...What can I do to avoid the kind of experience you just went through?!
Jim, I have this concern as well. Though nearly all the procedures I've read (even Rohloff's own, shown here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqpgkyQ5tkI ) involve standing the wheel on edge and removing the cog with a chain whip while using a stout wrench to hold the remover (secured with a q/r)...Andy Blance details a different procedure in the Thorn Cycles FAQ:
http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/reversingarohloffsprocket.htmlIt involves use of a large bench vise and cautions the direction of removal will appear reversed because you'll be viewing the hub from the opposite side.
Poor Jimmer! I really feel for him.
I do know one thing that is supposed to make removal easier is "the sudden shock action" Rohloff describe in their video. When I was repairing cars for money, I know the sudden application of sharp torque would remove seemingly unremovable fasteners when titanic force applied steadily would not do anything but round the corners off the fastener heads. Don't ask how I learned this or how expensive it was the
first time. There are things even more expensive than Rohloff hubs. Things like, oh, the bolts holding harmonic balancers on crank shafts. I wonder if Jimmer applied a steady titanic force /or/ a "sudden shock action" the first go-'round.
I have also found from my days of 12" low derailleur gearing when the screw-on freewheels were practically galvanized to the hub and I used a q/r to hold the remover in place...it pays to use a
spare q/r rather than your nice titanium-shafted one 'cos when the freewheel finally does break free, it is a bit hard to avoid a full-on follow-through that can strip the nut clean off the q/r
and bend the shaft in one fluid motion. Don't ask how I know this, either. It also pays to watch your teeth as they approach the rim, 'cos...well, you know....
All the best,
Dan. (...who's been there, done that in slightly different contexts)
