If it ain't broke.....

[PH]

I pulled mine out once, I thought it might be worth letting it drain and wiping any residual oil from the shell.  I did the flush part of an oil change first, and was surprised how clean the innards were.

Did you replace or reuse the plastic pins? Did the pins show wear?

Wear on the pins was one of the things I was told to look out for, they were perfectly round so I saw no need to change them, the only parts replaced were the gaskets.  The hub was ten years old at this point, less than half it's current age, though it had done about 70% of it's mileage. The gear unit had already been out once to have the shell replaced, four years previously, I don't know if SJS replaced the pins then.

[geocycle]

If it ain't broke should I fix it?

My Rohloff hub runs fine and my stats show 44,000 miles covered by myself. Probably less than 1,000 miles by previous owners.
Regular oil changes.
Hub probably 12 years old.

SJS can arrange a reconditioning/ revision with Rohloff for around £275.00.

Opinions please. Should I await issues or go for the refurb now?

Best

Matt
No major or minor leaks.

Mine was leaking badly and seemed to need some seals replaced so I had it refurbed as above, new rim, reinforced rings etc.  all good and great service as usual.  I wouldn’t do it if there is nothing obviously wrong with the hub.

[Andre Jute]

The S5/2 on my old utility bike is currently at over 55,000 kms.

Though I've never had a Sturmey-Archer HGB, I'm not surprised to hear that, Martin. You don't need to be on the better cycling netsites long to discover that many serious cyclists still have SA hubs in service.

[PdE]

At roughly 88,000 miles, my Rohloff started leaking a significant amount of oil from both the drive and ex-box sides.  The hub was running just fine, but it seemed pretty clear that it was time for new seals at least.  Peter White Cycles (where I purchased the bike new) told me that "Rohloff guidance" for a hub with that mileage was to pull the entire core and replace it with a factory refurbished core for $350.  Since there was no way that I could see to get replacement parts I (begrudgingly) had the replacement done.  3,000 miles later, the rebuilt hub seems to be doing just fine, thank you.  On the plus side, no leakage at all which is better than the old hub even when it was brand new.

Bottom line, I paid a couple hundred bucks more than I should have needed to for new seals.  But if I can get another 80,000 miles, I'm not going to complain too loudly.  The cost per mile, even including the cost of new innards is still about half of what my various derailleur bikes cost.  I'll pile on here and say if it ain't broke don't fix it.

[martinf]

The gear unit is removable from the shell with the wheel built, you can see the process here:
https://www.rohloff.de/en/service/handbook/speedhub/workshop/gear-unit-replacement

That looks quite straightforward.

I'll certainly try doing it myself if I ever get significant oil leaks on one of my Rohloffs.

And if something does go wrong inside the hub it will be much easier to send just the internal rather than the complete wheel.