Hi All!
For some time, I have wanted a copy of
Rohloff Stories, a book written by Barbara Rohloff that details the origins and development of Rohloff the company as well as the hub and their other products over the years. It even includes a fascinating section on their raven wildlife-rehabilitation program.
Put off by the high cost on this side of the pond (the Euro-Dollar exchange rate didn't help), I hit the search engines and snagged an English-language, hardbound new copy still in plastic for EUR 18.49/USD$23.87 delivered from ABE Books/European Media Service (
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?kn=rohloff+stories&sts=t&x=0&y=0 ). I received confirmation of the English edition and condition promptly from their German office, and the book arrived carefully packaged. Unfortunately, one corner of the cover got munged when the USPS apparently used it as a wheel chock, but it came through with the pages unscathed, unlike many of the books I order domestically.
When my sister saw my look of joy on opening it, she offered to make it my early Christmas gift -- how nice, and thanks!
For those who have not seen it, there is a wealth of information on Rohloff's operations and philosophy, and the book even includes photos of each employee. I especially enjoyed the early section showing how the gearsets engage to produce the selected ratios.
Sure, it's a marketing tool -- one that integrates a guide to their company website and is all-positive for Rohloff -- but it is also a fascinating read, and I keep reaching for it when I have a moment's downtime. I think it is a "must read" for anyone interested in the hub and what goes into it as well as the people who use it.
By far the greater portion of the book is devoted to the stories of Rohloff hub owners, detailing their adventures with the hub near and far and recording the distance traveled. The first user profile is for none other than Thorn's own designer, Andy Blance. At the time of publication, he was riding a Thorn Varius and had put 80,000km on his hub. Andy's story details his and companion Fiona's travels with the hub to South America and his well-known cautions against overfilling. Much of the story is similar to what is available on the Thorn Cycles downloads page here:
http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/downloads.html and Andy's publication, "Living With a Rohloff", available here:
http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/thornpdf/ThornLivingWithARohloff.pdfThe section of the book of greatest interest to me so far is the one titled, "Service Issues or Murphy's Law". I found some of the information surprising because it was new to me, and I learned a few things. Among the revelations...
= A photo is shown of a Rohloff hub shell sliced neatly like dry bologna as a result of chain case friction (this has been discussed elsewhere on this Forum). The part that caught my eye reads, "...This phenomenon is rare, but it does occur if these two components come too close. However,
the manufacturer responsible for the chain case is willing to supply a replacement part and cover the repair costs". If this is still the case, it would go far toward relieving any concerns about possible chaincase abrasion and subsequent hub failure.
= The next page has a photo of some very rusted Rohloff hub internals, accompanied by a story that details how the installing dealer forgot to fill the hub with oil, and the new owner neglected to perform the first (annual) oil change. The owner sent the hub in because it eventually required more effort to pedal than he thought necessary (!). The text reads, "[If the owner had even carried out the initial oil change after the first year]...then the gear unit would still be working today....
The three small squirts of oil every gear-unit receives in production will suffice until the initial oil change and so there is no reason to panic that a retailer may have forgotten to fill the SPEEDHUB with oil". I might not panic after reading this, but I do think I might be worried if the hub had run for a year or 5,000km with no oil! Nice to hear that can still be "okay". I don't plan to put it to the test.
= There is reference to a run of cogs that were insufficiently hardened and resulted in tooth loss (the cog's, not the owner's) and the Internet forum debate that followed a single, very public case. The company says it was an isolated problem and covered repeatedly under warranty.
= A more amusing report of failure came in the case of accidental gunfire when a 9mm round pierced a hub shell during a police-training camp exercise; the hub was restored to working condition with a shell replacement.
= There is the story of a hub burned almost beyond recognition in a failed attempt to steal a bike secured in a shed, a story of oil leakage caused by a grain of sand working its way under a seal and further cautions against overfilling), and a caution to register your hub with Rohloff so they can develop a service history and register the hub ownership against future theft. There are several more stories in this section: One relates to a bicycle lost and "drowned" at sea, the other talks about a broken hub flange and spoking issues, and the last relates to immediate warranty coverage for a broken axle thrust plate (an earlier, two-piece brazed version rather than the current design milled from a single piece of steel).
The very last section is a visual listing of manufacturers using the Rohloff Speedhub at the time of publication, with contact information. Thorn is included with their Sterling in the MTB section (publication date on my copy is 2010).
All in all, an interesting read for the Rohloff enthusiast, and worth a look if you can snag a copy at a discounted price.
Any other Forum members who own or have read a copy?
Best,
Dan.
