Rohloff shifting issues

[wazzo]

Has anyone had any problems with Rohloff shifting in gears 8 to 9, and from 10 to 9? I bought a custom bike earlier this with a Rohloff hub and I absolutely love it! I probably have about 2,000 miles on it and it has been flawless except for the shifting issue. From everything I've read, the hub gets better and smoother after it gets some miles on it, so I was hoping things would just "wear in".  The problem is that on the shifts mentioned, it is a very hard shift. It always shifts, but there is definitely a lot more tension shifting in that one area. The other issue is that I'm in the U.S. and people look at Rohloffs as if they are from another planet, and I haven't found anyone who has any experience with them. My local bike shop stands behind it and is willing to fix it but they just don't know how. If anyone has experienced anything like this I would greatly appreciate any advice.

Thanks,
Wazzo

[expr]

Hi Wazzo,

the best advice that I could give at the moment given the problems you are having and possibly not yet having Had service, would be to buy the oil change kit and give the hub an oil change paying particular attention to the cleaning oil part and may be extending the time a little that it remains in the hub, ie , turn the bike upside down and go through the gears particularly 3-5 for a good 15-20 minutes or take the bike out for a ride constantly shifting through the gears.

What has happened in the past, and you are not the first, is that small fragments from the machining process bedding in etc are caught in the gears which cause exactly the symptoms that you are experiencing, sometimes on fewer occasions there is a fault with the hub and it has to go back to germany which will be covered if you have the warranty card, also you can check the shifting cable going in to the hub itself its not likely to be this but worth checking that there is no fraying on the cable if you have that type of changer or if you have an external box, then check the gears inside have no fouling on themin the (9) gear position.

I,m not sure but thought there was a rohloff dealer out there in the states.

Ive just had a quick look and bloomington, Albany, and santa Fe. have distributors for Rohloff.

Dave.

[julk]

Wazzo,

An oil change, or even two, can only do good to help flush out any running in bits. I had some similar problems with my first Rohloff and two oil changes did the trick for me.

In North America Cycle Monkey are worth contacting.
Julian.

[wazzo]

Thank you guys, I've passed on your information to my LBS and I'm confident it will be an easy fix for them now. I really appreciate the feedback. As I've said, Rohloffs are a bit of a novelty over here, so the bike mechanics are just inexperienced with any repair work.
I'll let you know how things turn out.

[tandemman]

I had a similar shifting problem on my 5 year old but low mileage hub. In November.
 I e-mailed Rohloff in Germany, sent them the hub as instructed and recieved the hub back, post free with no cost for repair either within one week. Hub now shifts perfectly.
To say I am delighted with the service is a complete understatement.
During the week it was away I recieved e-mails from Rohloff updating me with progress.
 

[wazzo]

That's good to know about the service. As it stands now the bike is at the dealer where I purchased it and they are following the steps suggested earlier in this post; flushing it out then refilling with clean oil. Having said that, they have been in contact with the Rohloff guru in the U.S. He agrees with the approach but feels it might still be an internal issue which means the wheel might need to be sent off for repair. All involved though have been very, very helpful.

[expr]

That's good to hear, it's allmost certain then that the issue will be resolved. I bet you can't wait to get it back now.

keep us updated.

[wazzo]

Well, I hate to say it but my minor shifting issue has taken a turn towards ugly. The bike shops approach was, as suggested, to put in cleaning oil, ride for a couple weeks then drain and put in new oil. When it was time to put in new oil I thought I would do it myself, and to my shock and surprise, when I removed the plug, NO OIL. Apparently oil was never put in it. I have ridden the bike abouot 2,000 miles with no oil. The Cycle Monkey guy was informed of this and doesn't think it would have caused any problems.
  As of now it has cleaning oil AND regular oil in it and i will drain that in a couple weeks and look for metal shavings in the oil. It does shift fine, I'm just worried about any long term effects from riding with no oil.
  Has anyone used one with no oil and what were the results long term?

[expr]

Has the oil ever been in it from the start. If not i would personaly ask the shop to change the hub for a new one.

That really is a bit of a blunder if so!

Dave.

[stutho]

I'll second what expr just said.  If there has NEVER being any oil in the hub then you need to have a very serious talk with the shop!  However I kind of doubt that you could actually get to 2000 miles on zero oil (maybe  200 miles before a total seize - even that is high) 

If there was oil added at the start, even if later that same day it all leaked out, then then you will probably be fine. (Not ideal of course!)

I don't understand what your logic was in adding both the flush and normal oils together was. I am sure you had a good reason but it probably would of been better to running with flush only for a 100 miles or so and then drain and replace with regular. 

I hope thing work out for you

Stu   

[wazzo]

My initial response was to demand a new hub until I spoke with the Rohloff expert in this country. He sounds 100% confident that the hub would not have been damaged. He also stated that if I was worried at all to send him the hub and he would completely rebuild it. The shop owner also gave me a letter documenting what happened so if there are any issues years down the road they will be taken care of.

The part that confuses me is that it DOES work great. I couldn't agree more that gears need oil, but it seems fine.

As for mixing cleaning oil and regular oil, that is what the Rohloff rep suggested, and I believe the owners manual says the same thing. I'm in the process of putting some miles on it with cleaning fluid/oil and will reassess after I drain that out and inspect it for any metal shavings.

[stutho]

and I believe the owners manual says the same thing

True - but they are talking about adding added the flush to old oil already in the hub adding a mix to an empty hub.

Anyway I hope your shifting now improves.

stu

 

[Andre Jute]

Actually, Stu, I don't think they send the Rohloff box out completely dry from the factory. My understanding is that the gears have a layer of oil on them, maybe about 12ml, some quite substantial amount clinging to a lot of surface, the same amount as would stick to the gears in the event of a substantial leak. This is what allows Rohloff to say that a leaking/nominally dry box will suffer no damage if you ride it to until you can get it fixed or even to the next scheduled oil change.

The dealer is then supposed to add the 25ml from the kit supplied.

All the same, I agree with you, the OP should be given a new gearbox after such a gross failure by the dealer/service agent. And he should distinguish between a Rohloff "expert" and Rohloff themselves. I'm pretty sure Rohloff has an American operation and the facts should be put to them and their opinion obtained, or the OP should write to the factory in Germany ditto.

However, if an oil change fixes his shifting problems, I don't actually think there is damage in the box. But why take the chance if a new gearbox can be had for a little correspondence and pressure on the dealer?