Reprinted from RBT. The respondent, Chalo Colina, is a machinist, bicycle mechanic and builder of circus bikes; he owns several Rohloff gearboxes.
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Andre Jute wrote:
>
> While I'm ordering service/spare parts and tools for the first annual
> service of my Utopia Kranich and its Rohloff gearbox at about 2000km,
> do I need to order spare gear cables for my EXT klickbox, either for a
> routine swap-out or to keep on standby for a likely breakage. I note
> that Andy Blance of Thorn reckons that even the dicier internal cable
> setup is very unlikely to break before 10K.
>
> Blance also says the EXT gearbox cable on the Rohloff is standard
> dimension normal brake cable. (The internal cable is apparently
> thinner.) Has anyone used standard brake cable, outer and lining
> instead of the Rohloff's own supply? With what result?
Rohloff's external clickbox and shifter are wired with two totally
normal 1.2mm shift cables. You don't have to stock special spares for
that job. Depending on your setup, you might need tandem-length
cables. A quick survey with a tailor's tape measure will tell you if
you need to keep some extra-long cables handy; normal shift cables are
2.0m long.
Rewiring a Rohloff shifter is an _odious_ job, though. You have to
get a whole series of operations exactly right, in the right order,
before you fasten the cables down. The cables are fastened with grub
screws, and once tightened even lightly, they can't be reinserted into
the clickbox drum again. So if you forget any detail in the cable
component stack or in the routing of the cable, you have to begin
again with new cables, starting at the shifter spool. I think the
most times I have had to do this at one sitting is four times in a
row. (It's not just outright mistakes that can stop the show. If it
doesn't feel quite right and you want to try changing something, you
have to start over from step one.)
When the time comes to replace Rohloff shift cables, have every single
bit ready in advance. Have every tool available that you might want--
bench grinder, fourth hand, precision ruler, whatever. Have the
printed instruction sheet in hand and refer to it at every step. Do
not reuse a single piece of housing or ferrule, lest this seemingly
sensible and economical measure require you to repeat the job.
But hey-- at least it uses standard cables.
Chalo
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And here's another owner of multiple Rohloffs, Pete Creswell, in the same RBT thread with more good advice about measuring the cable:
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Per Andre Jute:
>Thanks, Chalo. I've saved this post. From the video on the Rohloff
>site I thought it looked like a tricky job -- and remembered that
>before this you described it as "odious"
I'll concur with "odious".
For me the recurring problem was getting the length of cable that
protrudes past the housing exactly right.
To that end, I cut a piece of housing to exactly the right
length.
I've done several replacements with the housing piece as my
length guide and haven't had any problems.
But I still have a half-dozen shift cables ready just in case
when I start the job.
Pete Cresswell
***
I assume you already have:
Rohloff cables explained -- Andy Blance Nov 2005, PDF from Thorn site
Cable changing video -- movie from Rohloff site
HTH. Good luck.
Hobbes
