BadGrandma

I converted a 1993ish Terry Solstice hybrid to a road bike with standard drop bars. The Terry now has the Rohloff 14 speed IGH. The twist shifter is mounted to an accessory bar clamped onto the middle of the road bar, which puts the shifter to the inside of the Tektro brake levers and above the bar maybe 2 inches. The twist shifter was on the flat part of the right drop of a Soma Gator, which was even further from my right hand.

The problems are:
I hate twist shifters. The throw up or down is stiff, and more importantly, I have to take my hand away from the right brake lever, and I am thrown off-balance on hills.
Ascending and descending are now more dangerous than I like.

The Rohbox is an apparatus which will let me use either Campy or SRAM brifters after the spring has been removed. The problem is that I have small hands that might not have the strength to throw the levers. At least, that's what reviews are saying. The cable will have "a short reach". Have any of you either use the Rohbox or know of anyone who has?

Rick

My Co-Motion Pangea Rohloff came with their drop bar version of the Rohloff shifter. It mounts on the handlebar next to the stem. I never liked it. I went to a MTB style of handlebar called the crazy bar that offers several hand positions. The Rohloff grip shift works great in this setup. There are other options but they don't allow you to change as many gears at one time as the Rohloff shifter. Here is another setup.

3alarmer 

.
...the only person I know on here who knows much about Rohloff products is Dan Burkhart . Nobody I know here personally, where I live, can afford the initial start up costs. I do know, from talking to one of their representatives at the hand made bicycles show here one year, that they are not generally recommended as user serviceable hubs. Maybe Dan knows more about your Rohbox. I share your aversion to twist shifters.

Anyway, maybe Dan will respond to the ping. It couldn't hurt.

Dan Burkhart 

I have never used anything other than the stock twist shifters on any of the Rohloff builds I have done. There are a few products I would like to try out, but they all come at a significant upcharge over the stock shifter.
This one looks interesting for drop bars. https://www.cyclemonkey.com/shifters...loff-or-pinion

Rick

I looked up the bicycle the OP refers to and it doesn't appear to have disk brakes. The Cinq Shift:R Thumb Shifters for drop bars.
It may not be possible to purchase any different shifter than the Rohloff version for some time. due to shortages. From the description given the OP dislikes moving their hands away from the brakes to shift. Flat bars would be a far better choice to mount the Rohloff shifter. The Rohloff needs some use on it and the shifter will become less stiff and the lower 7 gears will become a little quieter.

My Pangea Rohloff was setup like this.

I changed to this


I am much happier with the Crazy bar and I have the optional left handed shifter.

BadGrandma

I think I didn't give enough information about the bike and how I plan to ride it. The bike does have a disk brake in back for hairy descents. Franklin Frames spread the rear triangle to 190 mm. Because I bought the Terry for the 24" front wheel, the original fork is still there. So the front has Deore brakes. Ascending and descending is important to me, not because I want to ride hills on it, but I am married to a little goat. Bruce "forgets" that "only a few real hills are on the route".
I already oversteer with a drop-style bar, so I'd be twisting out the front wheel with a flat bar. I'm aware that's probably backwards, but that's what I do. Can the Crazy Bar act as a replacement for a drop bar, as in, does it have the same steering characteristics as a drop bar? The problem of moving my hand would still remain, but the Crazy Bar could be a partial solution. Maybe by then Bruce will see what happens on "real hills" and offer help on buying the Rohbox kit.

Rick

Wife holding Rick's ride.
The Crazy bar is closer to how a drop bar fits than other options. They have changed the Crazy bar and are out of stock until the new version arrives. The new Crazy bar will resemble the Koga Denham Bar. The Rohloff shifter next to the grip is extremely easy to manipulate. You just slide your hand over than back.