Rohloff-Equipped Rivendell SimpleOne

This Rivendell is a classic and practical bike ready for just about anything.

A local customer recently brought in his Rivendell SimpleOne single speed bike for us to install a Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 drivetrain onto. He lives on a large hill and was looking to extend the functionality of this bike after his derailleur-equipped bike began having problems. He wanted to give this bike a wide range of gears while keeping it low maintenance and clean looking. 

Full coverage metal fenders, a basket, and a seat bag make this bike ready for everyday riding.

Gilles Berthoud shifter matches the classic look of the cockpit on this bike without being too bulky. We're sure the temporary black finishing tape will be replaced with twine and shellac in no time.

This customer requested a Gilles Berthoud drop bar Rohloff shifter, which is a high quality option made it France.  It offers an alternative for those who want to ride with drop bars and prefer not to mount the stock Rohloff shifter to the end of the handlebar.

We routed the shift cables around the headtube to ensure plenty of clearance for the basket.

The SimpleOne has a 120mm-spaced rear triangle, while the Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 is 135mm wide. We cold-set the frame and realigned the dropouts to get everything to fit together perfectly.

Newly re-spaced rear triangle on this Rivendell mates perfectly with the Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14.

Rohloff offers several configurations of the SPEEDHUB 500/14 to fit different frame configurations.  Due to the horizontal dropouts and lack of any Rohloff-specifc features on this frame, we used a bolt-on (TS), non-disc configuration with the torque arm anti-rotation method to hold everything securely in position.

We laced the Rohloff hub into a Velocity Dyad rim with SAPIM Race double butted spokes using a two-cross lacing pattern as recommended by Rohloff. This results in a symmetrical wheel build even stronger than the original wheel due to the larger hub flange and shorter spokes.

This Rivendell SimpleOne retains it's clean single-speed aesthetic despite having an extra 13 gears.

No chain tensioner is required on this bike due to the horizontal fork ends, which helps the bike retain it's original clean, single-speed aesthetics.

Bolt on axle, Rohloff torque arm, and internal shift mechanism cables.

The Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 complements this Rivendell frame perfectly; a durable steel frame intended to last a lifetime combined with a reliable drivetrain that will last forever. Here is another Rivendell/Rohloff conversion we completed last year. Feel free to get in touch with us to discuss options for retrofitting a SPEEDHUB 500/14 to your existing bike or complete new bike options.

Build Details:

• Frameset: Rivendell SimpleOne
• Headset: Tange 1" threaded
• Handlebar: Nitto Model 185
• Stem: Nitto Technomic
• Crankset: Sugino XD
• Rear Wheel: Rohloff SPEEDHUB/Velocity Dyad rim
• Front Wheel: Formula high flange hub/Mavic Open Sport rim
• Shifter: Gilles Berthoud
• Tires: Rivendell Jack Brown
• Brakes: Shimano Altus CT91 cantilever
• Brake Levers: Shimano Tiagra BL-R400
• Seatpost: Kalloy
• Saddle: Brown vinyl with rivets
• Extras: Honjo Fenders, Nitto mini front rack, Wald basket, Swift Industries saddle bag