Tech Talk: Neil's Cinq Shift:R Rohloff Trigger Shifter Review

During the past 8 years representing Rohloff in the US, I have received many requests for a trigger shifter for the Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 and fielded lots of questions about whether it is possible to connect stock derailleur shifters (road and mountain) to these internal gear hubs, both of which were not previously possible.  This has changed over the past year and a half with the introduction of the Cinq Shift:R and Gebla Rohbox.  Now that these shifting options are available, we have seen strong interest in them, which has led to new questions about how they work mechanically and how well they function out on the roads and trails.

After using the Cinq Shift:R trigger shifting system on my mountain bike over the past 4 months, I feel like I have a pretty good feel for the shifting performance of this system.  Also, after visiting the Cinq factory in Southwestern Germany last fall and getting a detailed overview of how to install and service them, combined with the installs we have done at the Monkey Lab, I feel like I have a good understanding of their inner workings.

In this post, I will give some background on the history of trigger shifter designs for the SPEEDHUB and discuss the pros and cons of the Shift:R as they apply to my riding as a long time mountain biker and SPEEDHUB rider. Look for a future article covering the Gebla Rohbox after I have spent more time on it.

Tech Talk: Shifter Options for use with Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14

The Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 internally geared hub has always enjoyed a lot of interest with it's 14-speeds, low maintenance, 526% gear range, high durability, and extreme reliability, but not all riders are aware of the flexibility of bike set-up that new shifter options allow. With a variety of aftermarket options available, shifter options for Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 hubs have never been better.

Drop bar, flat bar, Jones H-Bar; these new shifter options provide the flexibility to use your preferred set-up on your Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 equipped bike.

Drop Bar Options: 

• Rohloff twist shifter with HubBub bar end adaptor
• Rohloff twist shifter with Rodriguez Doohicky headset spacer adapter
• Gilles Berthoud twist shifter
• Co-Motion twist shifter
• GELBA Rohbox with SRAM or Campagnolo brake/shift levers
• Cinq Shift:R thumb shifters

Flat Bar Options:

• Rohloff twist shifter
• GEBLA Rohbox with SRAM trigger shifters
• Cinq Shift:R thumb shifters
• Gilles Berthoud twist shifter

Co-Motion Klatch - Adventure Road Bike with Rohloff SPEEDHUB and Gates Belt

This bike started into motion when our customer in Burlingame, CA first rode his friend's Rohloff-equipped touring bike. He liked the internal gear hub so much he decided to design a bike of his own around the system. During his research into potential frame options, he found our Monkey Lab blog post about a previous Co-motion Klatch we built and got in touch with us to discuss building him something similar. He wanted a low-maintenance bike that was suitable for bike-packing, gravel rides, and mild single track. He knew the Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 would meet his drivetrain needs perfectly, especially when combined with a Gates Carbon Drive belt, and he had a top shelf build kit in mind to finish off his dream bike. Once we had all the details in place, we got in touch with Co-motion to finalize the frame details and set out on making the bike happen.

Year of the Monkey Special

Happy Chinese New Year! Now through February 21, 2016, Cycle Monkey is offering a 10% discount on Rohloff Bike Packages from Ventana, Tout Terrain, and Shand.

Contact us at info@cyclemonkey.com or 510.868.1777 to let us know which Rohloff Build you would like to ride to celebrate the Year of the Monkey.