Rohloff hub failure after 11000 miles.

[@simonchetwynd]

So, no I did not send it to Rolhoff. It’s not as easy as you think. I would have to put it back together again (complete with gritty oil and shards of metal) send the wheel to the U.K. distributor who would then send it to Rohloff and after weeks of waiting perhaps I’d get a replacement- and my warranty definitely says 2 years. My solution was much much faster. I got a local machine shop to make a new spacer, I filed off the burr, and put it back together again. Now working.

[@alexmorgan3435]

Did you buy it new? I would have sent it back. I'd have covered 11k miles in about 18 months so would not be be happy. My first Rohloff hub is about 4 years old now with about 30k miles on it and still works faultlessly. The second is just coming up for a year old and has about 5k miles on it again working fine. I change the oil regularly as per Rohloff's instructions. Not suggesting you haven't. But as I say I would have returned it under a warranty claim. Also if you buy from SJS cycles they stand by the hubs even if Rohloff only give 2 year warranty.

[@brutalbasspro]

@Maciej Jan Długosz thats a little more than 15 miles a day for 2 years very doable I didnt drive unless I went out of town for a year and logged 6,500ish miles.

[@brutalbasspro]

@Maciej Jan Długosz I work 6 days a week, and didn't drive for a year unless it required getting on the interstate and logged 6500 miles.

[@dudeonbike800]

@Maciej Jan Długosz 11k miles in 2 years is 105 mi. per week, on average. Anyone cycling seriously can EASILY average 105 mi./wk. Actually, a serious cyclist does 105 miles on ONE weekend day! When I was racing, 250-350 mi/wk. were the standard in season. Randonneur riders put in more than this.

[@dudeonbike800]

@Maciej Jan Długosz the Rohloff is very high in efficiency and is used regularly by riders putting in distance. I'm fully aware of the advantages and necessity of efficient geared systems. And the Rohloff is lauded by enthusiasts. So, you think this $1,400 hub is purchased by casual riders? No way. The casual bicycle consumer is aghast at an ENTIRE bike costing $500, so a $1,400 hub will give them a cardiac arrest. This is NOT the hub of the occasional bike rider. It's used by enthusiasts putting in lots of miles. So your questioning 5,500mi. per year is still a specious argument. No need to discuss geared bicycle systems with me as I've been involved with the bicycle industry for over 30 years. Which actually supports my argument even more... I know what avid consumers ride and race on.

[@danjames4086]

Never underestimate a man in his shed!

[@quentinyoung9964]

I have had a Rolhoff for 11 years and done ~40000 kms without any issues. Recently when putting my bike in for maintenance, the bike shop reported gears were slipping and they sent the wheel/hub to Rolhoff for examination and repair. 3 weeks later it was returned to my bike shop but the slippage problem remained. It has now gone back to Rolhoff. Now in the 5th week without it and fortunately i am not on a world tour. I still think it is a fantastic product, but the service needs to match if it is to compete with the ease of which a deraileur can be repaired.

[@daveyJ213]

Do you think it is slipping for the same reason the one in this post did? I'm a bit worried as I just ordered one for my recumbent trike. Maybe I should have gone with a ten-sprocket rear end and derailleur?

[@quentinyoung9964]

@@daveyJ213 Stay with the Rolhoff ! It is still a fantastic product and don't want to go back to derailleur. The issue i had was eventually resolved by Rolhoff and my local bike shop replacing both the Rolhoff and sprocket. I ever i attempted a world tour, Rolhoff would still be my first choice, but with contingency planning in case of problems (priority support by your bike maintainer and Rolhoff if possible).

[@eillo84]

@Maciej Jan Długosz 11 years and 40 000 k , you don't think this guy knows about bad chains or rohloff cogs?

[@boxlid214]

About 3 years and 12k miles on mine so far. There's no way I'm going back to derailleurs. I just wish the rohloff was titanium and weighed less. The hub is already expensive, may as well just make them out of titanium lol

[@thecyclingbear]

I loved you video, really struggled to pick up on your incompetence, stripping down a Rohloff hub was a brave move, but you obviously knew what you were doing, the fact that you were able to highlight a defective hub is what Rohloff was what made them somewhat grimes and thus, very weakly, went for the incompetence chat. Though I do love the Rohloff hub, you have earned my utmost respect. GREAT VIDEO, clear concise and expertly delivered the information. You’ve just made me wear a big smile telling Rolhoff what the need to hear but find hard in accepting. If I were them I would replace your hub with a new on and thank you for highlighting a potential fault. You cannot claim superiority in a market if you are not willing to concede that there maybe the occasional mishap or fault. They charge a premium price, so back it up with a premium after sales service. Just a thought hey, but thank you again. 👍🚲🐻👍👍👍

[@thomask837]

I was going to buy a Rollie, but a 2 yr warranty is not good enough for a product that costs this much

[@buffalomind6838]

It truly is not worth having to worry that all your money will end up being a waste when you could of gotten a similar outcome with a much less expensive alternative.

[@igypop.]

I fail to understand the attraction of Rohloff, one could get roughly 9 x Alfine-11 and with proper front chain ring and rear sprocket gear ratio selection one could achieve roughly the same climbing ability, alternatively 4 x Alfine-11 Di2 for the same price..

[@wody21]

I'm sorry for having trouble with both of your last two hub gears. I hope that your Rohloff which you are going to rebuild with the machine shop upgraded spacer will work again! Thank you for sharing your unfortunate experiences.

[@simonchetwynd]

wody21 Thanks.

[@TheBigfoot2013]

Did you contact Rohloff? They might repair it for free, since it seems to be a manufacturing error. I could contact their German headquarters and send them the link to your video.

[@istingingjellysquid]

The number on your hub, is the number on assembly line . IN YEAR 2000 I purchased mine. # 3442 . I sent my hub to have maintenance due to never oiling the seal and never changing oil. Nothing wrong with my hub , still works today. I would say I never regret it . Maybe the assembly line has changed.

[@vasipro]

I can confirm! I had a Rohloff hub on an MTB and after an hour of riding off road, started slipping. I had to stop. It was heated also. After it cooled down, it started working but it failed me! Using Deore XT for 2.6 years, mud, rain, no problem.

[@vasipro]

PS. I changed the oil when I bought it. It was on a second hand bike.

[@silveride02]

would love to hear an update at this

[@XaviarCraig]

They are hit and miss. I only have a few thousand miles on mine and they are fine(hopefully they stay fine) but sometimes there are faults with individual components. Good luck with the fix!

[@brothersjames9262]

Wow that’s a shame it’s amazing that these rolloff hubs are so pricey and yet yours only lasted for a short time sad to say I think I might look at something else other than Roloff thanks for the video nice update Good luck on your choice of repairing it or finding something different

[@james-p]

11K miles is a short time? Hell, my whole bike would fall apart if I rode it that far!

[@sennepraczyk7612]

I think Rohloff wil fix it for free, it is a bild problem as you very good explaind. Very good job, bay de way 👍 transport en built- in you need to pay i ges

[@multireel7590]

If you look at the 3:43 mark (where you show the debris left from that spacer) you can also see the shiny inner part of the big gear is not level with the rest because it can move a bit. (in the still picture a few seconds earlier it is level) The spacer that sits on top of those 2 combined parts has to deal with that uneven level. On a good working more recent hub I noticed this is similar and the spacer was a bit deformed. The outer edge was bend a bit downwards. Perhaps the reason for your spacer to break was indeed just the little defect as you mentioned, but having a spacer deform a because of the uneven area it sits on might have accelerated this problem.

[@alexmorgan3435]

Is there a part 3 - reassembly and test ride?

[@glennrmarks]

The only way it could slip (with planetary gears) is if the metal got into one of the ratchet/engagement rings that selects gears or into the pauls in the center axel area. It sounds like the fix you suggest should fix it.

[@jrgenthomsen8692]

The burr is a pice of the shimmer, and that was so thin, that i it got in to the space between the pin and the carrier, and that has caused the problem, the shimmer brakes apart, and got in the way as you see it. I Think, it caused by to little oil in the hub, to make tear of the shimmer, and then it fail's, and falls apart, because of the friction between the metal parts. I think the repair of the hub will last for a longe time, just put some more oil in to the hub, and Then it will last longer you'r bearings to.... Best to you, my Rolloff has failed to, and I am intending to fix it if I can, mine is skipping and getting something in between the gear wheels as well, haven't taking it apart yet.... so I hope to get it up and running soon.......... I love the Rohloff Hub, it is the best I have had so far... Best to all keep Rohling ;-) Sorry for my bad english I am danish ;-)

[@rbracewe]

My hub is also slipping but I think only in 8,9,10 and 11. I can ride it OK for, say, 100 km and it will probably slip a few times during that ride but it is tolerable. It will not slip climbing hills in 1 to 7. However it can slip catastrophically in those four gears in certain situations like being in the wrong gear for a certain gradient, or starting from a road junction. However it has only failed in that manner twice in one year. As explained by the OP you have to ship the whole wheel to an intermediary in the UK who then send to Germany. Then you are issued with the cost of the repair. So I haven't bothered to send it yet. I have another Rohloff hub that has done numerous European comping tours with zero problems. The faulty hub was obtained on a bike I bought on E-Bay. Hence you are on your own even if it were still under warranty.

[@buffalomind6838]

Man, watching more and more of these vids with IGH’s that cost a lot in particular only lasting a tenth of what it ought to is turning me off into choosing to go with them. I just seen the new Kindernay IGH, and it seems amazing all around along with having a great capacity of 160 Newton meters of capacity. However, I think I may lead more towards a 3-8 speed igh that cost less if I have to look forward to terrible outcomes like this occurring so soon in particular. Heck’ I’m even thinking of going with a 1 by 3-8 cog. Hmm decisions

[@manoftheroad55]

Exactly correct..my video on the subject my 3x9...note mudflap which extends chain bottom bracket chainring rear cassette life by many times... kzbin.info/www/bejne/bGLdpIiteq-Igc0

[@mattroller781]

I just got one on a Thorn Nomad and pray mine does not prove to be defective. I would hope Rohloff would still stand behind their product, and just do the right thing and replace it. Contact them! Best of luck

[@bill7853]

As stated the current warranty is only 2 years but they may be sympathetic after that re repairs. It used to be much better ..I bought a second hand unit 14 yrs ago and found it had play in the bearings. I contacted Rohloff and I paid for postage to Germany. They fixed and returned it free of charge. Apparently they're getting much more difficult these days. The hub is certainly not invincible with plenty of documented problems over the years. At such a high price I don't see why they cannot warranty for much longer as long as you have proof of annual service. Well done for being brave enough to strip the hub and seemingly identifying and fixing the issue Simon. Keep us updated on whether the repair holds up. Fingers crossed.

[@alexmorgan3435]

@@bill7853 As you bought a 2nd hand unit why would ANY manufacturer honour any warranty or make a good will gesture? Get real. Maybe as an original purchaser from new, but not 2nd/3rd/4th hand. You were very lucky that Rohloff repaired the worn bearings for free.

[@bill7853]

@@alexmorgan3435 you seem to misunderstand that many moons ago Rohloff used to repair many Speedhubs whether bought second hand or not as they wished to try and keep it quiet that many did go wrong in one way or another. As for "get real " what sort of comment is that ...my comments are based on experience and I never suggested they WOULD do any repairs free . As for your cocky reply to my other comment ....Yes I have actually bought a new Speedhub recently as well so do have a warranty which is two years. Hope that clears things up for you.

[@alexmorgan3435]

@@bill7853 So if you think Rohloff hubs are so poorly made and unreliable why have you recently spent over $1000 on a new one? Any company that offered to warrant their products once they had been sold on by the original purchaser would soon go out of business. Life is full of free loaders trying to get benefits they are not entitled to. The fact that Rohloff MAY have repaired their hubs in the past to owners who bought them 2nd, 3rd or 4th hand was pure good will. In any case one doesn't know whether these older Rohloff hubs developed problems because of owner neglect or abuse or accident damage. It sounds like ROhloff could no longer continue with this good will as like everything in life people take a little, you give them the benefit of the doubt then people really start taking the piss. I agree Rohloff's warranty should be longer than two years, at least 5 or 10 maybe even lifetime to the original purchaser of their hub. Does this satisfy you?

[@bill7853]

@@alexmorgan3435 you seem to know all the answers and be looking for an argument that doesn't exist as well as rather irritable . I'm not going to bother to reply again but it seems a shame particularly at a time when people are struggling with other serious issues. Please go and wind up somebody else ... there's plenty of other trolls on the internet to argue with where you can vent your anger.

[@adrianbrunette9306]

I have a Shimano Nexus 8 speed on my commuter bike. I'm at around 400-500 km and I'm drawn on the quality of it and utterly unimpressed with the maintenance (grease instead of oil). I was leaning towards a Rohloff, but have heard a couple of horror stories that are really making me question if I want to spend the value of the bike on an IGH that really aren't as good as everyone says they are. I might wait till the Nexus fails and look at upgrading to a pinion based bike. Thank you for the review.

[@Michael-wn4jj]

We ride the Nexus i8 IGH since 14000 km each. I'm doing regulary 5000 km oil bath maintenance using original blue Shimano oil which can be reused several times and is by that not as expensive as many complaining. Both IGH working fine and precise like from first day. One very important thing, only remove the left side nuts to remove the hub from housing. Once removed the right side to disassemble the clutch you would need a special Shimano gauge to re-assemble. For oil bath maintenance it's not neccessary doing so. Also never oil or grease the outside plastic that selecting the gears. Just keep them clean and dry because oil and grease would just attract dust and dirt.

[@ЕвгенийАрьков-с7р]

Reuse oil sounds like reuse condomes.

[@eltonus2]

I am sorry that the hub had such big problems after so little milage. But i cant undersand why you not even send an eMail to Rohloff and never gave them a chance to react in any way shape or form... Maybe they would have deemed it as manufacturing defekt themsels...

[@dima343.]

it's like complicated swiss watches - should work trouble free, but if it breaks, you are in big trouble, repairs available only at factory, because factory don't sell parts to local watchmakers.

[@daveyJ213]

Yikes! That's not good news. I just ordered a recumbent tricycle with a Rohloff Speed Hub. I've had rear sprockets that have NEVER failed. I hope this is a rare occurrence and not par of Rohloff. I'm worried.

[@biketouringaddict]

Hi Simon. ¿Could you say what where the number of tooths in the front and rear chainrings?

[@mrmyorky5634]

You're a braver man than I am in stripping a Rholoff Speedhub down, but to be honest at the price they cost I'd expect them to be damn near perfect and have a trouble free life of many many thousands of miles. I bought my Thorn Rholoff Sport Tour new on the strength of Thorn's advertising and have now done12,000 miles on it. It's not the perfect hub gear that I expected, and it jams up momentarily when changing gear quickly. In addition to that, the feedback through the pedals has always felt alarmingly gritty in the lower gears and the effort required to twist the gearchange has always been far too high for comfort. Despite the impressive claims about the Rholoff hub gear, mine feels a bit like wading through treacle in comparison with my other derailleur geared bikes which all feel noticeably lighter, smoother, free'er running, and altogether pleasanter to ride than the Rholoff geared Thorn. Even freewheeling downhill is slower.

[@TheBigfoot2013]

How is your Rohloff about 4 years after your repair? Is it still working? How many miles did use it since the repair?

[@marcinbojarski7170]

I love Rohloff Speead hub as a product, but I hate their approach to selling their products. I can understand that the hub itself is expensive, it's complicated and mostly well machined (not always as your failure proves), but the prices of shifter, axle plates, torque arms and spares are just ridiculous. Not to mention that you cannot get their new 142mm thru axle model with mounting adaptors. They will just not sell it to you, you need to send them you frame for mounting. Apparently it would be too complicated for the user to choose and order the right adaptor. How about you just include those 3 different adaptors in your 1200 GBP product so the customer does not need to choose blindly? I really hope Kindernay get on their legs and give some competition to rohloff.

[@raeesmohammed3072]

Are you sure they won’t send the mounting accessories along with the through axle model hubs ?

[@geraldwilliams8425]

For what hey cost here should be a lifetime warranty

[@igypop.]

F**K YEAH BRO!

[@FamilymoirGoogleAccount]

Simon, as long as you are the original owner and have registered your Speedhub with Rohloff AG, Rohloff would have repaired your hub at no cost (assuming it was a manufacturing fault, not abused or damaged). The warranty is 2 years, but after this time if there is a problem (very rare), Rohloff will often repair your hub at no charge under what they call a "courtesy repair". Simply contact Rohloff - you could have avoided the disassembly, time, cost and worries.

[@dudeonbike800]

Are you sure they'd have fessed up to the issue? If Simon didn't disassemble it and confirm a manufacturing defect, he would have had to rely on Rohloff's honesty and generosity to have it covered under a "courtesy repair." They'd be faced with a dilemma, "Repair it for free? Or just tell the customer it's out of warranty and get paid?" Not really the most ideal situation. I'd rather know before putting the truth and my fate into another's hands. Again, with something so expensive, Rohloff should have happily accepted the hub as it was and appreciated the fact that Simon figured out the problem. I'd say the interference fit was wrong, or the operator running the press the day the hub was made had a little to much Spaten the night before!

[@FamilymoirGoogleAccount]

Dude On Bike Yes, I’m very sure they would have repaired that Speedhub. Would they tell you what the issue was, very likely yes. Rohloff has its excellent reliability reputation because it is a high quality product although that doesn’t say the product is perfect - Rohloff has an excellent design and they have excellent manufacturers of their components, although sometimes mistakes are made, something is missed, etc. From my experience, if it is a manufacturing error or assembly error, Rohloff will always repair that Speedhub at no cost (and way after 2 years... the age of the hub is not the determining factor, it is whether there was a fault not of the customer’s). You will always read and hear about the issues, that’s what people do - you won’t see many people writing about “I have no problems”. The Rohloff reputation as the gold standard in internal hearted hubs comes from thousands and thousands of Speedhubs without any issue. Btw, if there is an issue with a Rohloff gear unit, that internal gear unit is sent back to Rohloff Germany to study and learn from. Cheers Paul.

[@simonchetwynd]

...avoided time, cost... I fixed myself for less than the postage cost to Rohloff and in a fraction of the time. Getting a simple spacer machined up is not expensive

[@Michael-wn4jj]

Rohloff is still owned by its founder not by an anonyme gang of investment bankers making believe even out of guarantee periode Rohloff will show culance in facrory faults. Common they are so big in that business why should they save some money on that rare circumstance to risk reputation?

[@mabz12ify]

Conclusion, if you're a world traveller touring the world, use the normal derailler. Keep it simple, and the bike will take care of you further.

[@simonchetwynd]

Big advantage of a derailleur for world travelling is they’re easy to fix and getting spares is easy.

[@Tarantas]

For Rohloff™ this is just right. Here is a success story of Ukrainian guy stucked in the middle of Chile: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bnWuiWqhoNh1bpo

[@Opteron67]

Do frequent servicing with ATF oil, or go Kindernay (also with ATF oil)

[@portnuefflyer]

Truely? Automatic tranny fluid? On what do you base that recommendation? Not doubting you, tell me more.

[@Opteron67]

@@portnuefflyer all liquid for bicycle that looks red are in fact ATF oil. the purpose of ATF oil is to be full of additives witch is needed for this kind of mechanisms. In fact ATF oil is not oil bu rather lotof additives mixed with some oil :D

[@portnuefflyer]

@@Opteron67 I just ordered another couple refills (I have two R hubs) and this time wised up a bit and didn't search for "oil change kits", just the cleaner and oil itself, a bit cheaper, as I have several of the big syringes already. So too late now but I will compare it to some ATF I have, smell it, feel it,...you got me curious. 20 bucks once a year, to supposedly do right by a $1500.00 (plus or minus) piece of equipment, isn't too big of a hit though.

[@stefangriep3423]

Were you able to fix it?

[@shaneruddock-pedallingtheg8114]

You shouldn't pay anything for replacement parts. It's got a 5 year warranty

[@bill7853]

No it hasn't ...it's 2 yrs

[@indian2003]

Rohloff should have just replaced the hub and avoid all this bad publicity.

[@SmileySchalk]

Hi Simon, After 20,000 km I planned to replace the cock, chain and chainring. After receiving all the spares, I was lazy and decide to tap the last bit off life out of the parts. When I heard a new noise I decide it is time to replace the parts. All easy to do, but shock and horror, the noise remained. It sounds like an additional clutch, but I suspect it is on the input drive as the sound remains the same in all the gears. Do you have any idea what this can be? Cheers

[@istingingjellysquid]

If rohloff robs you from so much energy, it should be perfect training till you ready for your derailleur bike, you can win races

[@endtimeawakening5557]

Doesn't make much sense that Rohloff won't sell the parts needed for repairs. There are many competent mechanics out there who can do their own repair work, so it doesn't make logical sense...

[@YPO6]

Does your home insurance cover these kind of things?

[@michaelferguson7371]

Have you contacted rohloff?

[@simonchetwynd]

Michael, no. To send it to Rohloff requires me to arrange a return number, package it up, send it to the UK distributor at my expense, they send it to Rohloff, who look at, give me a cost estimate , fix or replace, and then send it back. That is not a quick or cheap process. Add in the complication that against everything they say, I went and ripped it apart. So, after 1 week, I’ve had a machine shop make a new spacer at minimal cost, I’ve ground out the burr, cleaned and degreased it and put it all back together. Just waiting for a replacement paper gasket between the case halves that I tore on disassembly to arrive - which ought to be tomorrow. I expect to back on the road in just over a week for less than the cost of posting it to Rohloff, and way, way faster.

[@MostlyIC]

as a machinist all I can say is you are doing yourself and Rohloff a disservice by not allowing them to figure out what was the manufacturing defect and what process they need to improve. Also, are you sure they won't fix it for free, if I was Rohloff I'd sure want to see your hub in order to diagnose it and review the process that let a defect through the system.

[@simonchetwynd]

In an ideal world yes, send it back to Rohloff. However, I need that bike to get into work so every day it’s off the road causes me issues. Sorting it myself was fastest way to get it back on the road.

[@dibqip]

IMHO they’ve made their name from reliability. They put a miserly 2 year warranty on it, and have made resolving issues difficult and expensive. Not a premium offering. They deserve to find out by watching their hub opened up and their frankly obvious assembly defect shown to all.

[@SamEEE12]

It has a 5 year warranty, or at least it did until you took it to pieces.

[@bill7853]

Sorry ..it's 2 yrs

[@alexmorgan3435]

@@bill7853 Yebbut, you haven't bought a new one. So you are not entitled to any warranty whether 2 or 5 years.

[@FamilymoirGoogleAccount]

The warranty is 2 years. After 2 years Rohloff will typically repair any Speedhub that has a manufacturing or assembly defect, as long as you are the original owner/purchaser. That is fact.

[@manoftheroad55]

seems over complicated and over priced ...what is the attraction

[@GordoGambler]

No complicated double shift defaileurs. That's the attraction.

[@mbrylewski]

That's quite annoying. German engineering for you. Not good!

[@letitrest4662]

All one really has to know when judging whether or not "German engineering" is superior or not, is to own either a BMW(motorcycle or car), a Volkswagen, or God forbid, an Audi. I think then the myth of "superior" German engineering, will be TOTALLY dispelled. BOTTOM LINE ? Maybe stick with a cassette and derailer. At least then you can maintain, or replace it yourself, and for a fraction of the cost of that Rohloff P.O.S. I was a mechanic for over forty years. Thirty-three of which, was as a licensed aircraft mechanic, with Delta Airlines. Keep things simple. Easier and cheaper to repair or replace.

[@SolarizeYourLife]

I'm trying to understand stand how far is 11,000 miles is.... For me, commute to work 12 miles would be 917 days...or 3.5 years commuting, not including weekend riding...for a $1500 hub...shit that's like a $500 bike being stolen every year...I didn't know about the repair policy 🤬🤔🖕💔💢🧊😭