A shame. A truly innovative man.
As I remember the story, he was riding on a beach one day when sand jammed his derailleur. He decided there must be a better way of doing things in a world that had stagnated with the Sturmey-Archer three-speed.
Little things tell a story...
I thought one day that my gear was slipping. I took it into a shop in Holland. Without even looking, the woman there said: "It's not your Rohloff..."
"Why not?"
"Because Rohloffs never go wrong."
And she was right. The problem was elsewhere.
That’s sad news Mike. He’s certainly left an enduring legacy.
I’ve never been tempted to fit a Rohloff hub, but I’ve been mightily impressed at the extraordinary durability of my friend and sometime co-tourer Ian Wallis’s Rohloff equipped Thorn Nomad. For example, he rode from the SJSC shop in Somerset all the way to Singapore on one chain & sprocket!
Since then he’s covered more enormous distances, including twice across Australia. He’s currently riding from Canberra to Singapore.
Ian ‘s expedition rides would have to be one of the most outstanding testaments to the quality Bernhard Rohloff’s fabulous invention.
Thanks, Mike.
As you might expect, on the Thorn Cycles Forum there's a thread where several of us celebrate and mourn Bernard Rohloff: http://thorncyclesforum.co.uk/...
As usual, there's some informed technical commentary, along with some personal stories explaining why we joined the church of Rohloff. 😉
Cheers, John
From another Forum
Rohloff-related Facebook groups are reporting the sad passing of Bernhard Rohloff, "father" of our beloved Speedhubs.
His family and "family" of employees must all be gutted and the magnitude of his loss will ripple through the entire industry.
Condolences to his loved ones and a final thanks to him for providing such joy to those of us who have used and enjoyed his inventions.
1 year ago