What are your favorite Rohloff gears

[Dionigi]

After spending a few months using the Rohloff E-14 my favorite gears are 5, 8, 11 with my start gear being 8. What are your favorite?

 

[Deleted member 18083]

#01 *
#02 *
#03 *
#04 *
#05 **
#06 ***
#07 ***
#08 ***
#09 ****
#10 *****
#11 *****
#12 **
#13 *
#14 *

• Based on 2700 km so far on 2019 R&M Homage GX with E-14.
• More stars = used more.
• Start : #06
• Default for steep climb : #06
• Cruise : #09, #10, #11
• Multi-shift : Mainly used for changing down; for example, climbing out of a gully where an old bridge has been removed on a rail trail.
• The star-rating for various gears would be the same for my Airnimal Black Rhino (Rohloff-equipped small-wheeled folder) – now with a contented new owner.
• Dennis, there is also an interesting comparison to be made between how often we select a gear and how far we travel in a gear.

… David

 

[Dionigi]

#01 – *
#02 – *
#03 – *
#04 – *
#05 – **
#06 – ***
#07 – ***
#08 – ***
#09 – ****
#10 – *****
#11 – *****
#12 – **
#13 – *
#14 – *

More stars = used more.
Start : #06
Default for steep climb : #06
Cruise : #09, #10, #11

For riding around town, with stop and go traffic, I usually cycle between 8 and 11. On the open road I seem to max out at 12 with the CX motor. When I anticipate a steep grade I try to aim for gear 5. So we seem to be in the same range of gears.

 

[Alaskan]

I live half way up a hill with a 16 percent grade. I climb that in 3rd gear in sport mode (the Performance Speed version does not have EMTB) Turbo is normally reserved for steeper hill climbing. I have yet to find a hill that requires first gear. On flats I start up in 7th gear, quickly upshifting about 3 gears jump at a time to the following gears tooling along on a flat road :

• 11 when in Eco at 18 mph
• 12 in Tour at 22 mph
• 13 at 24 mph in Sport.
• 14 is reserved for downhill with the cadence at 90 when doing 35 mph, that being the op speed while pedaling.

 

[Dionigi]

I live half way up a hill with a 16 percent grade. I climb that in 3rd gear in sport mode (the Performance Speed version does not have EMTB) Turbo is normally reserved for steeper hill climbing. I have yet to find a hill that requires first gear. On flats I start up in 7th gear, quickly upshifting about 3 gears jump at a time to the following gears tooling along on a flat road :

• 11 when in Eco at 18 mph
• 12 in Tour at 22 mph
• 13 at 24 mph in Sport.
• 14 is reserved for downhill with the cadence at 90 when doing 35 mph, that being the op speed while pedaling.

It seems like the Speed motor is a better match,than the CX, with the Rohloff gear range. Relating to the CX eMTB mode vs a straight sport mode. From my experience, on both the Rohloff and NuVinci, the eMTB is an overreach for riders using gravel or fire roads. It’s not as if we are heavily envolved in finding the right line on a single track. I plan to have the eMTB changed to straight sport. David Perry mentioned a few times he likes eMTB. Both you and David have used both iteration what is your take.

 

[Alaskan]

It seems like the Speed motor is a better match,than the CX, with the Rohloff gear range. Relating to the CX eMTB mode vs a straight sport mode. From my experience, on both the Rohloff and NuVinci, the eMTB is an overreach for riders using gravel or fire roads. It’s not as if we are heavily envolved in finding the right line on a single track. I plan to have the eMTB changed to straight sport. David Perry mentioned a few times he likes eMTB. Both you and David have used both iteration what is your take.

I had EMTB on my old Nevo and found it wasted energy giving more assist than I wanted in many situations going into turbo mode more than I would prefer. I would rather control the spending of my electrons myself. That said, when going on a ride with a friend who is new to riding an ebike, EMTB makes it way simpler for newbies. You are right about the match between the speed motor and the Rohloff, After 8 months with that combo, I/m still convinced it is a marriage made in heaven. I must say though that my Cube Hybrid with the de-restricted CX and a Shimano Diore XT 11 speed with a 11-46 cassette and a 19 tooth front chain ring is such a fun hot rod of a bike...not nearly the quality ride experience of a Riese & Muller but so much livelier performance. Kind of like a Porsch versus a Mercedes.

 

[Over50]

Mechanical Rohloff here: I guess 8 is my favorite gear. That is my normal start-up gear for my flat land riding. For some reason, 7th gear is really noisy. I noticed when I obtained my late fall tune-up, the LBS tightened up the chain a bit and it changed the gear noises. 7th became less noisy and 8 a little more noisy. Odd. Could be my imagination. But since 8 is my most often used gear I'd say that is my favorite. After that it would probably be 11 or 12 as those are good cruising gears.

 

[Dionigi]

Mechanical Rohloff here: I guess 8 is my favorite gear. That is my normal start-up gear for my flat land riding. For some reason, 7th gear is really noisy. I noticed when I obtained my late fall tune-up, the LBS tightened up the chain a bit and it changed the gear noises. 7th became less noisy and 8 a little more noisy. Odd. Could be my imagination. But since 8 is my most often used gear I'd say that is my favorite. After that it would probably be 11 or 12 as those are good cruising gears.

So we seem to be in agreement on gear selection. Yes 7 is noisy, Alaskan and others say it will smooth out in time.

 

[Dionigi]

I had EMTB on my old Nevo and found it wasted energy giving more assist than I wanted in many situations going into turbo mode more than I would prefer. I would rather control the spending of my electrons myself. That said, when going on a ride with a friend who is new to riding an ebike, EMTB makes it way simpler for newbies. You are right about the match between the speed motor and the Rohloff, After 8 months with that combo, I/m still convinced it is a marriage made in heaven. I must say though that my Cube Hybrid with the de-restricted CX and a Shimano Diore XT 11 speed with a 11-46 cassette and a 19 tooth front chain ring is such a fun hot rod of a bike...not nearly the quality ride experience of a Riese & Muller but so much livelier performance. Kind of like a Porsch versus a Mercedes.

The ideal situation is the eMTB and Sport mode could be user programmable.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

11 is the most efficient gear. On fast flats I try to stay in 11. 7 is the second most efficient gear (and the gear that has an exact 1:1 ratio between input and output).

6 and 12 by comparison feel draggy.

 

[Dmitri]

I use 8-10 in Tour and 10-12 in Sport (no E-MTB mode for me

 

[Greeley]

I have a new Delite GX w the electric Rohloff. I believe that I am to try and avoid remaining in one gear during my early break in period. I find that I have a really hard time avoiding my sweet spot gear which for me is 12.

 

[CampGareth]

I must have a different sprocket and chain ring size to you folk because on my delite GX Rohloff hs my startup gear is 3, maybe 4 or 5 if I'm in a higher assist mode and pulling away from the traffic lights. Favourites are 8 and 11 because 8 covers the 15-20mph range and 11 allows for easy cruising just above 20mph. So far I haven't had a use for 14 but I have used 1 to winch my way up some steep paths next to canal locks.