# Building-up a Rohloff RIP



## mtbgoofball (Apr 17, 2006)

I am building-up a Niner RIP with my Rohloff hub and have questions on this specific build. I am moving parts from my former bike and adding new item where necessary. 

- How did you route the shift cables?
- What gears are you running?

Thanks in advance for your help, I can't wait to get this machine rolling...


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## el-cid (May 21, 2004)

Forum superstar Rainman had his RIP initially built up with a Rohloff setup. A search will turn up his initial buildup thread titled "Introducing True Blue". Here's a few pictures. Plus one random picture of zombiecat to counteract your creeeeeepy avatar picture.


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## LyNx (Oct 26, 2004)

Also search for Speedhub.Nates RIP9 with Rohloff, browse on over into the Niner forum and find more info. Also know there are stick on cable guides if you so wish to run the cables under the DT like RM did - neater and no cable tie al the way around the tube.


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## Rainman (Apr 18, 2004)

That was my first attempt with the Rohloff on the RIP 9. I refined the cable routing by running it down the side of the down tube, connected to the bottle cage, across the top of the BB and along the underside of the chain stay.

This gives a very good routing to the cables with only the initial wide radius bend at the top of the run, and made shifting very smooth.

The heavy Rohloff Speedbone was replaced by a lighter "monkeybone"


R.


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## LyNx (Oct 26, 2004)

So this means, that if he happens to have one of the newer RIP9s he could use the provided cable routing  just needs to do a little cable tying onto the chainstay.



Rainman said:


> That was my first attempt with the Rohloff on the RIP 9. I refined the cable routing by running it down the side of the down tube, connected to the bottle cage, across the top of the BB and along the underside of the chain stay..................................... R.


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## Rainman (Apr 18, 2004)

Exactly so.. :thumbsup:



R.


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## bstiff (Jul 21, 2004)

Does anyone share my worry of something terrible happening to the clickbox? I have my hub set up similar to rainman's, where the shifting stuff hangs under the chainstay. Do you guys have any experience on how hard you can hit the clickbox on stuff that gets in its way, without bashing it off or causing other damage? Will those little studs that the clickbox connects to shear before Very Bad Things occur?


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## thebigred67 (Mar 29, 2005)

bstiff said:


> Does anyone share my worry of something terrible happening to the clickbox? I have my hub set up similar to rainman's, where the shifting stuff hangs under the chainstay. Do you guys have any experience on how hard you can hit the clickbox on stuff that gets in its way, without bashing it off or causing other damage? Will those little studs that the clickbox connects to shear before Very Bad Things occur?


I mounted mine to the top on my Bullit,... good thing too. I bent the **** out of the arm. it bent back fine and it saved my disc but if the box was down there it would have got smoked. :eekster:


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## mtbgoofball (Apr 17, 2006)

I have the same concern. The hub was on a Jekyll with the cables running up and over the rear caliper. I'm trying to figure out which way to go with the RIP.


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## bstiff (Jul 21, 2004)

I forgot to mention... el-cid is right. Your avatar gives me the willies.


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## Rainman (Apr 18, 2004)

I've hit the shifterbox a couple of times, you can see a few scrape marks from rocks along the bottom corner if you look closely at the pics...but never hit it hard enough to do any real damage.

It's tucked up pretty tight where it is, and unlikely to get a bad hit, but having said that ... anything is possible.

I tried running one of my Speedhubs in the "high" position over the top of the hub, but I found the shifting wasn't as smooth, and the cables were more likely to get caught by low bushes.


R.


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## bstiff (Jul 21, 2004)

Rainman said:


> I've hit the shifterbox a couple of times, you can see a few scrape marks from rocks along the bottom corner if you look closely at the pics...but never hit it hard enough to do any real damage.
> 
> It's tucked up pretty tight where it is, and unlikely to get a bad hit, but having said that ... anything is possible.
> 
> I tried running one of my Speedhubs in the "high" position over the top of the hub, but I found the shifting wasn't as smooth, and the cables were more likely to get caught by low bushes.


Yeah, I messed around with mine when I was setting up my Dambala, but couldn't really find an arrangement that suited me besides settling on the clickbox being at 6 o'clock from the hub. I was hoping to put it at 10:00 (inside the rear triangle), but all of the various parts didn't seem to go well together. However, I've since traded the original-style Rohloff bone for a monkeybone, and replaced the crappy Avid mechanical disc with a Hayes, I might have room now.

My only remaining concern is that when I putzed with the axle plate last time, I ran one or two of those torx screws that attach the plate to the hub in a little too tight, and I'm afraid I might have pulled the threads out. Probably should have RTFM to see if there are torque specs....


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## mtbgoofball (Apr 17, 2006)

After spending far too much time examining photos and even more in contemplation, I think I'll run the shift box up behind the caliper. I’ve ran this hub on my Jekyll for 4 years without any problem. I expect some additional cable drag but the Gore cables should minimize this. In addition, the shift box will be further from the ground keeping it away from rocks, rain, and mud (I reside on the rainy side of Washington state).


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## mtbgoofball (Apr 17, 2006)

So what gears are you running with your Rohloff RIP?


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## HetTuig (Sep 28, 2005)

What size RIP is that?


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## dgdixon (Feb 11, 2004)

I have been running the shifter box at the 6 oclock position on several bikes now, and I have knocked it hard enough to have it disconect (at least on a 29er it sits1.5 inches higher than on a 26er). I am currently building up a new bike with a Rohloff dropout, which allows me eliminate the Speed/monkey bone attachment, get it a closer to the 2 oclock position and avoid the big cable loop.


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## Rainman (Apr 18, 2004)

It's a small size RIP, and the gearing I run is 36x16. Standard Rohloff-recommended gearing is 38x16. I'm running out of spec slightly, but I have never had any problems, and i'm not a heavyweight at 165lbs...nor an Olympic athlete.

I just finished my test run on the XRAM X9 derailleur system I had on the RIP, so I removed it and put the Rohloff Speedhub back on last night.



R.


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## mtbgoofball (Apr 17, 2006)

My new RIP is a Large. I ran 44x16 on the Jekyll.


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## fit24hrs (Jul 16, 2004)

Is it possible to mount it at the 4 o'clock position with the cables pointing up? That way, you could tie wrap the cables along the seatstay and bundle everything in the same guides as the rear brake. I've seen that set up before but wasn't sure if the speedbone was required.


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## mtbgoofball (Apr 17, 2006)

Thats my current plan


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## bstiff (Jul 21, 2004)

mtbgoofball said:


> After spending far too much time examining photos and even more in contemplation, I think I'll run the shift box up behind the caliper.


If you need to bring the clickbox a little closer to 12 o'clock, you could shell out a few bucks for a monkeybone.


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## mtbgoofball (Apr 17, 2006)

*Should be done soon...*

I hope to be rolling this weekend. I'll post some final-build photos.


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## BOHICA (May 13, 2005)

I recently put one of these on a Santa Cruz Blur, mouting the shifter box at 2-3 O'Clock, which I think is the ideal position, without any problem. 

Are you using a Monkey Bone? 

Prior to placing the shifter box, I asked Neil at Cycle Monkey his experience with mounting at 2-3 O'Clock as his photograph shows 6 O'Clock. He's seen no real problems with the higher position mount although there is slightly higher resistance with the cables.


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## mtbgoofball (Apr 17, 2006)

I'm running the big-and-bulky speedbone with the shiftbox mounted at 2-3 o'clock. I'm also using gore cables to further reduce friction.


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## mtbgoofball (Apr 17, 2006)

*It's done!*

I've got 4 days on the new RIP now and have no complaints. The cable routing is working well, fork is performing great, and overall build feels well balanced. I think I just need to drop the front chainring from a 44t to either a 36t or 38t. Thanks for the help!


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## Wish I Were Riding (Jan 30, 2004)

mtbgoofball said:


> I've got 4 days on the new RIP now and have no complaints. The cable routing is working well, fork is performing great, and overall build feels well balanced. I think I just need to drop the front chainring from a 44t to either a 36t or 38t. Thanks for the help!


Did you consider routing the cables along the non drive side chainstay pointed forward? If you run it that way there wouldn't be any crazy bends in the cables like you have now. Shifting would probably be better that way too.


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## Speedub.Nate (Dec 31, 2003)

mtbgoofball said:


> It's done!


Nice! Congrats to another fine union between Rohloff & RIP.

Your cable routing is interesting, to say the least. If you're feeling no undue friction at the shifter, then stick with it. I'l wondering if you've got too many bends, however. Easy enough to check, if you're curious: detach the shifter box, clip the zip ties, then rotate the twist shifter back and forth continuously as you simulate different cable routing arrangements. You'll find that for every bend you add, and for increasingly tighter bends, the resistance at the shifter picks up markedly. If you do this experiment, be sure to directly compare what you have now versus a direct downtube - chainstay - direct entry routing.

I believe you can use a CycleMonkey Monkey Bone with that brake. It would clean up the appearance of the rear end, and save you the weight of the Speedbone.

Have fun with that bike. It looks great.


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## Speedub.Nate (Dec 31, 2003)

Here's are some shots of the RIP9 cable routing I found to be the most direct.

In the first photo, the cable appears to be "pinched" between the bottom bracket shell & shuttle block between the links, but as you can see in the second photo (from the back looking forward), it's a pretty straight shot.

Only minimal "wear" marks on the housing indicates it doesn't get too tweaked during suspension compression.

I used an electrical cable wire tie to secure the cables to a downtube water bottle cage bolt.

Lastly, note that the Monkey Bone changes the orientation of the shifter box. It's shifted downward, compared to the optimal alignment provided by the Speedbone, as demonstrated in the photos el-cid linked to at the start of this thread.


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## mtbgoofball (Apr 17, 2006)

I spent far too much time routing the cables. Having a painted frame I was concerned with excessive cable rub. So far there is minimal touching. The 08 model runs things down the top of the down tube and I decided to take advantage of this. I also wanted the shift box mounted where it would be less exposed to mud and collisions. I'm running Gore cables and they run pretty smooth considering all the bends. The next couple months will determine how well this path works...


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## Rainman (Apr 18, 2004)

I agree that trial and error is the way to go with the shifter cables, except I was told that running the cables directly along the chainstay is the best way to go by Rohloff, and after experimenting with several different setups, I agree.

My final cable routing was very similar to Nates, except I ran across the top of the bottom bracket and up the side of the down tube, holding the cables against the bottle holder with a couple of zip ties.

This routing is very direct and creates no drag at all on the cables.

However, if your current cable setup suits you, then so be it... 



Nice RIP, btw.. :thumbsup:




R.


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## bstiff (Jul 21, 2004)

mtbgoofball said:


> I've got 4 days on the new RIP now and have no complaints. The cable routing is working well, fork is performing great, and overall build feels well balanced. I think I just need to drop the front chainring from a 44t to either a 36t or 38t. Thanks for the help!


Looks serviceable. Any guess at the difference in the rear-suspension behavior, as compared to a 9-speed wheel/cassette/derailleur? I've always guessed that the rear suspension would be slower at high speed, what with the greater weight of the rohloff, and all. Thus my inclination toward hardtails...

Rainman? Did you post a review after your trial run with 9(times 1/2/3)-speed?


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## Rainman (Apr 18, 2004)

bstiff said:


> Rainman? Did you post a review after your trial run with 9(times 1/2/3)-speed?


I do believe I did.. 

R.


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## elgordo (Jan 13, 2005)

Speedub.Nate said:


> Here's are some shots of the RIP9 cable routing I found to be the most direct.
> 
> In the first photo, the cable appears to be "pinched" between the bottom bracket shell & shuttle block between the links, but as you can see in the second photo (from the back looking forward), it's a pretty straight shot.
> 
> ...


Speedub.Nate

Nice work. A bit off topic. Did you face and chase your BB or did you find that the Niner frame prep to be adequate. I just got a 08 RIP 9 (yes I'm aware of the new version it was a conscious decision) and I notice that the external BB cups are not fully seated against the BB shell with some daylight between, on the order of a thickness of paper. I was just suprised since Niner does factory prep and I wast thinking that i wouldnt need to be done.

Just looking for your experience.

Thanks
elgordo


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## mtbgoofball (Apr 17, 2006)

My Race Face bottom bracket uses external bearings and plastic spacers. If there is a gap it's not visible in my build.

Ron


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