Rohloff slipping

[Andre Jute]

Rohloff hub gear all seasons oil and cleaning oil are available on Ebay and from German dealers in the expensive small single-service kits, 250cc and 1 liter packages. The 250cc size seems to me the most economical compromise between having to live to 130 to use a liter of each and spending nearly 500 quid by buying the tiny service kits.

On Julian's point about unevenly distributed and intermittent rough gear changes, improving with mileage, it isn't surprising that the odd Rohloff should need more running in than the average Rohloff hub. The Rohloff is a low unit number series production item of considerably complicated engineering -- with a good deal of hand fitting inside. That's why Rohloff is so very keen on that first service, and the service schedule, and also why SJS, and Rohloff lore, suggest doing the first service a bit earlier, to get the bits of metal knocked off the teeth out of the box.

[ají]

hi Andre, whats this service entail? when?

[Mike Ayling]

hi Andre, whats this service entail? when?

I hope it just means the oil change.

Mike

[ají]

Yep time and time again I see there's not much point in changing the oil sooner than 5k. Rohloff changed my oil and the internals and still crunching.

[Danneaux]

Is there a bit of slack in your cables, Andrew? Sometimes, too-tight cables can lead to crunching and slipping....

Best,

Dan.

[Andre Jute]

I'm talking about the standard 3000m/5000km/1 year (whichever comes first) oil change. This is a change in which the cleaning oil is used to flush out the gearbox, after which the box is filled with all-seasons oil. The reason for making two oil changes (instead of the one required by your warranty and the handbook) in the first year is that any tiny bits knocked off the gears should be flushed out -- and worried owners should be given a confidence boost. Whether either is essential is a matter of opinion. (I'm an economist and a psychologist, so I'm keen on abracadabra because I've seen it work all my life, but I'll understand if riders who've practiced engineering all their lives are more cautious.)

Also, if you have the external klickbox, while you're changing the gearbox oil is a good time to put fresh grease in the klickbox, which is theoretically but wastefully supposed to get new grease every 500km.

The best advice I can give the new Rohloff owner is: Don't worry so much about small stuff. You need to be superman to break a Rohloff box. Ride it and enjoy, in full confidence that it will outlive you -- and your grandchildren will still ride grandpa's bike. The great Chalo Colina, a famed Boeing toolmaker, who knows a thing or two about mechanisms under stress (he weighs north of 350 pounds, so he starts testing where other designers' nightmares end), has several Rohloff gearboxes. He told me, "A Shimano Nexus/Alfine hub gearbox will lie down and die before you run in a Rohloff box." (Paraphrased from memory.) I didn't believe him. Then I broke two Shimano gearboxes at a mileage where my Rohloff wasn't yet run in...

Remember this too: the Rohloff wasn't designed as a luxury, smooth, quiet touring bike gearbox. It's a piece of agricultural equipment designed to survive constant high-stress offroad racing, mud plugging, even beach racing, because that's the sort of riding Bernd Rohloff did. In fact, I (and many others here, as you can discover by reading passim) expected the Rohloff to be constantly louder than it actually is. Mine is, for practical purposes, silent now that it is run in (it still gets smoother but at nearly 10k it must surely be run in -- this could get ridiculous!). Unless you hear constant loud crunching, there is most likely nothing wrong with your gearbox.

Relax, ride and enjoy.

[ají]

thanks Andre, very reassuring!
2 oil changes sounds good.
i suppose the thing that got me worried was every other rohloff owner i spoke to (before coming here) telling me "what? no, thats never happened to me! tell rohloff" and then rohloff recalling my unit. there was nothing wrong with my internals, there is nothing wrong with the current one, yet it still crunches. i suspect its something to do with the chain.

[ají]

Is there a bit of slack in your cables, Andrew? Sometimes, too-tight cables can lead to crunching and slipping....

Best,

Dan.

Ive been told theyre ok Dan, they can be loosened by the cable adjusters on the external mech, correct?

[Danneaux]

Yep, should be okay. Just hoping for a quick and easy answer to your dilemma, Andrew.

Sure hope it resolves soon!

All the best,

Dan.

[ají]

cheers Dan, worth checking that again, but stu stabik and the local rohloff apparatchik werent interested in this

[Dave Whittle Thorn Workshop]

The SPEEDHUB does not require any special care to be taken during the break-in period (the first 1000km) like old car engines because the internal gears do not wear in as such, the component surfaces are merely slightly polished through use. The components are all chemically de-burred by Rohloffs subcontractors before being built into hubs back at the factory. The mating surfaces of these components could be polished prior to being used but that would increase the cost of the product to astronomical levels. Market research showed the majority of customers would rather spend the 1000km or so breaking-in the hub themselves then spend the extra money to have this process completed in the factory.

Because we are not talking about larger abrasive particles floating in the oil, the initial oil change does not need to be completed early. If this was necessary, I would guess that Rohloff would have stated this as necessary for warranty cover and to earn an extra few quid in revenue. They didn't/don't so no need to panic.

[Matt2matt2002]

Remember this too: the Rohloff wasn't designed as a luxury, smooth, quiet touring bike gearbox. It's a piece of agricultural equipment designed to survive constant high-stress offroad racing, mud plugging, even beach racing, because that's the sort of riding Bernd Rohloff did.

This is interesting, Andre.
Can you recommend somewhere I can read up on the history - development of the Rohloff?

Thanks

[Danneaux]

Can you recommend somewhere I can read up on the history - development of the Rohloff?

Matt,

Barbara Rohloff's _Rohloff Stories_ makes a very good read. See:
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/books-publications-dvds/rohloff-stories-book-by-barbara-rohloff/?geoc=US

Be sure you get the English edition and not the one written in default German.

I've enjoyed reading and re-reading mine from time to time. Tells much of what you would like to know, plus many stories of the gearbox in use 'round the world.

Best,

Dan.