Rohloff-Equipped Soulcraft Road Bike

Custom Soulcraft frame in sea-foam green.

We built up this custom Soulcraft for a customer who had a very specific road bike in mind. He had searched in vain for a production frame to suit his needs, but couldn't find anything available on the market. After deciding that a custom frame would be his best option, he contacted Soulcraft, a local Northern California framebuilder, to make his dream bike a reality. With his one-of-a-kind frame in hand, he came to us to build up the rest of the bike around the Rohloff gearing system.

Our customer was looking for a comfortable yet nimble road bike that he could take on all-day rides without straining his neck, back, or shoulders. He requested a taller headtube on the frame to give him a slightly more upright seating position, yet he still wanted it to have a quick-handling ride quality like a traditional road bike. He also knew that he wanted to use a Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14, so the frame was made specially for the hub – braze-ons for Rohloff cable routing, no derailleur hanger, and a sliding dropout with a bolt for an axle plate to secure the hub's axle in place.

Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 with Rohloff-specific dropout design.

Because our customer likes to go for long road rides, he knew the Rohloff SPEEDHUB would work well for his riding style. The internally housed mechanics of the shift system are extremely durable and only need to be serviced with a new oil bath once a year. Long rides normally take you miles away from any bike shop, so a reliable shift system is a priority for endurance riding. Knowing he did not want to be stuck mid-ride on a desolate country road with derailleur problems, our customer figured the SPEEDHUB was the perfect hub for his needs.

We have long believed a wheelset truly “makes” the ride. Wheels play a large part in the ride quality and general feel of any bike. Much like a custom frame is tuned for a given rider, custom wheels can be tuned the same way. For the wheels on this bike, we used Velocity’s A23 road rims because the wider footprint allows the tire to spread out more, providing more comfort, control, and traction. We used White Industries’ American-made MI5 front hub and the SPEEDHUB on the rear. The polished silver color of the rims and hubs matched perfectly, making for quite a shiny, vintage-looking wheelset.

White Industries is another local company we have come to trust. They have been making parts in Northern California for nearly 40 years, and have a reputation for very precisely machined components. For these reasons, we chose a White Industries crankset, bottom bracket, and chainwheel for the Soulcraft.

Nitto Classic handlebars.

Finally, we set up the cockpit. We chose Nitto’s classically shaped drop bars, paired them with a Nitto stem, and mounted the Rohloff shifter on the end of the bar with a Hubbub adapter. Lastly, we wrapped the bars in tan Deda tape to compliment the Gilles Berthoud leather saddle.

This custom frame was a joy to build, and we were excited about the Rohloff-specific features designed into the frame. We expect our customer will enjoy this no-frills, durable road bike for years to come. Contact us to discuss whether a Rohloff-equipped road bike is in your future.

Build Details:

•  Frame: Soulcraft custom steel road
•  Fork: Soulcraft steel
•  Headset: Chris King NoThreadset
•  Stem: Nitto UI85EX
•  Handlebar: Nitto Classic
•  Shifter: Rohloff
•  Bar Tape: Deda
•  Seatpost: Paul Component Engineering Tall and Handsome
•  Saddle: Gilles Berthoud leather
•  Front Hub: White Industries MI5
•  Rear hub: Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14
•  Spokes: Sapim Laser
•  Nipples: Sapim brass
•  Rims: Velocity A23
•  Tires: Schwalbe Durano Plus
•  Cranks: White Industries VBC Road
•  Bottom Bracket: Phil Wood Stainless
•  Chainring: White Industries VBC
•  Pedals: Shimano Ultegra
•  Chain: Wipperman 8sX
•  Brakes: Shimano Dura-Ace
•  Levers: Shimano R600

Custom Independent Fabrication Belt Drive Rohloff Commuter

Custom Independent Fabrication commuter frame built using a blend of road and mountain geometry.

This titanium Independent Fabrication frame was custom-built for a customer looking for his dream commuter bike. He wanted a good looking bike that he could use to comfortably explore the East Coast bike paths and city streets near his home. Above all, he wanted his custom ride to be reliable, so he could jump on the bike any time and not have to worry whether it would shift properly or need any adjustments.

Because our customer was looking for an elegant, handcrafted titanium bike, we recommended New England based frame builder Independent Fabrication. They specialize in custom frames, so we worked out a design with them that uses a mix of mountain bike and road bike geometry for a fast, fun, and comfortable commuter.  After we nailed down the geometry, Independent Fabrication built up the frame with a belt drive splitter, Rohloff cable guides, low mount disc dropouts, and an eccentric bottom bracket to tighten the belt, then finished it with a shot-peened treatment.

The frame was custom-made with a belt drive splitter.

Rodriguez MakeShift Tandem with a Rohloff SPEEDHUB

Rodriguez Bicycles' Makeshift Rohloff-specific tandem

Rodriguez Bicycles is one of our biggest Rohloff advocates and customers. The Seattle-based framebuilder makes a variety of tandems, travel/coupler bikes and custom frames, and they often use the Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 on their commuter, touring and tandem bikes due to the low maintenance factor of the shift system. In fact, after installing SPEEDHUBs on a number of custom frames, they decided to create a Rohloff-specific model called the MakeShift. Check out a gallery of their MakeShift bikes here.

Rodriguez recently built a MakeShift tandem using a Rohloff hub they ordered from us, and when it was done they sent the photos to us to use for one of our bike features. This tandem was put together for a couple who already owned a Rodriguez tandem and had plenty of experience riding as a team, but wanted a new lower-maintenance ride for their daily commuting needs. The SPEEDHUB was a perfect choice for their criteria.

The Rohloff SPEEDHUB is a perfect drivetrain for a tandem.

The frame has a number of innovative features that really bring to light Rodriguez’s attention to detail. The dropouts are machined to allow the SPEEDHUB’s axle plate to stay in place. Braze-ons on the chainstay are specific to the Rohloff’s cable routing. A mount custom-made by Rodriguez allows the twist shifter to be installed on the fork’s steerer tube rather than the end of the handlebars.

Rodriguez's custom-made Rohloff shifter mount.

Because tandems carry the weight of two riders, their components must be very strong and durable. Normal derailleur systems have inherent weak points that can be stressed to their limit with two riders cranking on the pedals. The SPEEDHUB eliminates the weak points of a derailleur by housing the mechanics of the shift system inside the rear hub shell. For a tandem, there is really no better choice than the SPEEDHUB.

The heavy weight factor also requires tandems to have strong braking systems to make it safely down big hills. This bike has a standard set of cantilever brakes controlled by the front rider, but also a large 203mm disc “drag brake” controlled by a bar-end lever on the rear rider’s handlebars. While the lever looks like a typical bar-end shifter, it’s actually a secondary brake for going down big hills.

Avid BB7 brakes and a large 203mm rotor.

We work with Rodriguez very frequently, and they're often a good match for customers looking for a quality custom frame. They’re built to order, made in the USA, and they have short lead times and reasonable prices. Call us to see if a Rohloff-equipped Rodriguez is right for you!

Build details:

• Frame: Rodriguez Makeshift Tandem
• Fork: Rodriguez
• Headset: Chris King
• Stem: KORE
• Handlebar: FSA
• Shifter: Rohloff
• Bar Tape: Deda
• Seatpost: Thompson front, Cane Creek Thudbuster rear
• Saddle: Specialized front, Specialized women's specific rear
• Seat Clamp: integrated
• Front Hub: White Industries
• Rear hub: Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14
• Spokes: Sapim
• Nipples: Sapim
• Rims: Velocity Chukker rear, Velocity Deep V front
• Tires: Serfas Seca
• Cranks: Sugino
• Bottom Bracket: Bushnell Eccentric
• Chainring: Sugino
• Pedals: Speedplay Frogs
• Chain: SRAM PC
• Brakes: Avid BB7 Road rear, Cantilever front and rear
• Levers: Cane Creek Drop V front, Cane Creek Ergo Stoke 

Rohloff-Equipped Belt Drive Steve Potts Ultimate Commuter

Steve Potts Rohloff and Gates Carbon Drive equipped Commuter

We recently completed this beautiful titanium Steve Potts Rohloff and Gates belt drive commuter bike for a customer based in San Rafael, CA. He wanted an 'ultimate commuter' bike with integrated features and built for long term heavy use similar to the Firefly E.P.U.C we highlighted previously. This customer was already experienced with the Rohloff SPEEDHUB, having ridden one on his Cannondale Badboy for the last several years. We transferred his existing hub onto this bike and added the Gates Carbon Drive Center Track parts for the build.

Headbadge and Rohloff cable guides for clean routing

Custom Steve Potts handlebar and stem

This bike features a host of special touches including a custom Steve Potts handlebar and stem, and Kent Eriksen seatpost all made from titanium.  Even the Tubus rack and King water bottle cages are made of titanium.

This is about the cleanest custom taillight we've ever seen.

Dynamo wire running to the custom taillight

Schmidt SL dynamo connection and internal fork wiring

One of the really neat features of this bike is the integrated lighting system.  A Schmidt SON28SL dynamo powers the headlight and taillight. The hub connects to the lights through a special plate in the dropout, enabling the wheel to be removed and installed without plugging in any wires. The wire from this dynamo connector runs through the fork leg to the Supernova E3 headlight, and the taillight wire runs through the frame and inside the seatpost. The titanium Eriksen Sweetpost was drilled out custom for the Supernova E3 LED taillight, which was custom mounted inside.

Gates Carbon Drive Center Track belt system for superior smoothness and longevity

We built the wheels on this bike with the Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 and Schmidt SON28SL hubs laced to Velocity Dyad rims, a popular touring and tandem model that should hold up well for this application, with SAPIM Race spokes and brass nipples. All wheels built by Cycle Monkey are pre-stressed multiple times during the build process and finished to exacting tolerances, ensuring a long lasting and durable wheel.

Rohloff SPEEDHUB with Gates Carbon Drive Center Track belt pulley held in place on the rocker dropout by a maximum security stainless steel Pitlock locking skewer set.

 Chainstay brake mount and Rohloff OEM slot on Paragon rocker dropout

There are certain bikes that can't be completely taken in with one look. This Steve Potts has enough custom features and thoughtful details to fit into that category. Steve is a legendary local builder and produces few enough frames that when you do come across one it is worth remembering, especially one built up as nice as this.

Build details:

• Frame: Steve Potts custom titanium commuter
• Fork: Steve Potts steel Type II
• Headset: Chris King NoThreadSet
• Stem: Steve Potts titanium
• Handlebar: Steve Potts titanium
• Shifter: Rohloff
• Grips: Ergon GP1
• Seatpost: Eriksen titanium with integrated taillight
• Saddle: Specialized Avatar
• Front Hub: Schmidt SONdelux SL disc
• Rear Hub: Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14
• Spokes: Sapim Laser
• Nipples: Sapim Brass
• Rims: Velocity Dyad
• Tires: Schwalbe Marathon Supreme
• Cranks: RaceFace Deus
• Bottom Bracket: Chris King
• Chainring: Gates Center Track sprocket
• Rear Sprocket: Rohloff Gates Center Track belt pulley
• Belt: Gates Carbon Drive
• Brakes & Levers: Magura Louise
• Rotors: Avid
• Extras: Tubus Airy rack, Pitlock anti-theft skewer set, Supernova E3 headlight and tail light, King Ti bottle cages

Rohloff-Equipped, Belt Driven Independent Fabrication 29'er MountainBike

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.

Rohloff-Equipped, Belt Driven Co-Motion Americano Touring Bike

We built this steel touring bike for a customer in Henderson, NV to replace the Surly Cross Check that he had been riding.  He came to us two and a half years ago to build a rear wheel with a Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 to replace the derailleur system on his Cross Check, and a couple months later, we built him a matching front wheel with a Phil Wood Touring hub.  Having been happy with the performance of the Rohloff drivetrain, he decided to upgrade to a dedicated Rohloff frame and swap out his chain for a belt while he was at it.  The Americano model from Co-Motion offered all the options that he wanted.

Co-Motion is one of the few US bike companies that offers dedicated Rohloff-specific frame models.  They build bikes out of steel and aluminum in their facility in Eugene, Oregon.  They are well known for their tandems and touring bikes, though they also offer road, cyclocross, and commuting frames.  Their catalog includes a wide variety of models with stock geometry, with custom geometry available for a moderate up-charge.  A few years ago, they decided to design a Rohloff OEM dropout and offer stock Rohloff-specific frames to accommodate a growing number of custom Rohloff frame orders.  Since many of these customers also wanted to use the Gates Carbon Drive belt drive system, they incorporated a split point into the dropout so a belt could be inserted in the frame.