How free is the freewheel on your Rohloff hub ?

[pedro]

If I push my bike with Rolhoff hub then the pedals go around - similarly if I turn my bike upside down and spin the back wheel the pedals go round too - suggests to me that the freewheel on the rohloff is not very free.

Just wondered if this is normal.

[stutho]

Yes this is normal for the Rohloff.  Supposedly it is meant to free up after a few thousand miles, however there is now 7000 miles on my hub and it is exactly the same as it ever was.  I now ignore it completely.  

There good news is that the friction is coursed by the seal between the sprocket and the hub which means that it is doing a good job at keeping the oil in and the water out!  Rohloff recommend adding a little lubricant to this seal (through the holes on the sprocket) however in my case it didn't make a difference to the effect you are seeing.

It is worth saying that this friction is only  apparent when freewheeling.  When the sprocket is also turning  (i.e. you are pedalling) there is no friction from this seal

Stuart
PS.  Welcome to the list

[hux]

Same for me.I've done about 2000 miles on my RST rohloff and my cranks have always rotated.

[PH]

I realised while wheeling my bike along the station platform this morning that my cranks no longer do this.  They used to and I've no idea when they stopped, sometime in the last 10,000 miles, observant me...

[pdamm]

At about 5,000 km I noticed mine (Raven Tour) weren't rotating nearly as much as they used to but now at 6,200 km (and after the second oil change) they are doing it again.  

Don't know if the oil change had anything to do with it.  I just took a bit more notice of the bike at that time.  I might have smeared some grime into the outside of the seals when I was cleaning off the hub hence making them a bit stiffer.  Could also have something to do with some recent riding on dusty, dry gravel roads.

Either way it is not a problem and I hardly notice it.

Peter Damm