impressive...
Quote: So far I've had no frame failures to speak of. Going back to 2001, between my wife and I, I've had the Speedhub installed on the following list of aluminum frames:
'01 Marin Mt. Vision w/ Speedbone
'01 Van Dessel Buzz Bomb w/ Rohloff dropouts
'01 Giant NRS w/ Speedbone
'03 Iron Horse Hollowpoint w/ SB
'05 Iron Horse MkIII w/ SB
'05 Iron Horse Azure w/ SB
'07 Niner RIP9 w/ SB, now Monkey Bone
Nate, I first put a Rohloff on a K2 Razorback in early 2001and my next Rohloff arrived on a Van Dessel Buzz Bomb (snap!)
The list that followed was: Curtlo 29 HT, 29' Asylum FS, Ventana El Capitan FS which I've now had for 2.3 years.
The steel bike was built with the Rohloff slot, but I was actually using the speedbone when it broke as I'd been swapping the Rohloff wheel out between it and the Asylum depending on the mood of the day. The orginal build of the steel bike wasn't up to Rohloffs spec at all, and I think this was the first 29er and first Rohloff specific bike Doug had built at the time, and I don't think he'd seen a Rohloff at that point, let alone fully understood the stresses they put through the frame. We had to weld a bracket onto the frame and extend the slot here (in nz), after discussions with him when it became apparant that what he'd done for me wasn't going to work.
Full credit to all three manufacturers though, they all stood by the their bikes, Speedgoat refunded in full, Doug did a beautifully rebuild, and Ventana instantly replaced the swingarms, despite bad timing (for them, they were packing for a show or something when it broke but still found time to fabricate a new swingarm.
I have absolutely nothing bad to say about any of these manufacturers, and the fact that I live in New Zealand, and they still all rushed to fix the problem when others may have took the view that New Zealand is far enough away to ignore, speaks volumes for all three, and I have no hesititation in recommending any of them, they are all top people/companies to deal with.
As I've intimated in a previous post, we do a lot of very steep climbing here, and I suspect that the big wheels add to the problem by effectively adding more leverage hence torque to the equation. I do run my gearing a bit lower than I should be all the same, with 34:16, but if there is going to be a parting of the metals, it should be in the hub, not the frame!, so I don't really think that is a factor with overstressing the frame but thought I'd better mention it.
However....., (!), if it were me, I'd be running a torque arm on the Niner. We're getting a few running around here and I've had a good look at them as well and I've spent time riding them, and despite the fact that you'd have to articulate the torque arm (wouldn't be hard) to make it work, I'd be wary of doing it any other way.
It may take six months before anything broke or it may take two years, but the forces are still going into the frame and have no other option but to stress the metal and one day something must happen in my opinion.
I note that most of your mounts have been 26ers (bar the Buzz Bomb, which is a great bike, and mine has been riden non-stop for six years now by just two riders,(me and the guy I sold it to) and it's never given a problem! Simple is best!), and I suspect that it is hard to stress a 26" frame to the point of breakage as easily as a 29er. I have another friend who broke his 26" frame after 18 months of riding (7 days a week riding) in a similar manner to my pix, so it is not impossible.
When I sheared my frames, they all without exception just snapped with no warnings, creakings or odd behaviour. It was quite impressive acutally, especially the steel frame which let go with quite an impressive bang.
Anyway, I don't want to rain on anyones parade, and I've ridden the Rip and it is a beautiful bike, it impressed the hell out of me, but I'd personally would be very cautious about running a speedbone on it. It's not the bikes fault, it's just they way the hub works, and that gearing generates a huge amount of torque which has to go somewhere.
My other hub is on my partners Karate Monkey, and I use a speedbone on it. I know for a fact (no disrespect honey) that she'll never stress the frame to the point of breakage like I've been prone to doing, and I'm happy to have that bike configured in this manner. It makes for a heavy monkey, but a reliable one that she threatens me with violence if I ever try to alter in anyway.
I run my El Capitan with the torque arm, despite them now offering a Rohloff ready slotted swingarm, which I think is still prone to the same problem.
But I'm not an engineer, so this post doesn't carry a lot of weight behind it other than I know what works for me and what doesn't. I hope that it may stop someone else having the problems I encountered, but at the end of the day, what the hell, if you do snap a chainstay every now and then, it's not the end of the world, they are replaceable, and they only seem to snap when you are climbing so it's not like they are life threatening!
Good luck with Niner and Rohloff, I reckon that would be a great combination, just as it is with the El Capitan. The Cap with Nevegals both ends (it's winter here and I like the grip), gravity dropper and a Maverick comes in at about 34.5lb which sounds heavy I know, but it always seems to go further, climb better and never have a mechanical, which more than compensates for the constant and unrelenting derision me and my big wheeled, whirry-planetary geared bike seems to be a target for. However, having three frames snap under me due to the Rohloff does give them plenty of ammo to play with, and God forbid I ever break a fourth frame!
