2800 klicks to a smoother gearchange

[Andre Jute]

It struck me today that my gearchange, with about 2800km on the Rohloff box, is noticably smoother than when the box was new and I described the gearchange as "agricultural". It is now very much nearer the smoothness of the Shimano Nexus boxes on my other bikes. In the beginning I also said that the Rohloff will never be as smooth as the Shimano Nexus. I still think that unlikely but I do now think the Rohloff will, with a lot of use (more than I'm likely to give it), become a good deal more than acceptably smooth, even if the present striking rate of improvement is likely to slow down. In any event, there is no harm to a bit of meat under your palm, the good solid feel of German engineering. Otherwise, how do you know you can trust it not to break down when you've gone bush?

Chalo Colina, a knowledgeable American, told me (I'm paraphrasing him): "A Rohloff is run in about when the service life of other components run out." You need to own a Rohloff box for a year or two for the truth of that to start dawning.

What's the experience of the high-mileage commuters?

Hobbes

[gearoidmuar]

I've done about 3800 miles which is not a lot, but gears 1-4 are almost silent, 5 is a bit quieter and 6 and 7 are noticeable, but they no longer bother me. My hub began to have shifting problems before I changed the oil, but a week or so after I changed the oil these totally disappeared. I occasionally have to ride a derailleur-equipped bike now and I hate it in comparison. I find the gearchange very smooth. Derailleurs are, at best, at least slightly problematical.

[pdamm]

Hobbes

I have done 35,000 km after owing my Raven Tour for 4 years.  Most of this is commuting but a fair amount is loaded touring.  I replaced the gear cables after 30,000 km because I noticed one of the outters had broken near where it enters the grip shifter and the outter had also cracked where the cable goes through the front cable guide on the top tube.  After the replacement, gear changing became more “notchy” and crisper due no doubt to the reduced friction in the new cables.  I can’t really say it is now much different to when it was new but then again I ride most days and any change would be gradual so I wouldn’t really notice it.

The same goes for the noise in the lower gears.  Except that I occasionally ride with others who have much newer speedhubs and they always remark at how much quieter mine is.  And when I think hard about it I can say there is a significant difference to when it was new.   Both the noise and the vibration I feel through the pedals is much reduced.

My general feeling about the bike is that it still feels like new! Even though when you look at it you see dirt and scratches on the paint work.

Peter