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I have two 26" bicycles and I am considering investing in a super expensive Rohloff speedhub.

I would like to know if it would be possible to easily move the wheel with the rohloff hub from one bike to another - assuming of course that both have already been set up for it (shifter, cable, and everything).

Thank you

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  • The Wikipedia looks like the OEM version should be able to.
    – andy256
    Commented May 29, 2015 at 11:53
  • Er ... must be too late at night ... the Wikipedia article looks like ...
    – andy256
    Commented May 29, 2015 at 12:24
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    FWIW I've been doing this for years. You might be surprised at how well different anti-rotation devices work (Rohloff offers 4 or 5) outside their designed scenario. The main hassle or expense is moving the shifter or buying multiple shifters. I have one Rohloff that's been used in at least 7 bikes so far, and usually have at least one more bike than rear wheel.
    – Móż
    Commented Aug 28, 2015 at 2:08

1 Answer 1

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If both bikes have a frame which is set up for it, with the long drop-out on the Thorn pictured below and the EX Box below it, then it would be the work of 5 minutes. Just unscrew (possibly by hand) that big nut on the ex-box, remove the wheel and put it onto the other bike.

Rohloff-specific frame with EX-box

The only issue to remember is to always shift to the same gear (say, the lowest) before you remove the EX-box and ensure the shifter is in that position when you reconnect, otherwise you won't be able to get into all the gears.

If, on the other hand it's a more complicated set up with a reaction arm like this:

Rohloff mounted with reaction arm

Then it might be more complicated. Then again, perhaps the arm can be disconnected with a single pin, I haven't tried it. The two cables under the black flexible plastic cable covers will also need to be disconnected. I'm not sure how hard that is.

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  • Thank you. What I am planning to do is using two normal MTB frames (short, vertical dropouts) with the rohloff chain tensioner. Would you think it'd be as easy then? Thank you very much.
    – Dakatine
    Commented Jun 1, 2015 at 7:23
  • I'm not sure. It might depend on how easily you can remove the pin at the left-hand end of the tensioner arm, below the chain-stay. I assume the tensioner arm is attached more securely to the hub and would move with it. You may be able to get more detailed information on the Thorn forum: thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?board=25.0
    – James Bradbury
    Commented Jun 1, 2015 at 7:59
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    The block on the chainstay is designed to allow the torque arm to be easily released: rohloff.de/fileadmin/_processed_/5/a/…
    – armb
    Commented Aug 6, 2018 at 8:32

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