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Speedhubs in cold weather

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blazius:
This spring, I bought a Rohloff bike that had been on display in a shop for about one year (without being ridden).  I have now ridden the bike for ~1000 km, and expect to ride it for about 2000 km every year, so I'll have yearly oil changes.  But when should I do them?

Where I live the climate is quite wet most of the year, with temperatures dropping down to -15 or -20 C in winter (but often fluctuating up to +5 or +10 for a few days) .  I suppose it would be sensible to change the oil before the winter season, to eliminate any humidity that might have penetrated into the hub before it gets any opportunity to freeze up.  Or is there any other time of year that would be better?

BTW, does anyone have experience with riding a Rohloff in the temperature range described above - are any parts of the mechanism prone to seize/freeze in the cold?  I have ridden Nexus hubs earlier, and they never withstood a Scandinavian winter.  Would it be sensible to dilute the hub oil (with what?), and should any part of the wire or shifter have some kind of winter lube (I think the manual states that these parts should not be lubed...)?

Dave Whittle Thorn Workshop:
Drop Rohloff an e-mail service@rohloff.de they are really helpful

stutho:
You need to speak to Magnus Thor (on this list) who has extensive experience of the Rohloff in sub zero conditions (in Iceland). 

I have NO experience of the issues but The Rohloff site does mention a few possible problems in prolonged sub zero conditioning. Namely: the cables can freeze up - unlikely on a Thorn with a continuous cable run + the fact that the Speedhub uses a push pull system on the cable; The twist shift and / or the  external cable box  can freeze up if they have been water penetrated;  Finally the gear oil is only good to -15, below that you need to start diluting with the flush oil.

Like I said at the outset I have NO experience of sub zero. The list above is a list of possibles, in real life I would think the problems are a lot less.

StuTho

vik:

--- Quote from: blazius on October 14, 2008, 08:49:20 pm ---This spring, I bought a Rohloff bike that had been on display in a shop for about one year (without being ridden).  I have now ridden the bike for ~1000 km, and expect to ride it for about 2000 km every year, so I'll have yearly oil changes.  But when should I do them?

Where I live the climate is quite wet most of the year, with temperatures dropping down to -15 or -20 C in winter (but often fluctuating up to +5 or +10 for a few days) .  I suppose it would be sensible to change the oil before the winter season, to eliminate any humidity that might have penetrated into the hub before it gets any opportunity to freeze up.  Or is there any other time of year that would be better?

BTW, does anyone have experience with riding a Rohloff in the temperature range described above - are any parts of the mechanism prone to seize/freeze in the cold?  I have ridden Nexus hubs earlier, and they never withstood a Scandinavian winter.  Would it be sensible to dilute the hub oil (with what?), and should any part of the wire or shifter have some kind of winter lube (I think the manual states that these parts should not be lubed...)?

--- End quote ---

If you do some googling about winter snow bike racing those folks talk quite a bit about bike parts and cold conditions.  I know the question of what to do with Rohloff lube at different temps is a topic of discussion.

Personally I'd just wait and see what happens before I would take any particular action.  If you don't have any serious issues it's better to simply run the stock Rohloff oil.

BTW - the service interval for changing oil is 5000kms so you could do it every 2 years if you are riding about 2,000kms/year.  I don't know that Rohloff or anyone else has suggested there is any benefit to more frequent oil changes. Unlike a car motor this oil doesn't get contaminated in the same way due to combustion.

cheers,

Vik

blazius:

--- Quote ---BTW - the service interval for changing oil is 5000kms so you could do it every 2 years if you are riding about 2,000kms/year.  I don't know that Rohloff or anyone else has suggested there is any benefit to more frequent oil changes. Unlike a car motor this oil doesn't get contaminated in the same way due to combustion.
--- End quote ---

According to page 87 in the English Speedhub manual (http://www.rohloff.de/fileadmin/rohloffde/download/beschreibung/speedhub/handbuch/service_2.13.en.pdf) "An oil change should be annually carried out or at least every 5000km.".

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