Tout Terrain Metropolitan Commuter Bike with Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 and Cinq Trigger Shifters

This decked out Tout Terrain Metropolitan was built for a customer in Sacramento, CA as his daily commuter. He had ordered the frame with a few customizations and picked out most of the parts he wanted to use, then came to us for the Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 internal gear hub and Gates Carbon Drive belt system as well as to fill in a few missing parts for the build kit. He is a heavier rider who wanted a bike that would be reliable under the strain of daily commuting, and this Tout Terrain frame is a perfect fit, having been designed with durability in mind as well as being Rohloff and belt ready and having many commuter-specific features built in.

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