Rohloff gear stuck

[tiantkpq]

Hi everyone,

I purchased a Rohloff with wheel build from SJS a few months back, and since than, I have put in about 600 km. The bike setup is a full suspension MTB.

This morning, I encounter a problem with the shifting. The gear would not shift from 4th to 5th, and 4th gear became my highest gear. After fooling around for awhile, I found a work around. First, I have to shift the gear out of gear 4, and hop the bike or ride down a step. Somehow the vibration loosen whatever got stuck, and I was able to shift beyond gear 4. However, if I shift to below gear 5 after that, same problem happen again. Anyone encounter similar problem before?

[julk]

Sorry to hear about your problem with the Rohloff.

My first one did something similar, although it unstuck very quickly.
SJS suggested trying a couple of oil changes, the flushing action to remove whatever bits were causing the problem.
This worked for me.

Failing that it is a send back to SJS job for warranty work.

[JimK]

Probably you first want to make sure the problem is in the hub rather than the cables or the shifter. I have the external shift box which makes it easy to disconnect the cables and shift directly at the hub. I imagine it is more awkward with the internal shift mechanism but still, just to check what is getting hung up, I would think there's a way.

Coming up to one year on my bike and my Rohloff is flawless. I hope your problem disappears quickly and painlessly!

[stutho]

tiantkpq,

It is not imposable that it is the hub but my money would be on one of two things.

1. ( the more likely) The nipples of the shifter cables are catching slightly on the housing of the shifter.  The tolerances on the shifter housing are very tight and more than once I have observer the wire nipples catching as you rotate the shifter.  (Each time I have observed it was after a cable change on one or other of my bikes).  The solution is to give the  both cable nipple a very light filling / sanding  to remove a little of their edge.  (This is not so easy to do on the EX model of the hub) The other solution is to just stick with your work arround for a week or two and there is a fair chance that the whole lot will free up of it own accord.  One last note I would NOT recommend lubricating the shifter cable at the shifter however if you do then stick to a dry lubricant.

2.  The EX box / bracket is out of alignment - I don't own an EX Rohloff  so I am am out of my comfort zone on this one but as I understand it the bracket for the EX box can be bent while riding  (by hitting a rock etc) and if this happens it can be hard or imposable to change into some gears.  Visually check the area around the EX box for a ding. 

    One other thought  (WHICH MAY WELL BE OUT OF DATE).  Given that you probably fitted the cables yourself to to the bike, did you use the cables provided by Rohloff.  A few years back the cable outers provide by Rohloff  had a known issue, the cable liner would migrate up into the  shifter causing it to jam.   This would ALWAYS happen if a ferrule wasn't fitted but even with a ferrule in place  there were issue. The issue was so common that most people decided not to use the cable that Rohloff provided.  I believe that even SJSC were fitting 3rd party cables at one point rather than using the original cables, to avoid this issue (I could well be wrong on this.)

Finally if you are convinced it is hub then give SJSC a call and I am sure they will sort it out for you very promptly.  Occasional new hubs require re shimming / tuning at or around the 1000km.  After that the hub is are good for 100,000km+.         

Let us know how you get on 

Stutho
       
 

[tiantkpq]

Thank you julk, for the valuable information. I actually took out my oil change kit and was ready to do a oil change.

However, I too have the external gear mech, and I shifted directly at the hub as what JimK suggested. To my pleasant surprise, it shifted beautifully. Now it is pretty much sure that the problem is with the cables. I still quite busy now to find out what's wrong with the cables, but the problem become so minor compare if it is with the hub. Not only this lift the load from my heart, but also renew my confident to the hub. Thank you JimK.

Thank you Stutho. You definitely give me a clear direction to work on, and that will save me a lot of time trying to figure things out on my own. I should be able to work on and get it ready for my Sunday mass ride.

[JimK]

That's great that it's "just" a cable problem... but of course such things can be difficult too!

Just in case you don't know about these videos:

http://www.rohloff.de/en/technology/workshop/videos/index.html

You might find some good clues there!

[tiantkpq]

Thank you JimK. The video definitely help.

I spend sometime this morning opening up the external gear box, and immediately, I found the problem. The center tread of the cable pulley was partially worn off, resulting the cables crossing each other.

I believed it was cause was by cables over tension compounded by the tropical wet season I just rode through.

Since I was the mechanic (not a good one) who did the job, it's a good lesson learn for me.

 

[JimK]

The center tread of the cable pulley was partially worn off, resulting the cables crossing each other.

Excellent that you found the problem! And thanks so much for posting the details - this will help others!