Thorn Cycles Forum
Community => Rohloff Internal Hub Gears => Topic started by: Andre Jute on October 08, 2015, 01:14:04 PM
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when u buy a bike with a rohloff set up u should get a box of happy pills with it so as when it breaks down you can smile while you walk the next 50 miles to the bike shop. ;)
That's wicked-funny, Anto, but quite unfair, and totally untrue. Most Rohloff customers don't know where the nearest service agent is, and will never need to know. When rarely either something small or disastrous does go wrong, Rohloff service is easy and quick to get via courier.
Contrast two of my Shimano Nexus 8-speed hubs, which gave up the ghost at a few thousand kilometers. That's kaput, not some fixable problem. When I enquired about rebuilds I was told it would be cheaper to scrap the hub and buy a new one; the socalled service agent didn't even have a tool to open the thing, and had never heard of the oil change module Shimano offers (theoretically, you understand; I've never seen one actually for sale). You never hear that "scrap it 'cos it's cheaper" nonsense about a Rohloff, do you, then?
Nah, I think Rohloff comes with a lifetime supply of happy pills.
Of course, us Irish Rohloff riders will have to swim with our bikes to reach a service agent...
But then again, not wearing out all those chainrings and cogs and chains, and not paying for cleaning and oiling materials, like the derailleur luddites, we probably save enough on the Rohloff to hire a speedboat...
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Aye, Andre, 'tis truth ye speak, 'tis.
When the biggest problem you have is the high-speed rachety racket from the freewheel down a steep hill in 14th, scaring away the bears, or making the horses twitch their ears & the cows look up and chew their cud at another chomp-per-minute -- well, how serious a 'problem' can this be?
Why, just yesterday I took the Raven up into the hills across the river, for this year's first ride into the autumn foliage. (Fotos to come shortly.) I took the Rohloff rather than spend an hour or two adjusting the rear derailleur on the Eclipse...
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When the biggest problem you have is the high-speed rachety racket from the freewheel down a steep hill in 14th, scaring away the bears, or making the horses twitch their ears & the cows look up and chew their cud at another chomp-per-minute -- well, how serious a 'problem' can this be?
In my family we have a saying, "How do you know you've become disgustingly middle-aged and middle-class, a disgrace to the young revolutionary and bohemian you once were?"
The answer is, when you can't think of anything you want for your birthday except maybe another Rohloff bike. If you'll never wear out the first one, why should you need a second one?
If any of you Rohloff riders fear becoming middleaged before your time, too conservative for words, you should promptly pack up your Rohloff and send it to me, postage prepaid please, to dispose of thoughtfully and according to sound econo— I mean ecological principles.
...I took the Rohloff rather than spend an hour or two adjusting the rear derailleur on the Eclipse...
Why, all that time you save not servicing your derailleur bikes will be just enough to give us an very extended tutorial on servicing a derailleur bike, just in case any of us bring one of the antiques down from the loft. I can hardly remember what a derailleur looks like.
Looking forward to the photos of your first autumn ride, John.
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Well Andre if nothing else it stirred up a few people, the forum was getting a bit quiet so why not throw a rohloff spanner into the works to get you guys going. ;D.
but look lads theres nothing wrong with derailier systems far from it seldom they will give trouble ok as in they will ware out quicker than a rohloff hub but it's not going to cost the price of a new car to replace a rear mech..
got to admit tho i come from a roadie background im a bif fan of shimano top end gear and of course the classy campag.
As James said horses for courses it's his choice to ride what ever he chooses far be it from me to argue with that .
anyway Andre sure i still love ya 8)
anto, geek of the week.
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when u buy a bike with a rohloff set up u should get a box of happy pills with it so as when it breaks down you can smile while you walk the next 50 miles to the bike shop. ;)
Most Rohloff owners never face such a scenario. The few 'failures' are only ever the case of faulty shifts, or much more rarely, a broken hub flange. Neither of these is ever going to be a 'can't-ride-my-bike' situation. Five years and counting for me. 25,000kms; no failures or problems; zero maintenance; nothing but joyous cycle-touring. I would never be pleased about going back to the derailleur, though I do still have several derailleur bikes.
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...the forum was getting a bit quiet so why not throw a rohloff spanner into the works to get you guys going. ;D.
Not a Rohloff spanner! Haven't you got a cheap derailleur spanner you can throw?
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dont need them Andre 10mm alan key ;)
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dont need them Andre 10mm alan key ;)
You must have a funny set of derailleurs, Anto. Most that I have used require a 10mm hex-key, a 5 or 6mm hex-key, and also a Phillips-head or flat-blade screw-driver to work on them :P
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;D ;D i was just guessing ;)
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;D ;D i was just guessing ;)
His wife fixes his bike when it breaks.
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no way Andre as long as she keeps me fed and watered i'll fix me own bike. ;)
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Faith 'n' bejeezus, I think we have words of mass distraction here, when we should be out ridin' our bikes in this fine fall weather. There was a remark by the great Berra, I think it was, less well-known than some of his others:
The ancient Gaels of Ireland
Are the men that God made mad,
For all their wars are merry,
And all their songs are sad.
;)
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Come in Andre. ;)
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'Tis all in the family, y'know, Anto -- my Mum's family is from near Glendalough in the Wicklow Hills... ;)
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never cycled up there john to hard lovely part of the country tho.
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Mmm, now that John's brought up Wicklow, I think it was hillwalking in Co Wicklow that I saw part of a pathway that's supposed to be a hiking trail on which you can (again supposedly) walk from one end of Ireland to the other. We didn't actually walk on the trail -- that's the amateurs' easy option -- but IIRC those paths, at least back then, were said to be open to cyclists... The bits in Wicklow I saw were good and wide, cleared and signposted; bits I saw elsewhere over the years varied to outright rough, with Swiss tourists, who expect their countryside to be manicured, visibly turning up their noses at the carelessness of our Tourist Board. Do you know anything about it, Anto? I imagine that if it were a serious cycling project, we'd long ago have heard about it here, because there used to be some posters who regularly made bike tours in Ireland; as far as I know, theirs were all tarmac tours.
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don't know much about that part of the country Andre it is a very popular place for tourists and mountainbikers and hill walkers .
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Thanks, guys, that's very useful info. It's a loooong time since I visited those parts, too long, and I'd like to do so again, this time with my Raven.
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great touring along the wild atlantic way john stunning scenery as long as the sun comes out.