One word for you...

I take it back...CRC are jobbing them out well cheap (or at least they will be when they are back in stock). Hmmmmm

Will one of these new fangled clutch mechs work with an 8 speed block and an 8 speed shifter?

Don't reckon so - I'm sure the actuation ratio is different.

Now, if you used an old friction thumbshifter...

You could probably go single ring 10 speed with clutch mech for about £100 if you shop around. You'd need a mech, shifter, cassette and chain (and possibly a new chainring - 9 speed rings work fine).

Rohloff invented their hub in 1997, that is 15 years ago, and you guys still have all your gears hanging on the outside of your offroad vehicle

Who in their right mind wants to spend £1000 on a Rohloff speedhub when the shimano/sram system that does exactly the same job costs a couple of hundred quid? No thanks

Wich you have to replace after one season of abuse, fails in sticky muddy condtions and make your bike rattle like a can of nails on bumpy descents........seriously, name me one offroad vehicle that has it's gearbox exposed to the elements?

Hope these guys make some progress soon http://pinion.eu/discover-pinion/pinion-p1-18/

The chain & cassette maybe

Never had that problem and I ride some very muddy trails

The new clutch system eliminates this completely

Rohloff and other internal gear hub manufacturers will have you believe that their systems are bombproof and maintenance free, that is simply not the case, they fail and then have to be sent back to factory for repair. And only a grip shift option? again, no thanks
You can't compare other off-road geared vehicles to a bike/MTB as they are motorised and the forces and heat involved means they need to be sealed units to hold the lubricating oil around the cogs and stop the gearbox overheating and seizing

I'm not a fan of the Rohloff system either...I despise grip shift, it also weighs a fair bit and costs a bomb.

I've smashed the odd mech, but generally mine last pretty well and even when they do get broken, they're pretty cheap and easy to replace. After riding some really rocky stuff this weekend, I'm going to get a clutch mech when funds allow (although it may be delayed after bowing up my rear shock).

I've been mountainbiking (and travelling by bike) for over 25 years, first 19 years with normal gears, switched to Rohloff 6 years back and nver had it fail on me, I'm a big lad at 6ft5 and 95kg. Shimano cassette body's failed on me twice a year (tried every type over the years) Rohloff IS pretty much bombproof (and not to compare with any other internal geared hub).
I've ridden several marathons where conventional mechs failed in big numbers because of the muddy conditions.

Do you really think that motorized vehicle only have their gears boxed safely because of overheating ........ sure being exposed to sand and mud would have no influence on the gearbox wearing out? How often do you replace the gearbox on your car?

I just can't believe the MTB industry keeps focussing on reinventing a bad system in the first place and
strongly encourage companies like Rohloff ad Pinion to make progress in the right direction.

Yes, Rohloff invented their hub in 1997, and its still relatively heavy, expensive, sensitive to servicing, not user repairable in the event of failure (im an amateur powerlifter, and much bigger and heavier than yo-eddy and can confirm DO fail now and again) and has a limited range of gearing.   I can't believe you don't have your gears hanging on the outside if your bike when it overcomes all these disadvantages.

They are good in their own way, but bring as many problems as they solve on HT' s and are utterly irrelevant on full squidger where unsprung mass is the 8 th deadly sin. They're an alternative, not the answer.

It's tricky to predict where future development might take either system. You would hope hub gear manufacturers would overcome the in the near future, but hub gears have been around far longer than derailleurs, and they haven't done so yet.