Hi guys, while visiting Propel in Long Beach this week I was able to spend some time with Chris looking at the new E-14 internally geared hub that's Bosch compatible. The Rohloff Speedhub E-14 is one of the highest quality internally geared hub systems for bicycles and electric bikes. It's electronically shifted for high precision and integrates with Bosch ebike systems for shift detection, to reduce wear and stress. The E-14 offers fourteen gear choices and a range of 526° of gearing range. This makes it a great choice for climbing and high speed applications alike. Much like the SRAM Eagle 500° cassette (with 10 to 50 tooth sprockets) the Speedhub is a great choice for mountain bikes and urban speed pedelecs alike. It's durable, with reports of over 200,000 miles of use, only requiring occasional oil changes. There is no external derailleur, so the gears and shifting mechanisms are very well protected. It does weigh a bit more than a cassette and derailleur at roughly 3.75lbs (between 1,700 and 1,800 grams depending on the model chosen). Rohloff offers a wide range of hub spacing options from 135mm, 142mm, Boost 148mm, Fat Bike 170mm, Fat Bike 177mm, 190mm, and 197mm as well as 9mm axle and M12 12mm thru-axle support. It can be shifted at standstill, as with most internally geared hubs and continuously variable transmissions like Enviolo/NuVinci and even has an automatic downshift feature that can return to a set gear when the bike is stopped. This makes starting from standstill efficient.
Pros:
As always, I welcome feedback, corrections, additional pros/cons and your own experience with this part. I think it's pretty cool and look forward to testing it with more electric bikes in 2019 and beyond
Pros:
- Extremely durable, low maintenance and longer maintenance intervals compared to a derailleur and chain
- Shift detection support when paired with Bosch
- Electronic readout of chosen gear
- Automatic downshift on stop with gear choice
- Allows for shifting at standstill
- Compatible with Gates Carbon belt drives
- Many hub spacing and axle size options
- In really dirty conditions, a belt drive might not be ideal... so it's cool that the E-14 is also compatible with chains
- Adds roughly $1,000 USD to the price of most bikes
- Adds weight, compared to a traditional cassette + derailleur but still weighs less than the NuVinci N380 or N360 which are roughly 2450 grams (5.4lbs)
- Even at 180 milliseconds, it shifts slower than a derailleur
As always, I welcome feedback, corrections, additional pros/cons and your own experience with this part. I think it's pretty cool and look forward to testing it with more electric bikes in 2019 and beyond
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