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81
Rohloff Internal Hub Gears / Re: Crack noise after shifting
« Last post by Tigerbiten on March 15, 2026, 02:34:04 AM »
Just read this tread and I think it sounds like there's something slightly misaligned in the high/low lock.
In gears 1-7 the 3rd planetary gear spins to give you the low range and in 8-14 it's locked for the high range.
This misalignment doesn't cause any problems in gear 1-7.
But every time you shift in gears 8-14 this misalignment rears it's ugly head.
Something shifts a fraction in the lock when you change a high gear, it's not enough to fully work the lock.
So it still works fine under both light and heavy loads.
But enough to hear it correctly realigning itself back into place under heavy load.
Once it's aligned, it doesn't shift again until you shift gears again.
Hence no matter what you do there's no further sound until you do shift gears in the high range.

I maybe wrong but something like that is the only thing I can think of which fits the given symptoms.
 
82
Rohloff Internal Hub Gears / Re: Is it better to use one long housing cable?
« Last post by Tigerbiten on March 15, 2026, 01:14:55 AM »
I use the method of feeding the uncut cables through the outers and making up the shifter.
Then after pulling each cable tight, cutting it with 200mm showing out of the outer.
I have a short piece of outer 200mm long that I use as a cutting guide.
But I am working on a recumbent trike and the outers are around 5 foot long.
I find doing it this way give me a little more leeway with cutting the outer/inner to there correct lengths as any slight difference in length of the new outer is corrected by cutting the cable after it has been threaded.
83
Belt Drive / Re: Belt drive article from Thorn Blog
« Last post by JohnR on March 12, 2026, 01:03:05 PM »
Quote
Tristan Ridley who is a long distance back packer has moved back to chain from belt.  He has a YT video explaining why….
Available here...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx5nN3kyx5k
Thanks. Both mucky conditions and challenging terrain. I would be wanting a parachute in case I fell off some of those tracks!

Five winters ago I used a belt drive bike on my local roads and the bike started making lots of creaking noises. I eventually traced the problem to be the belt getting dirty. It needed a thorough scrub which was more maintenance effort than putting a bit of lube on a chain. The attached photo is of the bike I've been using on the same roads for the most recent winter and shows the typical accumulated muck over nearly 1k miles. Once the winter is over I'll fit a new chain which is less effort than cleaning the dirty one and costs less than £15.
84
Belt Drive / Re: Belt drive article from Thorn Blog
« Last post by WorldTourer on March 11, 2026, 02:36:13 PM »
I was surprised to see that Gates recommends that.  I do not recall where, but somewhere several years ago I saw that it was clearly stated that if you did that, it would damage the belt.  I might have seen that on the Thorn website somewhere.

If they said that, they would have to change the policy to get any business from all those long-haul cyclists who are traveling in countries where getting a replacement belt is not straightforward.
85
Belt Drive / Re: Belt drive article from Thorn Blog
« Last post by mickeg on March 11, 2026, 10:34:54 AM »
...
Re carrying/storing a spare belt - Gates say.....https://youtu.be/VgM-qeHGK_4?si=juJL4eavETswXT8s
...

I was surprised to see that Gates recommends that.  I do not recall where, but somewhere several years ago I saw that it was clearly stated that if you did that, it would damage the belt.  I might have seen that on the Thorn website somewhere.

But if Gates says it is ok, then it clearly must be ok.

There used to be a discount bike parts company in USA (Nashbar) that would pack their wire bead tires that way when you bought a tire from them, shipping boxes were much smaller that way.  Before I put a tire on a rim, I would have to unkink the wire bead in a few spots.

A decade ago on my Iceland trip, I met this couple there, see photo.  They were a mixed marriage, one had belt and the other chain drive on their Rohloff bikes.  They said they carried a spare belt because nobody in all of Iceland sold them.
86
Belt Drive / Re: Belt drive article from Thorn Blog
« Last post by PH on March 10, 2026, 08:50:21 PM »
Quote
Tristan Ridley who is a long distance back packer has moved back to chain from belt.  He has a YT video explaining why….
Available here...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx5nN3kyx5k

Best, Dan.
That was interesting, not just from a technical POV, it was worth watching for the scenery. While I accept the fragility of a carried belt, that has always been known and it shouldn't be an insurmountable issue. His not getting a better mileage from a belt than a chain is enough to put me off.  Though I'm not saying never...
87
Bikes For Sale / Re: Thorn Sherpa - XL for drops, needs assembly/work
« Last post by tt2cycletours on March 09, 2026, 10:32:03 PM »
Apologies just saw this. I imagine you have a frame now. I have almost finished building this up into a finished bike...
88
Non-Thorn Related / Carradice New Ponchos
« Last post by in4 on March 09, 2026, 11:35:28 AM »
89
Belt Drive / Re: Belt drive article from Thorn Blog
« Last post by Danneaux on March 08, 2026, 03:35:39 PM »
Quote
Tristan Ridley who is a long distance back packer has moved back to chain from belt.  He has a YT video explaining why….
Available here...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx5nN3kyx5k

Best, Dan.
90
Belt Drive / Re: Belt drive article from Thorn Blog
« Last post by Andyb1 on March 08, 2026, 02:21:10 PM »
Interesting to see that Tristan Ridley who is a long distance bikepacker has moved back to chain from belt.  He has a YT video explaining why….but his bike usage is pretty extreme!
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