Thanks Micheal,

I’ve never seen a Rodriguez in real life. They’ve got a great reputation and it looks like a sweet bike. Noticed on your profile that you're from PA .... isn’t it sacrilege to being getting a bike from the west coast rather than the ‘home team’ at Bilenky 😎. 

Nice to see some snow in your profile pic as well. Makes Kirsten and I feel like home. 

Hope there’s many more great adventures to come on your tandem. Great way to travel.

Mike,

He has been completely happy with the Rohloff. There have been zero performance issues. To be fair, the second Alfine hub has also been great. I don’t know if Shimano has repaired the issue in general or what. Jacinto doesn’t tour on that bike as Dean twice ‘forgot’ to install the rack braze ons. 

Brent,

I'm resurrecting an old thread. I've been doing Rohloff research on this blustery spring day. Now I also own a Rohloff! I purchased a demo bike that had every imaginable bell and whistle, including a Rohloff.

However, the point of this reply is to say that Jacinto did buy a Pinion equipped Priority 600 bicycle. Priority has amazing price points for all their bikes include. Rack, fenders, dynamo hub, etc. Plus, a Pinion 12! Jacinto quite likes it - says the shifting is similar in quality (crispness) to the Rohloff. Perhaps the Pinion is a little quieter. 

When you get home from your current tour, you can check out Priority and/or Pinion gear boxes. Jacinto endorses both.

Back home now, I'll do some reading.

Thank you!