1×10 vs Rohloff

A tale of Two Surlys

Here is a comparison of gear inches on my two Surly ECR builds. One has a slightly modified 1×10 standard derailleur drive train and the other uses a Rohloff internally geared 14 speed hub.

OneUp Components 1×10 Modified cassette setup:
Crankset: Deore Crank with Raceface 32t N/W ring
Cassette: 11.13,16,19,21,24,28,32,36,42T
Granny gears: 23.2 (32/42t) / 27.1 (32/36t) / 30.5 (32/32t)
High gear: 88.7 (32/11t)

Rohloff 500/14 Speedhub setup:
Crankset: SLX Crank with 34t Surly stainless ring
Rohloff: SpeedHub 14sp with a 16t ring
Granny gears: 18.1 (#1 gear) / 20.4 (#2 gear) / 23.3 (#3 gear)
High gear: 106.8 (#14 gear)

On the 1×10 the lowest gear combination yields 23.2 gear inches compared to 18.1 gear inches on the Rohloff.
On the 1×10 the highest gear combination yields 88.7 gear inches compared to 106.8 on the Rohloff.

Obviously the Rohloff drivetrain has a much wider percentage of gear spread but how does it “feel” in actual use? I plan on running a series of tests on the steep hillsides of St Thomas island to find out.

Photos of the 1×10 ECR
click on photos to view larger image files