Classic Commuter: Rohloff-Equipped Rivendell Sam Hillborne

This classically-styled commuter belongs to a local Bay Area customer who was looking for the convenience and reliability of modern components like dynamo lighting and internal gearing for his vintage-inspired Rivendell Sam Hillborne frame. 


The project began with the desire for a Schmidt SON28 dynamo hub and Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 internal gear hub. As a daily commuter, reliability, lack of maintenance, and ease of use were absolute requirements for every component of this build. Dynamo lighting from Schmidt fit the bill with its self-generating, no-charge-required illumination, and Rohloff’s SPEEDHUB was the clear choice for a wide-range drivetrain that would perform reliably day after day in any weather conditions. 
 
Built as a high-end commuter, the build was completed with top quality components in polished silver and brown leather to complement the nostalgic design of the lugged steel frame.

Rivendell is a Bay Area company located in Walnut Creek, just down the road from Cycle Monkey. Their calling card is lugged steel frames, and they offer a variety of platforms for daily commuting, road riding, trail riding, and touring. Rivendell is a small company, and they pride themselves on taking a different approach to frame materials and construction than most contemporary builders:

All of our bikes have lugged steel frames. We believe it's the best and most beautiful way to make bicycle frames, and trends won't sway us. We don't sell bikes for racing, and rather than apologize for that, we'd like to point out that since we are unburdened by racing values, we're free to design better-than-racing bikes. Bikes that fit better, ride better, and are more comfortable. Bikes that let you carry a load, whether that load is a tent and camping gear, a computer and files, or groceries. Our bikes are safe, comfortable, practical, and beautiful. Racing bikes might be lighter, but they are less comfortable, less useful, and for the most part, harder to like the looks of - Rivendell Bicycles

Rivendell's aesthetic and design choices might fall outside the norm, but their commitment to this unique approach is unwavering, and their execution of classic steel frames is second-to-none.

Rivendell presents the Sam Hillborne an all-rounder road bike packed with style and value. Clearance for 40mm tires provides the flexibility to comfortably take on dirt road adventures, while rack and fender mounts provide easy set up for commuting and errands. Add the Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 and self-powered lights, and the Sam Hillborne is quickly transformed into the ultimate commuter.

Cycle Monkey's Wheel House assembled a pair of eye-catching wheels with polished-silver hubs, Pacenti PL23 rims, and double butted Sapim Race spokes with brass nipples. The highlight, of course, is the Schmidt SON28 dynamo hub. Providing self-powered lighting of both the front and rear lights that help riders stand out in traffic and light the road ahead, dynamo lights are a no-brainer for commuters like this customer.

The Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 internal gear hub is an excellent option for any commuter because of its durable, hardened steel internal gear wheels, wide gear range, and sealed shifting system, which protects shifting components from everyday wear and tear. The SPEEDHUB provides long-term dependability in all riding conditions, making it the perfect drivetrain choice for a bike that is relied on for daily transport. 

Rivendell does not design frames with Rohloff-specific or disc brake compatibility, so this build required an aftermarket SPEEDHUB setup that will work with virtually any standard frame.  

The torque arm connected to the left chainstay fixes the hub axle to the frame and prevents it from spinning while the rider is pedaling. Chain tension comes courtesy of Phil Wood's Philcentric thread-in eccentric bottom bracket, which also allows for a small range of tension adjustment. In the end, this setup functions the same as bikes designed specifically around the SPEEDHUB.

Cycle Monkey completed the classic commuter build with high-end components from Chris King, Nitto, Paul Components, Gilles Berthoud, and Brooks, all of which contributed to the desired aesthetic. 

This build demonstrates the possibilities when you take a beloved frame designed for traditional drivetrain components and build it up around a Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14. Cycle Monkey relished the opportunity to put together a build kit that inspired this customer ride his Rivendell and brought more enjoyment to his daily commute.

If you have a stock frame and want to run a Rohloff SPEEDHUB or make you frame belt drive compatible, just give us a call.  We'd be thrilled to talk it through and help you get the process rolling.

Build details

• Frame: Rivendell Sam Hillborne

• Fork: Rivendell Sam Hillborne

• Headset: Chris King Threaded

• Stem: Nitto Technomic

• Handlebar: Nitto Albatross

• Shifter: Gilles Berthoud for Rohloff SPEEDHUB 

• Grips: Brooks

• Seat post: Nitto Dynamic

• Saddle: Brooks B67

• Seat Clamp: Seat binder 

• Front Hub: Schmidt SON28

• Rear hub: Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14

• Spokes: Sapim Race

• Nipples: Sapim Brass

• Rims: Pacenti PL23

• Tires: Surly Knard 700 x 41c

• Cranks: Middleburn RS8

• Pedals: MKS Sylvan

• Bottom Bracket: Phil Woods Philcentric

• Chain ring: Middleburn RS7

• Rear Sprocket: Shimano 39T single speed ring

• Chain: Wippermann 8sX

• Brakes & Levers: Paul Racer

• Torque Arm: Rohloff
• Front Light: Schmidt Edelux II
• Rear Light: Schmidt SON Taillight
• Fenders: SKS Longboard  
• Rear Rack: Tubus Logo Evo 

Rohloff-Equipped Rivendell SimpleOne

This Rivendell is a classic and practical bike ready for just about anything.

A local customer recently brought in his Rivendell SimpleOne single speed bike for us to install a Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 drivetrain onto. He lives on a large hill and was looking to extend the functionality of this bike after his derailleur-equipped bike began having problems. He wanted to give this bike a wide range of gears while keeping it low maintenance and clean looking. 

Full coverage metal fenders, a basket, and a seat bag make this bike ready for everyday riding.

Gilles Berthoud shifter matches the classic look of the cockpit on this bike without being too bulky. We're sure the temporary black finishing tape will be replaced with twine and shellac in no time.

This customer requested a Gilles Berthoud drop bar Rohloff shifter, which is a high quality option made it France.  It offers an alternative for those who want to ride with drop bars and prefer not to mount the stock Rohloff shifter to the end of the handlebar.

We routed the shift cables around the headtube to ensure plenty of clearance for the basket.

The SimpleOne has a 120mm-spaced rear triangle, while the Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 is 135mm wide. We cold-set the frame and realigned the dropouts to get everything to fit together perfectly.

Newly re-spaced rear triangle on this Rivendell mates perfectly with the Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14.

Rohloff offers several configurations of the SPEEDHUB 500/14 to fit different frame configurations.  Due to the horizontal dropouts and lack of any Rohloff-specifc features on this frame, we used a bolt-on (TS), non-disc configuration with the torque arm anti-rotation method to hold everything securely in position.

We laced the Rohloff hub into a Velocity Dyad rim with SAPIM Race double butted spokes using a two-cross lacing pattern as recommended by Rohloff. This results in a symmetrical wheel build even stronger than the original wheel due to the larger hub flange and shorter spokes.

This Rivendell SimpleOne retains it's clean single-speed aesthetic despite having an extra 13 gears.

No chain tensioner is required on this bike due to the horizontal fork ends, which helps the bike retain it's original clean, single-speed aesthetics.

Bolt on axle, Rohloff torque arm, and internal shift mechanism cables.

The Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14 complements this Rivendell frame perfectly; a durable steel frame intended to last a lifetime combined with a reliable drivetrain that will last forever. Here is another Rivendell/Rohloff conversion we completed last year. Feel free to get in touch with us to discuss options for retrofitting a SPEEDHUB 500/14 to your existing bike or complete new bike options.

Build Details:

• Frameset: Rivendell SimpleOne
• Headset: Tange 1" threaded
• Handlebar: Nitto Model 185
• Stem: Nitto Technomic
• Crankset: Sugino XD
• Rear Wheel: Rohloff SPEEDHUB/Velocity Dyad rim
• Front Wheel: Formula high flange hub/Mavic Open Sport rim
• Shifter: Gilles Berthoud
• Tires: Rivendell Jack Brown
• Brakes: Shimano Altus CT91 cantilever
• Brake Levers: Shimano Tiagra BL-R400
• Seatpost: Kalloy
• Saddle: Brown vinyl with rivets
• Extras: Honjo Fenders, Nitto mini front rack, Wald basket, Swift Industries saddle bag

Rohloff-Equipped Rivendell Sam Hillborne

We built this Rivendell Sam Hillborne up for a local customer in Redwood City, CA.  He had originally purchased the frame from Rivendell with the intention of building it up with a conventional drivetrain but later decided he wanted to use a Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14.  He came to us for the Rohloff hub, rims, spokes and a wheel building lesson and later came back for a Schmidt dynamo front hub.  After building his first wheels, he then came back to have us check them over and assemble the bike.

Rivendell markets the Sam Hillborne as a value-oriented all-around/do-everything road bike.  Like all Rivendell frames, it is built out of steel.  It has clearance for 40mm tires so you can take it on dirt roads more comfortably.  Rack and fender mounts allow it to be set up for regular commuting or running errands.  As built, the bike is set up with tall, swept-back bars for a very comfortable, upright riding position.  The rest of the parts are all top quality items from companies that we work with regularly, selected for performance and durability.

This project shows a good example of an aftermarket Rohloff conversion.  The Rivendell frames have no Rohloff-specific features nor disc brake mounts that the SPEEDHUB 500/14 axle could be anchored to.  A torque arm is connected to the left chainstay to handle the output torque of the SPEEDHUB 500/14, a Rohloff chain tensioner is used to keep the chain in place, and the shift cables are zip-tied to the frame.



The cables follow our preferred routing: down the down tube, under the bottom bracket shell, and along the left chain stay.  However, with the torque arm in place below the left chain stay, the external shift mechanism cannot be positioned below the dropout due to interference between these two components.  In this situation, the cable routing is often changed to follow the top tube, then down the seat stay with the external shift mechanism located above and behind the dropout. As with the Spot Acme conversion we did earlier in the year, the top tube cable routing option would have resulted in interference issues, this time with the rack, so we looped the cables down and under the torque arm.  A re-usable zip-tie is used to tether the cables to the torque arm and still allow for easy wheel removal.


Build details

• Frame: Rivendell Sam Hillborne steel
• Fork: Rivendell Sam Hillborne steel
• Stem: Nitto
• Handlebar: Nitto Albatross
• Shifter: Rohloff
• Grips: ESI
• Seatpost: Nitto
• Saddle: Brooks B17
• Front Hub: Schmidt SON Delux
• Rear hub: Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14
• Spokes: Sapim Race
• Nipples: Sapim Brass
• Rims: Velocity Dyad
• Tires: Schwalbe Big Apple
• Skewers: Shimano
• Cranks: White Indsutries VBC
• Bottom Bracket: Phil Wood
• Chainring: White Industries VBC
• Chain Tensioner: Rohloff
• Brakes and Levers: Tektro
• Pedals: MKS Grip King
• Racks: Nitto