True enough, but is it money well spent. You can only answer for yourself and your needs as can anyone.RonK wrote:
Rohloff-specific frames are inevitably more expensive - the market is much smaller. But for the extra money you get custom dropouts, eccentric bb's and dedicated cable routing.
I think Surly is paving the way for money well spent in the ways I think suit me. I think your bike is grand and I've thought long and hard as to if its benefits were what I wanted. I also did this with a number of other wonderful frames (not all of them Rohloff specific). I'm still somewhat undecided.
What I want, for what I want to pay in truth isnt out there so its a matter of finding the best compromise for my perceived bang for buck vs weight and features/versatility.
Quite frankly, if my Moulton was just slightly better at load baring (specifically water) and with a tad better off road ability whilst using the fenders (it would be adequate with 20x2.1 tyres) I'd stick with that.
For me it gets worse, the newer Moulton TSR, my bikes evolution, has less off road ability due to its smaller tyre clearances much to my horror. I once had thoughts of buying the Avon Valley Cyclery Rohloff TSR but it turns out the max tyre limit is 20x1.6 my research suggests. I dont care if the standard of finish is much better than its aged predecessor, my APB, I'd rather refurbish my frame and retain its ability to choose fatter tyres. Its a shame as parting with the dosh for the new bike would be less of a headache than a frame restoration of the old one and probably the new would work out cheaper, much more convenient and be a better bang for buck.