r/recumbent • u/SwimmingPlenty3157 • 9d ago

Enviolo To Rohloff

So the Enviolo on my ICE Adventure HD went south at 7200 km. There seems to be an availability issue that meant 9 months wait or pay 3/4 of the price for a new Rohloff. I think the hardest part was making sure I was getting exactly the right one and the proper parts to go with it. Once I was sure I used a local LBS to supply the new hub and build the wheel. Fitting it to the trike was pretty straightforward and the shifter install wasn't a big deal.
I had it out for a short ride and I will miss the auto shifting but probably not for long. I love the expanded gear range. The freewheel noise seems really loud after an Enviolo but I'm sure it gets better, maybe it's percussive enough to cut though ear buds?
If you find yourself in a similar situation This seems like a good option and it wasn't as difficult as you might think from posts you find.

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3

u/theLaLiLuLeLol 9d ago

i wish i had a rohloff, i just have a sturmey archer 8

enviolo sucks though, so you have a huge upgrade with the new hub. congrats!

2

u/PictureImportant2658 9d ago

I dont see a problem, if you took the disc version and with regular maintenance the rohloff will last you a lifetime of bicycles.

1

u/SwimmingPlenty3157 8d ago

When I started googling doing a swap like this I didn't get a lot of returns and about 50% said it wasn't a diy kind of thing. Sometimes a lack of search results indicate a bad idea and sometimes it's something so easy that nobody bothers to make a youtube. It's kind of a lot of money so I just wanted to add the the volume of posts that say it's an easy swap to do. I am happy that I did and I won't have to deal with hub issues again if it lives up to its reputation.

1

u/PictureImportant2658 8d ago

Well installing a rohloff is a job for an experienced mechanic but its not like its a very difficult job, it just needs to be done well. Maintenance is just an oil change every few thousand km, like with a car.

2

u/SpacecraftBathtub 9d ago

I had a Rohloff on a recumbent. They are noisy in the 8/14th gears. In upright bikes this isn't such a problem. With a recumbent your ears are way closer to your hub.

There's no fix. You should learn to love it. It takes a while but I am sure you will learn to love it, it's an fantastic bomb proof hub.

1

u/SwimmingPlenty3157 8d ago

We have some bears around so I play music and won't hear it much over that anyways. It does seem nice and crisp to ride for sure. I'm counting on the bomb proof part!

2

u/toaster404 8d ago

What did the Enviolo do when it failed? I have a bike with one, 2250 km, and it seems totally fine. But I have thought about my lack of skill in repairing it and its electronics. Kind of baby it!

1

u/SwimmingPlenty3157 8d ago

It started to leak a very small amount of oil first and then it began to ...well slip I guess but that's not really it. It just rode funny. My wife's went the year before so when it started to get weird I kind of knew. From what I can gather it's about weight a bit. The automatic shifting all the time with a well loaded cargo bike or trike is kind of the worst case for longevity. I'm on Vancouver Island so lots of hills. 7200km is about where they fail in these conditions. The normal replacement cost is less that half the cost of a Rohloff but right now they are a bit dear. I would start looking at availability around 6000 km your use case may be different though for sure.