Rohloff-Equipped Surly Disc Trucker Commuting/Touring Bike

We built this bike for a local customer in Oakland, CA for commuting and bike packing.  He had come across the Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 as the ideal drivetrain for a reliable, hassle-free daily transportation bike and came to us to test ride it and discuss build options.  The Surly Disc Trucker offered a value priced frame with Rohloff-specific features and disc brakes for all-weather braking performance.  We built the rest of the bike up with sturdy, economical parts.

For the wheels, we laced the Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 and a White Industries MI6 front disc hub to a pair of Velocity Aeroheat rims using Sapim Race double butted spokes.  The Aeroheat model is the 26" version of the Dyad rim that we use regularly for commuting, light to moderate touring, and cross country mountain bike wheels.

Surly is known for providing durable frames out of chromoly steel at reasonable prices.  The Disc Trucker is the disc brake version of their popular Long Haul Trucker touring frame.  As any fully-equipped touring frame should, the Disc Trucker frame and fork come with a variety of mounting points for racks, fenders, and even a place to carry spare spokes.  Having the rear disc caliper positioned between the seatstay and chainstay eliminates common interference issues between a rack and the disc caliper.  Smaller frame sizes use 26" wheels (42-54cm), and larger sizes are offered with a choice of 26" (56-62cm) or 700c wheels (56-64cm).  With long chainstays and a relaxed head angle, the geometry lends itself to a stable, comfortable ride.

Rohloff-Equipped, Belt Driven Independent Fabrication 29'er Mountain Bike

We built this bike for a local customer in El Cerrito, CA as an insurance replacement for a bike that was stolen.  While he was sad to loose his old bike, he got some nice upgrades with the replacement: disc brakes, 29" wheels, custom frame.  He had purchased a Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 several years earlier for a different bike, but that hub had subsequently gone unused following a bike swap.  After demo'ing one of our belt drive Rohloff bikes, he decided to build up something similar based on a custom steel frame built by Independent Fabrication (IF).  We converted his SPEEDHUB 500/14 to be disc brake and belt drive compatible and laced it into new rims for this build.  The paint scheme is based on the Titanium Factory Lightweight road bike from Independent Fabrication that we built up previously for a different customer.

For the wheels, we laced the Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 and a Chris King ISO disc front hub into No Tubes Flow rims using Sapim Laser thin double-butted spokes and brass nipples.  The 28mm wide Flow rim offers better tire support and a stiffer wheel build compared to the Crest or Arch EX models and are also a little more dent resistant for trail riding.  The thinner spokes were used to save some weight and provide additional comfort for a lighter-weight rider.

Independent Fabrication builds every frame to order to the customer's specifications.  In this case, the tubes are steel, and the geometry is based on the more relaxed head angle of the Spot Rocker.  IF offers a variety of options for tensioning a chain or belt as well as opening the frame to install a belt. On this frame, a Paragon Machine Works tube splitter was installed on the right seat stay to insert the belt into the frame, and an eccentric bottom bracket was installed to tighten the belt.

NAHBS 2013 Denver

We're back from two weeks on the road getting to/from Denver for NAHBS. The show went well, and it was good to meet everyone who stopped by the booth. The video above gives a virtual tour of our booth.  The show had more vendors this year than ever but not quite as many attendees, due in part to a snow storm on Sunday.  We had our usual display of Rohloff and Schlumpf cutaway models on display along with two belt drive-equipped Rohloff bikes on trainers to test - a Co-Motion Divide and an Independent Fabrication Steel Delux (which was also outfitted with a Schlumpf Speed Drive for the show).  We also had a sampling of custom wheels on display and our new high-tech P&K Lie truing stand.

In addition to the bikes we had on display, these builders also showed Rohloff bikes: Groovy Cycle Works, Stinner Frameworks, Boo Bicycles, Co-Motion, AM Pierce, Bilenky Cycle Works, Dean, Moots, Steve Potts, and Twenty2 Cycles.  Look for photos of these other bikes in upcoming posts.

Rohloff-Equipped Surly Krampus 29'er Fat Bike

We were fortunate enough to get our hands on this Surly Krampus frameset, a pair of Rabbit Hole rims, and a pair of Knard tires from the first production batch of these parts.  The bike was built for a customer in Calgary, Alberta, Canada for bike-packing, including plans to ride the Tour Divide event aboard it.  The 2745 mile Tour Divide is a self-supported, mostly off-road race that follows the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route along the spine of the Rocky Mountains from Banff, Alberta to Antelope Wells, New Mexico.  The rigors of long days of off road riding in a variety of weather conditions during this event can wreak havoc on a bike, especially the drivetrain.  The Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 offers an ideal drivetrain for this type of event/riding as the moving components are all housed inside the hub, sealed from the environment.  Last year's winner and new course record setter, Oliver Walley, won aboard a belt-drive/Rohloff-equipped bike, showing that the SPEEDHUB offers the high efficiency and reliability needed for such an extreme event.

For the wheels, we laced up the Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 and a Chris King ISO disc front hub to a pair of Surly's new Rabbit Hole rims using Sapim Laser thin double-butted spokes and brass nipples.  The Rabbit Hole rims are a single-wall, wide 700c/29" rim meant for use with Surly's new Knard 29x3.0" tires.  This configuration represents a new large-diameter fat bike bike standard created by Surly.  Thinner spokes were used based on a lighter rider weight to provide additional comfort to the rigid bike.  Check out more details on the wheels here.

Rohloff Small Parts Store Online

It's been a long time in coming, but we finally have an online store at http://cyclemonkey.bigcartel.com/.  You can find all the Rohloff small parts plus Gates Carbon Drive belts and pulleys, Magura brakes, Wippermann chains, Race Face cranks and chainrings, and some other items commonly used for setting up bikes with Rohloff SPEEBHUBs.  Look for Schlumpf small parts to be posted shortly.