Rohloff wears out

[Donerol]

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread, but I noticed that the person who had all the problems was using a belt drive. I recently spotted something on the CTC forum which may give some insight:

re belt drive on Rohloff:  For the last few years Rohloff have been fitting their new style driver which makes life easier for the average user; it allows easy replacement of the chain drive sprocket which is now fitted with a spline.  This replaces a unique (multi-start) screw thread arrangement for the sprocket. It turns out that the splined arrangement doesn't like a lot of preload on the chain/belt; the sprocket starts to orbit around on the driver, at first by a small amount (determined by the clearance between the parts) and as time goes on by an increasing amount and making a lot of noise too. (BTW the same thing often happens with belt drive sprockets fitted to other IGHs with the conventional three-lug fitment.) Problems are pretty much guaranteed with belt drive because belt drive requires a fair amount of preload.

This has caused plenty of grief to owners and was soon a known problem but it didn't stop folk being sold expensive machines which were bound to give trouble:

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/cycling-around-the-world-sadly-had-to-return-for-major-repairs.227214/

...

My bold. I don't know what if anything Rohloff themselves say about belt drive, but know they are insistent that chains must be quite slack.

[Dave Whittle Thorn Workshop]

https://www.rohloff.de/en/company/news/news/splined-carrier-with-lock-ring-for-carbon-drive-speedhub-splined-sprockets/

[mickeg]

Since this thread came back to life, a quick update. 

Previously I said:

...
Even though I built up my own wheels and therefore could spend several hours removing spokes to install the rings, since I have had 5 trouble free years so far I am not inclined to buy the rings.  Considering that Rohloff now considers the rings to be an integral part of the hub, I think they should send out a free set of rings to owners of older hubs upon request.  If they sent me a set of rings for free, I would take the time to install them.

I changed my mind, I saw a good price on the reinforcing rings so I bought them. 

At the end of winter when I take my studded tire off the Rohloff wheel, I plan to add the rings at that time.  Probably two to three hours of work at a leisurely pace.  It never hurts to increase your level of confidence in your equipment.

[Donerol]

https://www.rohloff.de/en/company/news/news/splined-carrier-with-lock-ring-for-carbon-drive-speedhub-splined-sprockets/

Interesting - thanks.

[mickeg]

And one more reason to be happy about a chain drive instead of belt.  Interesting.

[il padrone]

I saw the quoted Facebook post and I have grave doubts about:
1. The honesty of the poster - few specific details were given at all about exactly what "wore out" and he responded with not much more.
2. The weight issue - weight of rider and/or loads carried were not given.

I take the whole tale with a HUGE grain of salt.

These types of posts motivated me to leave that FB page.

[Mike Ayling]

 I do not have a facebook account.  (Or twitter or linked in or any other purely social media accounts, I do not count this site, Crazy Guy or Bikeforums.net as social media.)  So, I might be missing something.

You should add CycleBlaze to your favourites list. It is a home for a number of people who became unhappy with the behaviour of the owner of CrazyGuy. Still very small only 350 or so journals but you will recognise some of the more prolific former CG posters.

Mike

[TT]

Hello all, Been lurking here for a year or so and hopefully getting a
Nomad before I'm too old to ride it. Let me first say that I have no
dog in this fight. That being said, I think this guy is a shill for pinion.
What's better than telling people how great your product is...telling
them this "and" how sub-par the competitor's product is.

[Nashtah]

I am a long term larker of this site and used the information on it to decide to get my Rohloff.

I had a total hub failure by that I mean you could not coast on my bicycle. In a a  fit of anger I kicked the wheel and lo and behold the ability to coast was restored however the peddles still had zero ability to rotate. I got a ride and my tour was over.
Please note I called Rodriguez the maker of my bike three days before about the fact the wheel had a quarter inch wobble at the rim that came from the hub. They asked me to stay a day in place as they called Rohloff, who said send it in at end of tour in 250 miles. The bike only traveled 150 of those miles. The silver ring on the hub behind the cog had totally disintegrated.
I with touring load and some food and water weight in at 250bl.

[Mike Ayling]

I am a long term larker of this site and used the information on it to decide to get my Rohloff.

I had a total hub failure by that I mean you could not coast on my bicycle. In a a  fit of anger I kicked the wheel and lo and behold the ability to coast was restored however the peddles still had zero ability to rotate. I got a ride and my tour was over.
Please note I called Rodriguez the maker of my bike three days before about the fact the wheel had a quarter inch wobble at the rim that came from the hub. They asked me to stay a day in place as they called Rohloff, who said send it in at end of tour in 250 miles. The bike only traveled 150 of those miles. The silver ring on the hub behind the cog had totally disintegrated.
I with touring load and some food and water weight in at 250bl.

What a bummer that you had to cut your tour short.

Keep us posted as to what Rodrigues and Rohloff did to repair replace your hub.

Mike

[Nashtah]

The hub failure happened in 2017 on that’s summer tour.
The solution was to mail the bike to Rodriguez and they would deal with Rohloff for me.
6 weeks later bike was returned with a working hub.
I have had no further problems with the hub.

As to the tour I coasted and pushed 11 miles to the next town. My tour was planned to end at an event 110 miles away starting in three days. I called and emailed the local chapter of the club hosting the event. They had a member able to pick me up, host me for three days and drive me to the event. The bike was shipped from their address. I had already arranged a ride to the airport after the event.

[mickeg]

When I true up a wheel, if there is any play in hub bearings, I certainly notice it.  The bike shop that I worked at many years ago would never have sold a bike to someone with that kind of play in the hub.  I am a little surprised that a wheel with that much play in the hub left Rodriquez shop in the first place.  Or was everything tight initially?

I am curious, was it a belt drive or chain drive?  The reason that I ask is that a belt puts more tension on the hub than a chain.  And it sounds like the failure occurred near where I would expect more stress on the hub to occur with a belt than with a chain.

You occasionally hear of a Rohloff with a serious problem soon after new, but you usually hear of skipping gears instead of total failure.  Major bummer. 

I only know one person that tours on a Rodriguez, she loves her dérailleur bike, is not a Rohloff.

[PH]

What a shame, even more so that it cut your tour short.
In my touring kit (Whether using a Rohloff or derailleur bike)  is a band on friction shifter and an emergency derailleur hanger - Worst case scenario and any replacement wheel will do.  I've never used it with the Rohloff bike, but the shifter's replaced a crash damaged Campag Ergo and the hanger a friends snapped one.

[Danneaux]

In my touring kit (Whether using a Rohloff or derailleur bike)  is a band on friction shifter and an emergency derailleur hanger - Worst case scenario and any replacement wheel will do.

My kit has the same.

Best,

Dan.

[mickeg]

What a shame, even more so that it cut your tour short.
In my touring kit (Whether using a Rohloff or derailleur bike)  is a band on friction shifter and an emergency derailleur hanger - Worst case scenario and any replacement wheel will do.  I've never used it with the Rohloff bike, but the shifter's replaced a crash damaged Campag Ergo and the hanger a friends snapped one.

I do not carry a hanger with my Nomad Rohloff bike.  I just hope for the best.

I once heard (but do not know if true) that the disc mount on the Rohloff will hold a small chainring.  So, if your wheel turns but is otherwise dysfunctional, you can mount a small chainring to make a fixed gear single speed.  My hub is not disc capable so I do not know the details and can't measure.

My Lynskey has a replaceable hanger, I bought the genuine spare hanger when I bought the frame.  For my other derailleur bikes, I bought one of these to carry for touring.   
https://muckynutz.com/emergency_mech_hanger

A friend of mine a month or two before his third USA crossing, his Shimano 9 speed brifter quit.  He could not find a new replacement, asked me about bar end shifters, I let him ride one of my bar end bikes for 15km or so.  He then fitted his touring bike with bar end shifters.  In the middle of his tour, one person in the group also had her brifter quit working.  She had a triple crank so she finished the last half of the trip with a three speed.