halfway through all the planned upgrades. Here it is. Comments welcome!

Hi Dimitri. I think I've heard you mention in one of your videos, that you've had a childseat on the Delite. Do you have any pictures of this, and any recommendations regarding this? I am thinking of ordering af Delite Rohloff GX HS with riding with my daughter as one of the main reasons. Is it good? Thanks.

 

[Dmitri]

Hi Dimitri. I think I've heard you mention in one of your videos, that you've had a childseat on the Delite. Do you have any pictures of this, and any recommendations regarding this? I am thinking of ordering af Delite Rohloff GX HS with riding with my daughter as one of the main reasons. Is it good? Thanks.

I don't have a child seat. I used to simply stick a pillow or something soft under the straps attached to the rear rack to make things comfortable. I didn't have my bike back when my son was young, so there was never any need for a child seat. That said, I don't think that would be a problem to attach.