I've gotten so sick of derailleurs I'm ready to pull the trigger on an IGH for my main BBSHD iron steed. The wise thing would be to try something cheap first like a Sturmey Archer or Alfine, but I know I won't like the gear range and in any case these don't really have enough torque-handling capability for a BBSHD. Also I build my own wheels, which is a bit of a PITA, and my workroom is overflowing with old parts I don't need. So I figure I'd rather just skip straight to what I actually want and hopefully buy once, cry once.
At the high end there's obviously Rohloff but its a little low on torque capability and 14 speeds seems ridiculous: I have 9 on all my derailleurs and that's way too many (I only use 9 speed parts because there isn't anything simpler out there that can handle 11->50 cassettes.) And of course Rohloff is the most $$$, and their thru-axle option is kind of fake--which doesn't matter since they won't even sell it to people anyway. Enviolo is cheaper, but not cheap enough considering its heavy, lower efficiency and it, too, is a bit short on torque capability. Plus infinite gears actually seems like it would be annoying.
So that brings up some "new" product announcements I found from 2022: high power hubs from 3x3 and Revolute. They both look interesting but the 3x3 seems to really hit all the marks: 250Nm torque, >500% gear range and a little bit cheaper than Rohloff. Revolute is basically the same price and power but with a somewhat narrower gear range and sales only direct from Germany, which isn't ideal.
The catch is that I can find no sign that anyone has ever used either of these hubs! There's hardly any info on the internet about them except from the initial news announcements and the company webpages, plus a couple of no-information Youtube marketing videos. For 3x3 there seem to be at least two US resellers but they don't tell me much more besides the pricing. Worst of all I can find almost no trace on bike forums or Reddit of any regular Joe who has obtained, installed and reviewed either one of their hubs (this goes for both 3x3 and Revolute.)
So what's the deal? Should I be the first test monkey blasted into space? Do these hubs really even exist? Help!
At the high end there's obviously Rohloff but its a little low on torque capability and 14 speeds seems ridiculous: I have 9 on all my derailleurs and that's way too many (I only use 9 speed parts because there isn't anything simpler out there that can handle 11->50 cassettes.) And of course Rohloff is the most $$$, and their thru-axle option is kind of fake--which doesn't matter since they won't even sell it to people anyway. Enviolo is cheaper, but not cheap enough considering its heavy, lower efficiency and it, too, is a bit short on torque capability. Plus infinite gears actually seems like it would be annoying.
So that brings up some "new" product announcements I found from 2022: high power hubs from 3x3 and Revolute. They both look interesting but the 3x3 seems to really hit all the marks: 250Nm torque, >500% gear range and a little bit cheaper than Rohloff. Revolute is basically the same price and power but with a somewhat narrower gear range and sales only direct from Germany, which isn't ideal.
The catch is that I can find no sign that anyone has ever used either of these hubs! There's hardly any info on the internet about them except from the initial news announcements and the company webpages, plus a couple of no-information Youtube marketing videos. For 3x3 there seem to be at least two US resellers but they don't tell me much more besides the pricing. Worst of all I can find almost no trace on bike forums or Reddit of any regular Joe who has obtained, installed and reviewed either one of their hubs (this goes for both 3x3 and Revolute.)
So what's the deal? Should I be the first test monkey blasted into space? Do these hubs really even exist? Help!
