Pinion gearbox
- Thread starter jhammond
- Start date
I would have been interested, too. A significant modification would be needed. Either cut the original bottom bracket part and put in a Pinion compatible bracket or remove the parts and build completely new ones or fabricatebsome kind of adapter. All of it skilled work and potentially heavy and ugly.
I was thinking of asking a quote from a company in my country, that engineers, manufactures and modifies recumbent cycles. But it would be way more than 1000$ for the pinion and probably at least the same for the modification. (Also might want the drop bar conversion for the pinion.) Then it'd be heavy and less efficient.
I would be curious, how the mass in the moving front impacts handling, but that can be tested with some weights. (I don't have a Cruzbike yet.)
I was thinking of asking a quote from a company in my country, that engineers, manufactures and modifies recumbent cycles. But it would be way more than 1000$ for the pinion and probably at least the same for the modification. (Also might want the drop bar conversion for the pinion.) Then it'd be heavy and less efficient.
I would be curious, how the mass in the moving front impacts handling, but that can be tested with some weights. (I don't have a Cruzbike yet.)
JerseyJim
Guru
You can get a Pinion mount from Framebuilder Supply if you really wanted to fabricate your own boom, but you'd have to buy a bike with a pinion gearbox or find a gearbox used because Pinion only sells to OEMs and framebuilders. That said, the big downside to having the gearbox on the boom is the placement of so much weight on the end. For a Cruzbike the nose of the boom is a terrible place to put extra weight. It will require more force to counter in a turn. If the front end gets away from you it's bad news.
It might be a pretty cool mid drive for a rear wheel drive recumbent. Then you could center all the weight under the seat. That's closer to the intended design application of the gearbox.
Now a Rohloff or a Kindernay internal gear hub is heavy but will work on a Cruzbike without handling issues. I put 1000s of miles on a Shimano Nexus 7 hub on my T50 and it worked really well.
It might be a pretty cool mid drive for a rear wheel drive recumbent. Then you could center all the weight under the seat. That's closer to the intended design application of the gearbox.
Now a Rohloff or a Kindernay internal gear hub is heavy but will work on a Cruzbike without handling issues. I put 1000s of miles on a Shimano Nexus 7 hub on my T50 and it worked really well.
Rampa
Guru
Might be worth a new thread, but I would love to know what you found best for the anti-torque? Did you use the anti-twist nuts, or use torque bars?
I feel like I've seen one about using Rohloff Speedhub.
JerseyJim
Guru
For Shimano Nexus I used the green anti-rotation washer. The washers come in different colors and each one will have the notch at a different angle with respect to the ovalized hole. I found that the green one worked best.
Hi, I've just finished installing a rohloff on my V20. I haven't noticed any steering lag as yet. There is a weight penalty but I feel it's more than acceptable. I used the monkey bone for anti-torque. It replaces the standard disc caliper adapter. For shifting I installed the Gebla shiftbox so I could keep the dropbar and brifters. For me it's a joy to ride, very pleased.
Paul Lacy
New Member
Wow! Since you went through all this work to install your Rohloff hub, have you considered if a belt drive would work?
Hi, thanks Paul.
I might explore the belt option, I’d need to source a belt tensioner that Gates or more likely Veer (split belt) would be happy for me to use. I think I recall reading some where that Gates don’t support the belt being bent inwards by pressure against the non tooth side. Or of course there’s the eccentric BB option for tensioning.At the moment wheel removal is quite straight forward with the chain tensioner ( almost as easy as a derailier setup) I suspect the EBB option would be a PITA. It’s still early days and I only have about 200kms on this set up with the chain. But so far it’s performing very well.
Thanks Jim.
The tensioner makes it pretty straight forward for wheel removal so after you remove the gear click box (one thumb screw) and pull out the QR skewer I just release the chain tension as you would with a derailier and lift the wheel gently out of the stays.
There is some drag when turning the cranks by hand, but I can’t really say I notice it when riding it just works. Predictably and crisply it’s a very pleasing experience.
JerseyJim
Guru
I'm sure the Rohloff is much higher in quality than the Shimano IGH I used, so the efficiency is probably higher. I think I saw a chart somewhere online comparing the systems. I've since switched to a derailleur drivetrain for more gear range. Just that switch increased my cruising speed from 17-18 mph to 19-20 mph. The Shimano IGH probably needed a rebuild since I had over 4500 miles on it. I'm sure the Rohloff with it's oil bath and better build quality is going to be less draggy.
bladderhead
Zen MBB Master
The Rohloff on my Grasshopper works. Year after year. Many miles in mud and snow and salt on the road. I read somewhere on the internet about someone's Shimano hub going wrong. Rohloff does not do this. Huge money, but worth it. But if you get a IGH, be worried about getting the wheel on. Absolute nightmare on the Grasshopper. I had a few flats on the Silvio. Took the wheel off. No trouble at all, front or back. The Grasshopper has Tannus.
JerseyJim
Guru
Shimano's 7 and 8 speed IGHs are fine. It's the Alfine 11 that's trouble. I'd also stay away from any Di2 IGH systems. The connectors and wires seem to have longevity issues. Once they're broken there's no repairing them. That you can buy 5 Shimano 7 or 8 speed hubs for same price as a Rohloff is a big factor for most people. I got my money's worth out of the Nexus 7. It's not a bad hub at all. It just doesn't have the range for hills. I have a new Alfine 8 laced up but haven't run that yet. I like my current setup so maybe that will go on a different bike.
kizarmynot
Member
Hello, I'm waiting for my first Cruzbike (Q45) and would be interested in installing a Rohloff hub (I have one on my existing bike and love it). Any experiences in the past 2 years that make you second-guess the decision? If not, can you share your parts list?
Thanks!
Black Hawk Down
Senior Rookie
Looks like Andy isn't answering. I'm in the process of adding a Rohloff to my Q45. So far, the only modification has been with the derailleur hanger. It's too thick and had to be thinned a little bit. I'm not sure, but I think the LBS said all they had to do is scrape the paint of the inside of the fork/chainstay. The other troubling problem is with the shifter. I prefer the shifter to be just below the brake on the right side, but it's too thick. My choices are to have it hanging off the end of the bar or placed next to the handlebar neck. I'm choosing the former as the latter would be to much of a pain to reach every time I want to shift. We'll see how that goes. I'm staying with a chain rather than a belt, so I have a chain tensioner hanging off the derailleur hanger. I don't have the bike back from the LBS yet, but when I do, I'll come back and give a breakdown on it and a review on how it's working.
