Cyclocross / Gravel Grinder: Traitor Cycles Crusade with Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 and Gates Carbon Drive

A Kent, Washington-based customer contacted us to talk about building a commuter/dirt road exploration bike with our signature Rohloff/Gates drivetrain. Already a Rohloff rider, he was excited about the simplicity, dependability, and longevity that the combination of the Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 internal gear hub and Gates Carbon Drive belt offers. He liked Traitor Cycles Crusade frame for it's cyclocross geometry, affordable price, adjustable dropouts, and ability to run a tapered carbon fork. He sent us his Rohloff wheel, and we built it into a cool new bike.

Expedition / Adventure / Backcountry Touring: Lynskey Fatskey Fat Bike with Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 XL

A customer from Hickory, NC called us to discuss building up a new bikepacking rig. He wanted to use 29+ wheels with a maintenance-free and dependable Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 and Gates Carbon Drive belt drivetrain to take on the Great Divide and other adventure touring routes. 

There are limited options available for dedicated 29+ bikes to begin with, and he wanted something lighter than the popular Surly Krampus and ECR steel options. Fortunately, most fat bike frames will accept 29+ wheels, so he was able to use the lightweight titanium Fatskey frame from Lynskey. He sent us the frame and Carver O’Beast carbon fork that he had already picked up, and we worked with him to pick the rest of the components for the build and put everything together.

Jones Titanium Rigid Adventure/Offroad Touring Bike with Rohloff Speedhub

We built this custom painted Jones Titanium Diamond frame with steel Unicrown fork for a customer in Silver City, NM. He already had a steel Jones bike, set up predominantly for on-road touring, so for this build he was interested in building up the Ti version into a hassle-free mixed terrain touring bike. He came to us because he was interested in using a Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 for an unstoppable adventure touring drivetrain. We worked with him to select a build kit that would be comfortable, reliable, and keep the weight down as much as possible.

Surly Krampus 29+ Mountain Bike with Suspension Fork, Rohloff SPEEDHUB500/14, and Gates Belt Drive

Sometimes the team here at Cycle Monkey dreams up a project that is not specifically for a customer but rather to satisfy our own curiosity. We chalk it up to product research, but these projects also have a bit of a selfish motivation: we like to build cool bikes! We put together this Surly Krampus to showcase in the Rohloff booth at the Interbike trade show in Las Vegas last September. The various customizations on this build were very popular at the show and prompted plenty of people to stop by and marvel at the Rohloff hub, belt drive, and suspension fork we had installed on the frame. 

The goal for this build was to create a bike that could be ridden more aggressively through rock gardens, off drops and jumps, and down steep descents. Surly’s Krampus comes stock as a fully rigid 29er with large volume tires that can care of some of the harsh bumps found on trails. Its three inch wide tires on 50mm wide rims provide a fair amount of pneumatic suspension, but in certain situations, the bike is very clearly rigid.

Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 Conversion on Santa Cruz Blur LT

Rohloff SPEEDHUB equipped Santa Cruz Blur LT

We recently retrofitted this Santa Cruz Blur LT with a Rohloff SPEEDHUB 14-speed internal gear hub for a customer in Walnut Creek, CA.

Rohloff SPEEDHUB with Rohloff chain tensioner

Our customer rides with a group of buddies who use SPEEDHUBs but never felt the need to consider using one until he destroyed his derailleur system. Knowing that the drivetrain would need to be completely replaced, he borrowed a Rohloff-equipped bike from one of his riding partners to try out the gear hub. 

He tried it, liked it, and gave us a call. After talking about his riding style and past maintenance and replacement issues with a derailleur set-up, he opted for the high reliability and low maintenance offered by going with Rohloff. To learn more about the advantages this hub offers, check out our website.

We built a new wheel with a Rohloff SPEEDHUB laced to a Stans NoTubes Flow rim and installed the system on his bike. 

OEM2 axle plate on the SPEEDHUB held in place by a Monkey Bone brake adapter

Fox fork and shock offer 140mm of travel

Ergon GP1 grips with second-generation Rohloff grip shifter

  
Build details:

• Frame: Santa Cruz Blur LT  
• Fork: Fox Float RC2 Headset: Integrated 
• Stem: RaceFace Atlas AM 
• Handlebar: RaceFace Atlas AM 
• Shifter: Rohloff 
• Grips: Ergon GP1 
• Seatpost: Thomson Elite 
• Saddle: Ergon 
• Front Hub: DT Swiss 350 
• Rear hub: Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 
• Spokes: Sapim Race 
• Nipples: Sapim Brass 
• Rims: Stans Flow rear, DT Swiss EX 5.1D 
• Tires: Kenda Nevegal 
• Cranks: Shimano LX 
• Bottom Bracket: Shimano 
• Chainring: RaceFace Single 
• Rear Sprocket: Rohloff 
• Chain: SRAM PC 971 
• Brakes & Levers: Avid Juicy 
• Rotors: Rohloff/Avid

Rohloff-Equipped Ventana Zeus 650B Full Suspension Mountain Bike

Zeus at home in the dirt

Fresh out of the Monkey Lab is this beautiful Ventana Zeus 650B Rohloff 160mm full suspension mountain bike designed to conquer any type of trail you can throw it at. Built for a customer in Walnut Creek, CA, this is his second full suspension Rohloff mountain bike. The Rohloff SPEEDHUB is the ultimate drivetrain for a bike like this, with the full range of its 14 gears available on demand at the twist of the shifter. This is a tough bike but the SPEEDHUB will still be rolling long after everything else on this bike has worn out. With nothing to get clogged up or bent, you can ride this bike with total confidence through the diciest rock gardens and single track. This Zeus was finished in a beautiful shade of orange with just the right amount of sparkle to really pop in the sunlight. This frame has a few custom extras including a painted to match rear triangle and Rohloff-specific housing guides, which are available for a modest upcharge. 

The rear suspension linkage can be swapped to give the Zeus 140mm or 160mm of travel

Custom Rohloff cable routing and the Monkey Bone brake adaptor to keep the OEM2 axle plate in place

Fox 34mm Talas fork with travel adjust from 130mm to 160mm 

Thomson's Elite Dropper seatpost offers 125mm of travel

American-made Chris King ISO disc hub is convertible between 15mm and 20mm axles

For the wheels on this Ventana we laced the Rohloff SPEEDHUB rear and Chris King 15mm thru axle front hub to a pair of 650B Stans Flow EX tubeless rims with SAPIM Race spokes for a strong wheelset that matches up great with the Schwalbe Hans Dampf 2.35" tires. 

Magura MT-4 brake lever, Rohloff twist shifter and ESI grips

Ventana is a great company to work with.  They are located near us and make everything in-house at their Northern California factory including all of the machined parts, heat treating, and powdercoating.  A wide range of custom options is available including a broad color palette, custom geometry, and cable routing.  Turn around time is amazing for a made to order frame and the people at Ventana are super friendly.  More importantly, the bikes are fun to ride and are built to hold up to many years of hard riding (see this post).  Check out their website and then get in touch to see what we can put together for you!

Build details:

• Frame: Ventana Zeus with Fox shock
• Fork: Fox 34 Talas 130-160mm 27.5"
• Headset: Chris King InSet
• Stem: Thomson X4
• Handlebar: Answer Carbon
• Shifter: Rohloff
• Grips: ESI foam
• Seatpost: Thomson Elite Dropper
• Saddle: WTB Silverado
• Front Hub: Chris King 15mm 6 bolt disc
• Rear hub: Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14
• Spokes: SAPIM Race
• Nipples: SAPIM brass
• Rims: Stans Flow EX
• Tires: Schwalbe Hans Dampf
• Cranks: RaceFace Turbine
• Bottom Bracket: RaceFace Pressfit
• Chainring: RaceFace Single
• Rear Sprocket: Rohloff sprocket
• Chain: Wippermann 8SX
• Brakes & Levers: Magura MT4
• Rotors: Magura