Bernhard Rohloff

Bernhard Felix Rohloff (21 February 1950 – 19 May 2023) was a German businessman who was the founder of Rohloff AG, and the inventor of several innovative products, amongst others, the 14 speed Rohloff Speedhub 500/14 planetary gear hub.

Rohloff studied machine engineering at Olympia while working part-time at Henschel und Thyssen, a German locomotive manufacturer. After graduation, he worked at Mercedes-Benz with the development of automobile driveshafts.

Later he struck out on his own and founded Rohloff AG, where he first invented an advanced narrow chain that soon became the industry standard for road-bikes and was used by several Tour de France winners, and the manufacturing methods therefore. He personally designed "the green beast", a proprietary machine for manufacturing SLT-99 chains. Rohloff AG became an OEM chain manufacturer for Campagnolo.

In the early 90s, Rohloff began the development of the Rohloff Speedhub 500/14, which was subsequently patented and released into the market in 1998. It is the only gear hub on the market (together with the new 14-speed Kindernay XIV) with more than 11 speeds. The gear hub is manufactured and assembled by hand in the company's premises in Hessen, Germany.

Rohloff died from complications of Parkinson's disease on 19 May 2023, at the age of 73.