Very interesting - thanks for posting that. It relieves my mind somewhat as my Rohloff is relatively noisy in gear 12. It was second hand, though not much used, and I was afraid that it had been damaged by neglect. Even if it has been I am not going to be able to put a huge mileage on it, and I do oil changes religiously, so I'm hoping it will see me out. So far it is working perfectly .
Fascinating video; thanks for posting it.
That Rohloff in the video must have been brand new when they cut away the case. A Rohloff grows appreciably more silent as the miles roll by under it. But many owners, especially if they come from Shimano's IGH, have entirely unrealistic expectations about how soon the Rohloff will become dead silent. Chalo Colina, a bicycle mechanic for whom I have a lot of respect, who owns several Rohloff used in his family, once said, "About the mileage at which you retire a Shimano, your Rohloff will start running in." You need an entirely different perspective with a Rohloff, much longer than with a lesser gearbox. We're talking about a lotta miles to make a big difference.
My Rohloff has something over 5000 miles on it and gear 11 is more silent than the noise made by the Big Apples; on a smooth road and riding on the white line, you don't hear either. We're talking here about 6dB down from gear 11 in the video, which is why I suspect that box in the video is new, not run in at all. All other gears on my bike are still noisier, and the gain in silence in 8.5k klicks has been less than in the direct drive of gear 11. However, I've always made a point of being in gear 11 as much as possible, and fitting a hub motor has made that a very valuable habit, because it is the strongest gear junction so it is a habit that will preserve my Rohloff longer in the high-torque environment of a mid motor.
It is also worth noting that the two noisiest gears on any Rohloff, 7 and 8, with their irritating sighing sound, are the gears where the noise has been abated least on my box, perhaps because I tend to avoid those gears. Just where relief is need most -- Murphy wins again!
Donerol, I'd say a noisy gear 12 is just a sign that the previous owner didn't use his box much, and that you haven't put on big miles either. Here's a tip that I got from an American Rohloff owner: if immediately after an oil change any noisy gear doesn't run very much softer, there's nothing wrong with it that time won't wear down... You gotta put your expectation much further out: thousands rather than hundreds of miles of running in.
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What I've noticed, and that is very welcome, is that gearchanging has become much smoother quite a bit faster than the box has become quieter. Of course, that may just be a better cable adjustment (as Sheldon used to say, "loosey goosey") or even cable stretch, but, whatever the cause, my box in the most-used gears now offers changes that are at least in the same room with the Shimano (which has always had a change that absolutely slices through butter, a standard of smooth civility) though I don't expect the Rohloff ever to beat the Shimano. It's been a long time since I needed to think about changes on my Rohloff, except for unconsciously counting gears shifted so that I can return to gear 11 for most of my riding.
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BTW, my Rohloff has long since run further than any Shimano Nexus internal gear hub I've owned.