Raven Catalyst Rohloff rear wheel nuts

[markheld]

I've just bought a decidedly tatty Raven Catalyst and I've been looking at the rear wheel and wondering how on earth you take it off!   There doesn't appear to be what I would call traditional nuts and it looks just like an embossed dome with no discernible way of undoing it?   Apologies if this is a dumb question, for Thorn veterans but help gratefully received

Mark

[JimK]

I hope you didn't somehow get a bike with pitlock skewers:

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/pitlock.asp

whoever put them on, ought to have the proper device with which to remove them! Otherwise it is likely to be a bit messy!

[Danneaux]

Hi Mark!

If you could post a photo, that would help (for tips on doing so, see: http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=4313.0 ), but from the sound of it, the bike is equipped with PinHead, Pitlock, or some other kind of security skewer for the rear hub.

By any chance, did the seller-owner provide a "key" with the bike? It would fit onto the security skewer to allow removal.

Best,

Dan.

[markheld]

Thanks Both for the super quick replies and it looks like it has indeed got the Pitlock skewers.   There were all sorts of keys and stuff that came with the bike (think the owner was a bit security paranoid) so I'll have a look tonight and see if there is anything that looks like it might do the trick.  Hope to goodness the key is in there.

Thanks again

Mark 

[JimK]

Funny, this thread got me hunting... I got a slip of paper with my pitlocks that has the code written on it... in a German hand and not too precise either. I am not exactly sure what letters those are! Mostly just one letter in question and two possibilities for it, so really I am not in bad shape. I copied that code over into the front cover of my Thorn log book.

Do other folks keep a log book of major events, e.g. tightening the EBB?

I have my Rohloff hub serial number and Thorn frame serial number noted there too.

[Danneaux]

Good news, Mark! I hope the keys will fit; thank goodness the seller included them!

Jim, I find myself making "cloud backups" to some of my important bike-related information to make finding it that much easier when the need arises. Nothing fancy, I simply send myself an email with the appropriate subject line and know if I can't find the printed info, it'll be there. Nothing super-secure, but for things like serials or time-date service records, it works fine.

All the best,

Dan. (...who otherwise asks, "Now, where did I put that?")

[Andre Jute]

I wouldn't trust anybody's cloud, not Amazon's, not Apple's, nobody's. Apple has shut down storage on the net a couple of times already within the life of the last OS. Or, more generally, tell me, what do you run data on that you generated with an MS-DOS or CP/M computer, or those cute little Olympus tapes on which you stored data off your Epson PX8/Paris laptop? Or even floppies, or Bernoulli discs.

Write it down on paper! I keep a box of papers, and make printouts, and put them in the box.

Andre

[Danneaux]

Good points all, Andre. My "cloud storage" is only for convenience; all the originals remain on paper with paper copies of those stored off-site along with the rotated backup hard drives.

I worry about pictures. Someday, .jps will be obsolete. I just found some old negatives when going through things in the attic. Crisp and bright as can be, and can still be photographically printed or digitized. Meanwhile, I have friends whose baby's pictures exist only on their iPhone - without backups or prints. There may be no photographic memories of Junior in just a few short years.

Best,

Dan. (...who never trusts too much in someone else's "security"; what's here t'day can be gone t'morrow)

[JimK]

My Thorn and Rohloff serial numbers are posted on the "Catskills Nomad" thread. I think I will skip posting my pitlock code there!

Yeah, off-site back-up is a good idea! I knew some folks who lived up in the Berkeley hills when that big fire happened. A lot of precious data lost that day! Even paper records... I have a file cabinet in my storage unit... I should make some copies of key documents to keep there.

Another risk with the pitlocks - suppose the manufacturer goes out of business! I have a few the the pit keys for my set-up. I should have one of those stashed off-site too!

[George Hetrick]

Mark, the Pitock key looks like this (see top center of picture)


I have two Pitlock sets, and made sure that when I ordered the second, I specified the same key code, so I have spare keys in case I lose one.

[markheld]

Again thanks to everyone who's taken the time to post.  (and for the photo Jim)

I searched through the box and low and behold, there was the key (only one mind) and had I not asked you guys, it would have been innocuous enough to miss completely.  (There was no explanation of what came with it as unfortunately the previous owner is no longer with us)

I can see the point of the Pitlocks with expensive hubs, but I kind of think that if they were serious they'd find some way of taking the whole bike.

All the best

[JimK]

Great that you found the key!

The value of the pitlocks is that you can just lock the bike itself and not worry about the wheels wandering off. With regular quick release skewers you need maybe one lock for each wheel or some other strategy.

Here is a photo where I have my rear wheel locked but my front wheel is secured only by 1) the pitlock skewer and 2) the pitlock cap on the threadless steering tube. Without that steering tube lock, somebody could just pop the whole front fork assembly. Really the wheels are most of the value of my bike!

[markheld]

Good point Jim and I might well invest in the steerer tube and seat post locks as well.  If I can find the number of the existing key and have it replicated I would also end up with a back up key, which to the point the others have made about the security of cloud storage etc, I would say one single key is courting disaster as well!

Best to all

Mark

[JimK]

I haven't been able to get the seat post lock to work on my Nomad. I think the set-up is just incompatible.

I have ordered locking bolts to match my existing bolts, all using the same key. So that can work. My key code was written on an official-looking little bit of paper from pitlock. About 2 inches square and mostly yellow. If you got some papers along with the bike, you might be in luck.

Yeah, along with my log book, I have a hanging folder labeled "Thorn" with such bits of paper gathered. We do all keel over at some point one way or another and it does make sense to keep things in order, not just for our own future use! I hope to last a good while yet but also to take good enough care of my bike that it out-lasts me!