The Monkey Lab: Rohloff-Outfitted Novara Randonee Touring Bike

02 October 2013

Rohloff-Outfitted Novara Randonee Touring Bike

The Novara Randonee is a heavy duty steel touring rig.

The Novara Randonee is a touring bike through and through – a sturdy steel frame with relaxed geometry to carry heavy loads, a durable 36 spoke wheelset, and plenty of braze-ons for water bottles, racks, and fenders. A local Bay Area customer came to us with this bike that he had ridden hard right off the shelf and loved, minus one factor – the derailleurs. He was tired of paying to have the shift system tuned up and was constantly worried about being on a long ride and having to deal with a damaged derailleur or dropped chain. After deciding a Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 was the perfect drivetrain for him, he contacted us and we set to work.

We laced up the SPEEDHUB to Mavic’s A319 rims, which are made specifically for heavy road use and allow for tires up to 50mm. We kept the stock front wheel - Mavic A319 rims laced to a Shimano Deore LX hub - which is a solid value option.

The Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 and Rohloff chain tensioner.

Touring is an ideal application for the SPEEDHUB. Bike tours often cover thousands of miles in remote areas, where it may be hard to find a bike shop or spare parts to fix any mechanical problems. In fact, the record for continuous SPEEDHUB use is over 125,000 miles without any service other than the annual oil bath change. SPEEDHUBs also allow you to change gears while the bike is standing still. On a loaded touring bike that takes a while to get up to speed to shift, this makes stopping and starting with heavy loads much more manageable.

Because the frame has vertical dropouts and the wheel position can’t be adjusted, chain tension has to be accomplished with a separate chain tensioner bolted to the derailleur hanger. A torque arm was also needed to secure the hub’s axle in place. Using a chain tensioner and torque arm allows the Rohloff to be installed on most any bike with a vertical dropout. Lastly, we mounted the Rohloff grip shifter on the end of the bars, much like a traditional barend lever shifter.

Whether you’re a seasoned bike tour veteran or you’re looking to go on your first long trip, you can’t go wrong with the Rohloff SPEEDHUB. The strength, gear range, and dependability of the SPEEDHUB are unmatched for this type of riding. Contact us to do a Rohloff conversion on your touring bike or build up a new bike from scratch!

Build Details:

· Frame: Novara Randonee

· Fork: Novara Steel

· Headset: Cane Creek

· Stem: Kalloy adjustable

· Handlebar: Ritchey

· Shifter: Rohloff

· Bartape: Deda

· Seatpost: Kalloy Uno

· Saddle: Brooks Flyer

· Seat Clamp: Single bolt

· Front Hub: Shimano Deore LX