Rohloff Speedhub

Derk <[email hidden]> wrote:
: Hi,

: I would like to know if anyone here uses the Rohloff Sppedhub on his MTB.
: Would you buy it again? Is it worth the extra investment?

Yes. In a list of possible expensive bike options, I would list it #1 in
terms of bang/buck.

- Mark

RE/

Quoted message said:

I would like to know if anyone here uses the Rohloff Sppedhub on his MTB.
Would you buy it again? Is it worth the extra investment?

It's noisy, heavy, less efficient, expensive to maintain, and costs an
arm-and-a-leg.

After a year on the first one, I bought another one for my other bike - and
can't imagine voluntarily riding without one ever again.

You, OTOH, might hate the thing....
--
PeteCresswell

(Pete Cresswell) said:

It's noisy, heavy, less efficient, expensive to maintain, and costs an
arm-and-a-leg.

What is "expensive to maintain" on a Rohloff hub?

--
Dave, who knows almost nothing about that hub
dvt at psu dot edu

dvt said:

(Pete Cresswell) said:

It's noisy, heavy, less efficient, expensive to maintain, and costs an
arm-and-a-leg.

What is "expensive to maintain" on a Rohloff hub?

shipping charges to california

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I'm using a Speedhub on a road bike, not an MTB,
but I think it's worth the money, and I would buy another.
One control gets you all the gears in sequence, you can
shift whether pedaling or not, the wheel has no dish,
indexing doesn't depend on getting cable (or any other)
adjustment right, and the hub is built to last.

In the higher gears, the drivetrain is quiet. In lower gears, not.

Tom Ace

Tom Ace said:

I'm using a Speedhub on a road bike, not an MTB, but I think it's
worth the money, and I would buy another. One control gets you all
the gears in sequence, you can shift whether pedaling or not, the
wheel has no dish, indexing doesn't depend on getting cable (or any
other) adjustment right, and the hub is built to last.

Quoted message said:

In the higher gears, the drivetrain is quiet. In lower gears, not.

What sort of sound does it make? Is this a click from ratchets? The
way you say that it sounds ominous. Is there a serious problem?

Jobst Brandt
[email hidden]

Quoted message said:

Tom Ace said:

I'm using a Speedhub on a road bike, not an MTB, but I think it's
worth the money, and I would buy another. One control gets you all
the gears in sequence, you can shift whether pedaling or not, the
wheel has no dish, indexing doesn't depend on getting cable (or any
other) adjustment right, and the hub is built to last.

Quoted message said:

In the higher gears, the drivetrain is quiet. In lower gears, not.

What sort of sound does it make? Is this a click from ratchets? The
way you say that it sounds ominous. Is there a serious problem?

lower gears use straight cut gears

--
---
Marten Gerritsen

INFOapestaartjeM-GINEERINGpuntNL
www.m-gineering.nl

Quoted message said:

What sort of sound does it make? Is this a click from ratchets? The
way you say that it sounds ominous. Is there a serious problem?

It seems to be normal. I read this in a Dutch magazine test and I heard it
from several German riders......

Greets, Derk

RE/

Quoted message said:

What sort of sound does it make? Is this a click from ratchets? The
way you say that it sounds ominous. Is there a serious problem?

It gets noticibly less noisey with age - as in 700 miles or so.

Not a problem to me - and I'm fairly neurotic about stuff like that. Noise
doesn't manifest itself until gear 7 and below..and only a couple gears are
really noticible.
--
PeteCresswell

m-gineering said:

lower gears use straight cut gears

Since you live in Holland and know the cycling conditions here I ask you the
same question: what's your opinion about using the Rohloff Speedhub here?
Is it worth investing in one?

Do you know of any (imported?) frames that were designed for the Rohloff
speedhub?

TIA, Derk

RE/

Quoted message said:

Do you know of any (imported?) frames that were designed for the Rohloff
speedhub?

Except for cable stops - which I don't use anyhow - I can't think of any
Rohloff-specific design features.

I've had Rohloff hubs on a Cannondale Jekyll, and Ellsworth Isis and two
hardtails.

If you're running disc brakes, you'll probably be happier purchasing the
extra-cost "SpeedBone" that replaces the reaction arm with an interface to your
disc brake mounts. If you bike has disc brake mounts, but rim brakes, you can
do away with the reaction arm right out of the box by using a bolt though one of
the disc caliper mounts.
--
PeteCresswell

Pete Cresswell said:

Quoted message said:

What sort of sound does it make? Is this a click from ratchets?
The way you say that it sounds ominous. Is there a serious
problem?

Quoted message said:

It gets noticeably less noisy with age - as in 700 miles or so.

I still haven't heard what the nose is. Assuming it's gear engagement
noise, that it gets better with wear is unusual, gear noises generally
get worse with wear although shifting in cars sometimes gets better
because the meshing collars get rounded. Gearbox howl gets louder
with wear in nearly all gearboxes.

Quoted message said:

Not a problem to me - and I'm fairly neurotic about stuff like that.
Noise doesn't manifest itself until gear 7 and below..and only a
couple gears are really noticeable.

I'd like to know what the sound is and how it is noticed.

Jobst Brandt
[email hidden]

Jobst Brandt wrote

Quoted message said:

What sort of sound does it make? Is this a click from ratchets? The
way you say that it sounds ominous. Is there a serious problem?

Unlike with Sturmey-Archer hubs, there is no click from pawls
while pedaling. There is pawl click while coasting (a couple
different flavors, as different freewheel mechanisms are used
depending on what gear the hub is in).

There are several planetary gear stages in a Rohloff Speedhub,
used in various combinations to give 14 gears. I have a table
of the combinations and exact ratios for each gear on the
bottom of the web page at http://www.minortriad.com/twist.html

When the stage I've labeled c on that page is used (in gears 1-7),
there's a whine whose pitch increases with increasing RPMs
and whose volume increases with increasing drive torque.
An article from Rohloff attributes this to straight cut gears.

In the gears where the stage I've labeled A is used, there's what
I'd call a grainy noise that doesn't get appreciably louder with
increased drive torque. For some reason it's more pronounced
in gear 7 than in any of the other gears that use stage A.

To my taste, only gear 7 is loud enough to be annoying.
It did quiet down some after about 500 miles of use.

Tom Ace

Jobst Brandt said:

I still haven't heard what the nose is. Assuming it's gear engagement

noise...

Shifting in the Rohloff is generally quieter than a derailleur when done as recommended (not lethargically). Most of the minimal noise that does occur while shifting seems to be from the detent in the hub "clicking" into place unless one "misses", which can result in a "no mesh" like grinding noise (rare, but most likely to occurr when going through gear #7 too slow, or under too much load).

Quoted message said:

I'd like to know what the sound is and how it is noticed.

I'd describe the predominant riding noise as "whirring", most noticable in gear # 7 which I believe has the most gears engaged (it's my understanding that the Rohloff contains two three gear planets, and one two gear planet, and that they're all engaged in gear # 7). The whirring can also be noticed in some of the lower gears, more so than others. Gear # 11 is direct drive, and probably the quietest. I personally don't find Rohloff nosie objectionable (but since I actually like the sound of BMW R69S gearboxes, who am I to judge).

I used to wonder whether Rohloffs really got quiter as they broke in, or if one just got used to the noise. After having a new one, and another one with >1000 miles on it on two different bikes at the same time, I'd say they definitely get quieter, but probably only up to the point that increasing gear wear would reverse that trend. I read somewhere that Rohloff was sent an older hub with >30,000 km on it for inspection/overhaul, and decided it was only necessary to replace the seals, shifting cables and some small parts, not gears.

I have ridden Rohloffs with the recommended flushing oil in them for a mile or so to "mix things up" before the annual oil change, and they seem to be noisier than normal while that lighter viscosity is in the hub. Maybe that means at least some of the inevitable gear noise is being transmitted to the hub body through the shafts and bearings the gears run on, and break in produces slightly more clearance for a cushioning oil film to be able to abate some of the transmitted noise? FWIW, Rohloff used to sell differently formulated smmer and winter oils, but has recently introduced an "all season" oil (it's "black", looks like it has an MoS2 additive to me).

John

Tom Ace said:

Jobst Brandt wrote

Quoted message said:

What sort of sound does it make? Is this a click from ratchets? The
way you say that it sounds ominous. Is there a serious problem?

Unlike with Sturmey-Archer hubs, there is no click from pawls
while pedaling. There is pawl click while coasting (a couple
different flavors, as different freewheel mechanisms are used
depending on what gear the hub is in).

There are several planetary gear stages in a Rohloff Speedhub,
used in various combinations to give 14 gears. I have a table
of the combinations and exact ratios for each gear on the
bottom of the web page at http://www.minortriad.com/twist.html

When the stage I've labeled c on that page is used (in gears 1-7),
there's a whine whose pitch increases with increasing RPMs
and whose volume increases with increasing drive torque.
An article from Rohloff attributes this to straight cut gears.

In the gears where the stage I've labeled A is used, there's what
I'd call a grainy noise that doesn't get appreciably louder with
increased drive torque. For some reason it's more pronounced
in gear 7 than in any of the other gears that use stage A.

To my taste, only gear 7 is loud enough to be annoying.
It did quiet down some after about 500 miles of use.

Tom Ace

Back on a ride Oct 2 I rode a portion of the ride along side another recumbent, that bent had a Rohloff and I noticed a louder clicking than typical coasting pawl clicks. I inquired about it but was told I was mistaken in my volume perception. Since the fellow worked at a recumbent shop, I accepted his explanation. Maybe there was something to the louder clicks.

(Pete Cresswell) said:

Except for cable stops - which I don't use anyhow - I can't think of any
Rohloff-specific design features.

There seem to be framesets that have dropouts that are designed for the
Speedhub: they permit chain tensioning by pulling the wheel backwards, so
that a cable tensioner isn't needed any more.

Greets, Derk

Derk said:

(Pete Cresswell) said:

Except for cable stops - which I don't use anyhow - I can't think of any
Rohloff-specific design features.

There seem to be framesets that have dropouts that are designed for the
Speedhub: they permit chain tensioning by pulling the wheel backwards, so
that a cable tensioner isn't needed any more.

Greets, Derk

and the dropout will be designed to accept the oem 1 or oem 2 style
extension, so you don't have to use the huge torque reaction arm

--
---
Marten Gerritsen

INFOapestaartjeM-GINEERINGpuntNL
www.m-gineering.nl

m-gineering said:

and the dropout will be designed to accept the oem 1 or oem 2 style
extension, so you don't have to use the huge torque reaction arm

Do you happen to know who offers these framesets in Holland?

Gr, Derk

I think its the OEM2 axel plates with that lump to prevent rotation?, fitted to vertical dropouts and perhaps an eccentric bottom bracket is the neatest fit.

till