Slippage in gears 1 - 7

[stutho]

bobs,

As you probably know I am a big fan of the Roholff.  I will never switch back.  To do a years maintenance on a Rohloff take less time than the cleaning the gunk out of the derailer just once.  You get FAR less (read no) problems in the day to day use of the Rohloff, however as the problem above shows if you are unluck to get a genuine issue (say a 1% chance) then it probably going to have to go back to the factory.  But the good news here is that Rohloff have a very good after sales support.  Long term the Rohloff will also work out cheaper  - for me I reckon I will be starting to save after next year (4 years in total ~ 16,000 miles)  

The only regret I have got is that I should of bought the black anodised version. The finish on my non-anodized version is showing it age. 

All the best


Stutho    

[julk]

Is a Rolhoff worth the cost if you are not doing mega miles.

Bobs,
This is slightly off topic, but you get a lot less maintenance to do and more time for cycling with a Rohloff.
I have had mine for 2 years and have tightened the chain a couple of times and changed the oil annually.

So for me, yes it is worth it.
Julian

[bike_the_planet]

I have a very bad memory but I could of sworn that the thread lock information used to be more prominent - I am wondering if there best practice has changed?

Yes, StuTho, I thought I had seen this too somewhere. You may be right, things may have changed, although I didn't see much if any threadlock on the bolts I removed.

I think another few months of riding may restore confidence a little - these things are truly unerving when they happen.

Cheers,

Tony

[bike_the_planet]

I have been thinking about selling my Sherpa and getting something with a Rolhoff gears. After reading this and seeing the spare parts list on the SJSC website I'm having second thoughts. I know normal gears are not perfect but at least most people can fix then and get spare parts. Is a Rolhoff worth the cost if you are not doing mega miles.

Bobs - don't let my disappointment cloud your decision too much. I cheerfully admit that I was unlucky, and that, from what I have seen, most Rohloffs perform faultlessly. I was one of the unlucky 1/2%. On balance I'm still happy that I bought one and will use it for all my day-to-day stuff. After a few months of riding I may even feel more confident about touring on it again.

It's probably a bit cheeky of me suggesting this on a Thorn website, but you could always do what I did, hedge your bets and get the rear left-hand droput of your Sherpa elongated by a frame builder and retrofit a Rohloff, albeit with a chain tensioner. I did it to my Nomad and it works fine.

Having said that, there's nothing better than a frame specifically designed for the hub and the Raven series do seem to be the bee's knees...

Cheers