Super Commuter: Independent Fabrications Club Racer with Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14, Gates Carbon Drive, and Dynamo Set-up

This custom super commuter is now climbing the hills of San Francisco, CA. The customer already rode with a Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 internal gear hub and Gates Carbon Drive belt, and while he really loved the drivetrain, he was less happy with the original frame. So, he came to us to discuss options for moving the Rohloff and belt over to a new frame. Besides wanting to re-use his drivetrain, the main goal of the bike was quick, responsive handling like his road bike to add a little excitement to his daily commute.

Independent Fabrications was high on his list due to the many choices available through their custom program, and he ultimately decided to go with a stainless steel Club Racer frame with a 3/4 paint job. We worked with him to spec the bike with commuting essentials, then dialed in the fit and got in touch with IF to work through the frame details.

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.

Rohloff SPEEDHUB XL Fat Bike Wheel Build Specials Through August 31

Now through August 31, when we anticipate our first delivery of Rohloff's new fat bike-specific SPEEDHUB XL internal gear hubs, Cycle Monkey is offering specials on bikes and wheels built around these hubs. Details on wheelset specials can be found below. Details for complete bike packages can be found here.

Rims are available in carbon fiber or aluminum in widths from 50-100mm for trail or sand/snow use. Wheels can be set up with tubes or tubeless using tires from Vee Rubber, Surly, and 45NRTH. All wheels are built to Cycle Monkey's exacting in-house standards and come with our standard two-year guarantee on craftsmanship.

During our pre-sale, receive 10% off bike and wheel packages. In addition to this special pricing, existing SPEEDHUB owners can trade in their Rohloff hubs for $700 in credit towards a complete bike or new wheelset. With the anticipated late August delivery date for the new SPEEDHUB, we expect to start shipping wheels by the middle of September.

Contact us at info@cyclemonkey.com or 510-868-1777 to place an order.

Wheelsets starting at $2,141

Signature Wheelset: $2,416

Rear Hub: Rohloff SPEEDHUB XL
Front Hub: Hope Fatsno
Rims: Surly Clown Shoe
Spokes: Sapim Race
Nipples: Sapim Race
QR Skewers: Hope
Tires: Vee Rubber Snowshoe XL or H-Billie
Tubes: Surly fat bike tubes or tubeless

Rohloff-Equipped Surly Ogre Mountain/Touring/Commuting Bike

The customer who purchased this bike was interested in a versatile bike that he could commute on and also use to get into mountain biking. He wanted a bike that would be comfortable for trips around town but capable enough to hit some of the many great mountain bike trails in Marin County, where he lives. After a few conversations about his dream bike, we put together this build based around the Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 and Surly's Ogre frame.

Surly frames are all designed with a lot of versatility in mind and make great all-around bikes. Their Ogre frameset was chosen as the basis for this build because it is designed for commuting and touring on mixed road surfaces, with plenty of braze-ons for racks, fenders, and water bottles. The frame's geometry will also tackle singletrack with ease.

Monkey Ride: Tyler's 29+ Surly Krampus Mountain Bike with RohloffSPEEDHUB 500/14

Tyler here at Cycle Monkey has a bit of a fat tire fetish. He also has a bit of a Surly fetish. It sometimes seems as if he has almost as many Surly bikes as he does Surly T-shirts, and he's been known to wear a different Surly tee every day for two weeks straight - with socks to match just to show off. This bike is one of his recent creations - a Surly Krampus with 29x3.0" Surly Knard tires and a Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 internally geared drivetrain.

(Review) Monkey Rides: Tyler’s Surly Krampus 29+ Mountain Bike With Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 and Gates Belt Drive

Tyler's Krampus set up for aggressive trail riding. 

Tyler, one of the newest Monkeys on our team, was an early adopter of Surly’s Krampus, a new style of bike Surly introduced last year that they call “29 +.” The three inch wide tires on 50mm wide 29 inch rims provide the float and traction of a fatbike, but the speed and maneuverability of a 29er mountain bike. Tyler loves his Krampus, but wanted a Rohloff SPEEDHUB and a Gates carbon belt drive to clean up the drivetrain and simplify the ride. His aim was straightforward - create a streamlined, aggressive all-around trailbike.

First off, we sent off the sparkle green frame (Surly calls the color “moonlit swamp”) to get a small splitter installed on the seatstay so we could fit a belt drive through the frame. The frame came back a few days later (along with some other belt drive modification projects you’ll see soon) and we set to work.

 

We sent off the Krampus to get a small belt drive splitter installed in the frame.

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

·  Rear hub: Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14

·  Spokes: Sapim

·  Nipples: Sapim brass

·  Rims: Mavic A319

·  Tires: Vittoria Randonneur

·  Cranks: Shimano Deore LX 44

·  Bottom Bracket: Shimano

·  Chainring: Shimano 44t

·  Rear Sprocket: Rohloff

·  Chain Tensioner: Rohloff

·  Chain: Wipperman 800

·  Brake Levers: TRP RRL Alloy

·  Brakes: Shimano R550 Cantilever

·  Extras: Racks, fenders, bell

Drop-bar, Rohloff-Outfitted Civia Hyland

The Civia Hyland is perfect for daily commuting or long road rides

A local friend of Cycle Monkey came to us a few years ago asking if we had any ideas for a sturdy daily commuter that he could also take on some long road rides. He’s an avid road rider and has a garage full of high-end racing bikes. For his commuter, he wanted a similar fit and feel that he was used to on his road bikes, with the benefit of not having to worry about maintenance on century rides or day-in, day-out commuting.

After we discussed his criteria, we opted to start the build with Civia’s Hyland frame. Civia designed the Hyland to provide reliable daily transportation strong enough to haul groceries and other gear in any road conditions, but nimble enough to navigate quickly through city streets. Disc brake mounts and fenders add to the versatility of the frame. Our customer liked the Hyland’s light, sturdy aluminum frame, but coming from a road background he wanted make sure his ride was both speedy and dependable. We told him we had something for him in mind.

The Civia's Rohloff-specific dropouts make for a clean, simplified drivetrain

Schlumpf Mountain Drive-Equipped Cinelli Gazzetta

 Cinelli Gazzetta in the form of a classically styled two-speed fixed gear 

We built this beautiful Cinelli for the son of a good friend of ours who wanted a fixed gear commuter bike with classic styling.  We started with the bright red Gazzetta steel track frameset and added mostly polished silver parts and a two-speed Schlumpf Innovations Mountain Drive.  The Mountain Drive unit gives the bike a second gear for climbing while maintaining a clean looking drivetrain and the fixed gear format.

Columbus tubing and small details on the seat binder lug

Rohloff-Equipped Surly Ogre 29er Touring/Mountain Bike in HI-VIZ!

You will never lose this bike. Ever.

This is by far the brightest Surly bike we've ever put together. It's a Surly Ogre, a bike designed to be ridden just about anywhere. Our customer was looking for a versatile, mixed-terrain bike suitable for touring and light mountain biking in a package that was visible, reliable, and bulletproof. We built the bike around the Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 internally geared hub, a bulletproof drivetrain that gives the full gear range of a derailleur system, requires very little maintenance, and needs no adjustments once set up.

Plenty of braze-ons for disc brakes, rim brakes, racks, fenders, bottle cages, etc. on the painted to match steel fork 

Rohloff and Schlumpf-Equipped ICE Adventure FS Trike

ICE Adventure FS Trike

We recently built the wheels and installed a Schlumpf Speed Drive on this full-featured ICE tadpole-style Adventure FS trike for local shop Baytrail Trikes. Their customer was looking for a capable expedition trike with an emphasis on comfort, reliability, and wide gear range.

A special Schmidt SON XS-M dynamo hub designed specifically for trikes

Monkey Ride: Tyler's Rohloff-Equipped Surly Moonlander Fat Bike

Tyler's monster Surly Moonlander bikepacking rig

This out of control fat bike belongs to Tyler, the newest member of the Cycle Monkey team. Tyler is never one to only go halfway, and this bike is proof. He took Surly's most extreme fat bike frame, the Moonlander, and fitted it with a Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 internally geared hub, aggressive 5 inch wide tires, frame bags, a front rack, and a pair of Salsa Anything cages for the ultimate adventure bike and no dangly derailleur bits hanging off the back.

Surly's Bud and Lou tires are huge and aggressive

Rohloff-Equipped Surly Big Dummy Cargo Bike

Surly Big Dummy Rohloff cargo bike

We recently completed a Rohloff SPEEDHUB conversion on this Surly Big Dummy cargo bike for a customer in Sacramento, CA.  He wanted a bike that offered reliable around town transportation and hauling with the ability to handle off-road touring.  He found a used, mostly stock Big Dummy on Craigslist and dropped it off with us to strip the drivetrain and replace it with a Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 system.  He was drawn to the SPEEDHUB for its ability to handle the high torque produced when hauling heavy loads in a low gear, not to mention the durability and reliability to circumnavigate the globe. To see another Rohloff equipped Big Dummy being ridden tens of thousands of miles around the world, check out photos from Juan Martinez!

This bike uses an idler wheel to take up chain slack without the use of a conventional derailer-style tensioner

For the rear wheel, we kept the stock Salsa Gordo rim and replaced the Deore hub with the Rohloff Speedhub. We trimmed the DT Swiss spokes in our spoke machine to fit the larger hubshell dimensions of the Rohloff. The front Deore/Salsa Gordo wheel is stock.

Monkey Ride: Custom Rohloff-Equipped Ventana Full Suspension 29er

Profile view in the trail configuration

This custom Ventana 29er was built in 2008 for Neil as a long-term test mule for various parts and design ideas.  The idea was to set up the bike with different part configurations to serve either as a cross country or all mountain rig. As with most of Neil's bikes, this one was setup around the Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 drivetrain.  Special features include a 1.5" Cannondale Lefty-specific head tube, Rohloff cable routing, and custom geometry.  Pictured above is the all-mountain setup with 140mm/5.5" of fork travel and 120mm/4.7" of rear wheel travel.  A Rohloff chain tensioner takes up the slack from the rear travel. 

Carbon rims, chunky rubber and lots of travel

A Rock Shox Reba RLT fork with 140mm of travel provides plenty of suspension for aggressive all-mountain riding, and a Cane Creek Angleset headset accommodates the tapered steerer on the fork and allows for changes to the head angle.

EDGE Composites (now ENVE Composites) AM29 rims are laced to a Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 rear hub and Industry Nine 20mm thru-axle front disc hub using bladed SAPIM CX-Ray spokes.  These rims have been bulletproof over the last five years despite some serious abuse on the trails.

Custom cable guides for the Rohloff SPEEDHUB provide clean and elegant routing

Cross Country configuration

This is the same bike in it's cross country configuration with a carbon Cannondale Lefty fork and 4" of front and rear travel. Travel is changed on the frame by swapping the rocker links for shorter ones. The XC wheels are laced up with ENVE XC 29 tubeless rims, which are slightly lighter and narrower than the AM version but still plenty strong.  A SPEEDHUB 500/14 is used in the rear and a Project 321 Lefty hub can be found up front. The same SAPIM CX-Ray spokes are used.

Lefty SL carbon fork with Project 321 hub

Single leg, double crown Lefty fork

The Cannondale Lefty fork was a perfect choice for this application due to it's light weight, stiffness and strength.

Salsa Bend bar can be flipped to reverse the rise

Cockpit view in trail mode

The Salsa Bend bar is one of Neil's favorite handlebars. It has a slight rise and comfortable back sweep. The Bend bar is available in a 17 or 23 degree angle. This is the 17 degree version.

Close-up of the Rohloff shift box and Monkey Bone

This Ventana is set up with a MonkeyBone adaptor for the rear brake mount, which mates with the Rohloff OEM2 axle plate to anchor the hub's axle to the disc brake mount. Rohloff cable routing continues along the chainstay.

This bike has endured many miles of hard riding over the last five years without any problems. It still gets regular use on the trails around Northern California and has plenty of life left in it. Ventana frames are built to hold up to many seasons of riding, which compliments the durability of the Rohloff hubs. The company is great to work with and offers fast turnaround times, customization options, and quality construction.

Build Details:

• Frame: Custom Ventana 29er Full Suspension
• Fork: Rock Shox Reba 29er 140mm/Cannondale Lefty SL
• Headset: Cane Creek Angleset/Cannondale Lefty
• Stem: Thomson X4/Cannondale Lefty
• Handlebar: Salsa Bend 2, 17 degree
• Shifter: Rohloff
• Seatpost: X-Fusion HiLo Dropper
• Saddle: Specialized Phenom
• Front Hub: Industry Nine 20mm thru axle/Project 321 Lefty
• Rear Hub: Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14
• Spokes: Sapim Race
• Nipples: Sapim Brass
• Rims: EDGE Composites AM29 / ENVE Composites XC29
• Tires: Various
• Cranks: Race Face Six C/Next SL
• Bottom Bracket: Race Face Turbine
• Chainring: Race Face Single Ring
• Rear Sprocket: Rohloff sprocket
• Chain: Wippermann 8sX
• Brakes & Levers: Magura Louise
• Rotors: Magura Louise Wavy

Rohloff-Equipped Belt Drive Ventana El Comandante 29er

Ventana El Comandante profile

This custom Ventana El Comandante 29er mountain bike was built for a customer in Alaska who was looking for a rig that was capable of completing long-distance off road events like the Tour Divide (which was won last year by Ollie Whalley on the same frame and drivetrain). It is equipped with a Gates Carbon Drive belt system and Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 14 speed internally geared hub.

Laser-cut headbadge and tapered head tube