24tracktape

Thinking about a Rohloff for my next build, but I'm a little nervous about what options (other than rebuilding the wheel with a new rim and spokes, if necessary) are available to keep going with your trip.

Interested to hear about any other options that are possible!

-Rich

bentbaggerlen

The Rohloff is a good hub, but very, very few shops have ever seen then, let alone have ever worked on one, and spare parts? Your just not going to find them. I have only seen three, and just had to open one to inspect it. (Ohhhhhh... shiney)
Rims and spokes are easy, any bike shop can do it. But if something inside gets crunchy.
Your options for repair on the road are few, the most likely repair would be boxing it up and shipping it back to Rohloff for repairs. Its a very good hub, its as good as it is complex. take a look at this cut away https://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/i...peedbild2.jpeg

24tracktape

Actually, I'm not all that worried about the Rohloff itself failing (I think I recall reading that they've NEVER failed in service...though that seems unlikely) it's more a case of whether something else could be jury rigged if I were far from a decent shop...or just needed to get on with my trip for whatever reason.

I suppose it would be possible to stick something else in there and just change gears manually (assuming a lengthened chain and a frame with a tensioner) or perhaps an old three speed SA hub'd wheel?

To be honest, I'm thinking about doing the next build with 26" wheels just so I could use virtually ANY mtb wheel to continue the trip. Cut out the nice hub and keep moving!

-R

stevage

The scenarios you present are a bit confusing. If the hub breaks, why do you need a new rim and spokes? If the rim breaks, what does that have to do with a Rohloff hub? Any time a hub seizes up, you're in trouble if you're far from a shop, right?

lighthorse

Ahhh yes, I often lay awake worrying what I shall do if my steel framed Burley breaks in half when I am on tour. Will I be able to tie it together with cord? Will I find a small welding shop that will weld it back together so that I can continue riding? Maybe I can whittle some wood pieces and splice them into the hollow steel tubes to hold the frame together.
Jeez, quit being nervous. Just put the bike together and ride it.

Bacciagalupe

I agree with lighthorse, I don't think you need to worry about it.

I understand why you might have some concerns, as you can't do any field repairs on the Rohloff hub itself, other than the normal cable adjustments. Fixing a spoke or rim, obviously, has the usual replacement odds.

I am sure you could replace the wheel with one built up for a different internal hub, as long as your shifter is compatible or you replace it. I don't know what shifters work with the Rohloff though.

But the Rohloffs are built like a tank and require almost no maintenance, and I expect that anything that can damage the hub will wind up destroying the rest of the bike anyway -- hopefully without injuring the rider, of course .

Barrettscv 

If worse came to worse, a new hub could be express mailed or the LBS could install a fixed gear rear hub. Those are not great options, but is the thing really going to totally fail? no.

CHenry

You have a better chance of your frame cracking whilst on tour. Rolhoff hubs are tough. Once a year oil changeout is about it.

24tracktape

I guess I wasn't being clear in my question.

I'm not at all concerned with the Rohloff itself.

I'm picturing a scenario where a rim cracks or gets taco'd and becomes unridable.

Since this wheel is now unusable, OTHER THAN rebuilding the wheel with a new rim, what wheel/chain/derailleur COBB JOBS will allow the bike to be used UNTIL the wheel is rebuilt.

That's what I should have asked in the first place! Sorry for the confusion.

HardyWeinberg

Same options as w/ any other hub I guess. They are escaping me at the moment.

E.A. Webb

If you had cracked open my Rohloff we'd be in court.
It's a sealed hub.
You ruined $1,200+ worth of someone's equipment.

NoReg

First off Rohloff hubs do give trouble. Spokes rip out flanges. They loose oil in the plane (old problem?). Break stays on the bike. Biggest problem might be if the controls go because they won't be locally available and do go wrong. Also one has all the usual crash, smash, and theft problems to deal with. Another issue is the Rohloff 32 spoke thing. People claim it is just as strong as a higher count hub, though all along nobody mentioned there was a tandem hub, which kinda puts the lie to that. One reason that Rohloffs sound so reliable is there are so few of them out there. It would be interesting to know how the average Rohloff hub with 300 000 miles or more on it is doing. It would also be interesting to know how well the derailleur system would hold up if it cost 1200 for the rear end.

For the OP's question you would have the option of simply fitting a rear derailleur and conventional wheel. If you are running 26" that means most any donor parts in the world. To make that work you need to choose your rear drop-outs accordingly. A simple option would be the slider style DOs that admit either Rohloff or derailleur parts. Rohloff has these, as does Paragon. Another option is any reasonable Rohloff mount with a hanger on it.

To reduce the need to replace your rim you could go to disc brakes, since carrying extra discs is pretty easy.

More out there option would be to source some kind of collapsing rim. If one had the national geographic type budget, one could get rims with 3 splits that could be pressed together with bayonet mounts and replaced at the same size as your broken rims. Rims do not need to be welded or continuous as the spoke tension will hold them together. Never heard of such a thing. But it would be possible, I suppose. Unless a spoke is broken, you can and should replace a broken worn rim with the same old spokes as long as you are lacing to the same size rim. Carrying an extra rim is not all that heavy, but it is bulky.

A better solution, depending on one's pet worry, is to get a decent quality derailleur hub, and carry a few spares, a lot more redundant. Rohloff is really better when the primary concern is mud, or durability maybe, sustainability is a whole other worry. For the ultimate keep it rolling no mater what happens rig, derailleurs might be better. Personal choice of poison.

I own a Rohloff hub.

24tracktape

Peterpan1 - Thanks for the reply, that's what I wanted to know! I am still on the Rohloff fence, but leaning perhaps a little closer to doing an XTR set up with 26" wheels and carrying some spares.

-R

NoReg

Here are the negatives I was able to find before I bought mine, from a post where I quoted liberaly from Thorn literature, ground zero of Rohloff for touring boosterism:

"But while I realize it works brilliantly in certain environments, I just can't get past the steep price and the various limitations. If I cough up 250 for a DT hub, or 140-360 for a Phil, I am not aware of a single problem attendant to that decision, other than the money. As far as I know there isn't a single problem with choosing either of those products. No leaks weird noises, poor spoke choices etc...

But with the Rohloff you could write a book. It's so far not in regular use for road racing, there has to be some drag from the system that isn't there with at least a clean derailleur, and I think they are happy to admit it even if you aren't. And I still don't believe they are competing for the road/touring/comfort market. What we also have are several folks like Shimano adding a gear to Nexus every year or two (tried one of those), producing 36 spoke hubs, and keeping the price to 170 bucks. I don't think Rohloff cares about anything other than MTBs at the moment. The hub is 1600 at the LBS while the LX hub is 40, it's a hard case to make.

There are lots of problems identified by actual owners:

- Grinding,
- oil leaks,
- weight,
- pulled through spokes,
- noise, This is how the Thorn guy refers to this "I like the absolute silence of pedaling it, in gears 8 to 14", once it is run in.
- rough riding around the changeover gear (whatever that's called).
- set gains between the gear
- more limited useable gear
- poor parts supply,
- can't set ratio

Here is the list the Thorn guy gives of the negatives (of course he is largely rhapsodically positive):

- 32 spokes only
- shifter doesn't fit drops (me, more of that we don't give a rat's *** about roadies stuff)
- Doesn't enjoy the noise in gears 1-7
- Have to back off when downshifting out of the trans point.
- Doesn't like the extra net weight and it feels extra bad being located where it is
- Frames have to be specially constructed for it

He also mentions a lot of gaming ratios that is required because gear 11 is the best and the one you should spend the most time in and you want to avoid the 8,7 gears area. And of course the 1-7 area.

Gee, he almost sounds worse than I do on this stuff. You would almost think I was making it up. Cruise over to Sheldon's wonderful site and read the Andy Blance/SJS article. As previously mentioned it is a positive review of the product. They consider Rohloff to be the best touring choice.

"Er.... yeah. If you read your own source, you would have seen that the problem was more than likely having disk brakes on a bike with no reinforcement between chainstay and seatstay."

Not entirely the point, no. It's an overall discussion of the structure, within which that is a specific point if I remember. But you have to be a little smart about this source: 1) these are some very good frame makers in the custom world, even they are asking the question, good luck with your "will TIG for food" products; 2) it's the OEM drops which cost more than the LX front and rear hubs total, in the raw before installation. You could probably buy an LX drivetrain for what that's gonna cost, and yet still problems. 3) These are being installed on heavy MTB units, not on touring weight units. So now consider my actual point, that these hubs are very gifted when it comes to heavy duty uses, but you want to be careful about assuming they will make your ride stronger. In other words add DT or Phil hubs to your Urbanite touring frame, net result is my big *** is less likely to break an axle, and I am less likely to suffer a broken cassette shell etc... Add the Rohloff and you may get a broken stay for your troubles."

As I said, I am a proud Rohloff owner now, though I don't have it on a bike as yet. I am doing the frame and it is taking second place to kiddy braces at the moment. My best guess is that extreme mud aside a top quality hub with replaceable bearings may still be the best choice. Or possibly Phil with cartridge bearing because even if one takes the point they are worse than loose bearings, they are extremely easy to swap out. Every period has it's fads and on this board mentioning spending 1200 for Rohloff is pretty popular at the moment, among those who can afford it, but mentioning buying much cheaper premium derailleur hubs is not really popular. This is either very wise, somewhat blind or an endorsement of the fact you really can't beat a 40 dollar LX hub.

Actually another thing I have noticed is that when describing Phil cartridge hubs, you not only get push back on cost, but on weight, yet it is far lighter than Rohloff, and Rohloff weight is given a free ride.

In the overall picture, any of these premium products are great because very few people actually push them to the limit. So another case of just suiting yourself.

24tracktape

Interesting article, that. My current touring bike has Phil hubs, as it were. Perhaps I should not fix what isn't broken...

NoReg

I guess for me I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Not a necesarry expenditure but fun to play with.

seeker333

They do fail. Something that complicated is bound to fail eventually.

Either the hub shell cracks apart at spoke holes, or internal gear issue.

Doesn't happen to that many of them , and it shouldn't at the price they command.

If they break, Rohloff frequently will warranty replace them. That means a week's layover if you're in the US, or perhaps Europe, longer elsewhere.

I imagine a shifter could break, and sometimes those things are out of stock at QBP for weeks at a time.

Then again, read recently where a tourist was stranded for 2-3 weeks waiting for a 36h 700c rim in Chile or Bolivia. He apparently paid several hundred USD to get it rush shipped from his favorite LBS in BC, CA.

All this reminds me why I'm satisfied with std 9 spd shimano mtb drivetrain on 26" wheels.

bwgride

As seeker notes above, the more complex a gadget, the more likely it will fail eventually. See post #17 of the thread cited below some examples of Rohloff hubs leaving riders stranded for various reasons:

https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/513123-anyone-using-rohloff-internal-hub-what-s-word.html

However, despite these examples, many still report Rohloffs to be dependable and durable. A solid option is to use Rohloff, but have a frame capable of accepting derailleurs.

zonatandem

Most of the things we worry about, never happen.
Anything can, and eventually will fail.

NoReg

Z. That is why I start off real light on tricks and treats, and gradually add the ones I feel I need based on what has gone sideways in the past. Not sure it really amounts to a better result, but I do feel better paying a little attention to the past.

I ran the split wheel idea by Jobst Brandt, the wheel god guy. He sounded mildly interested, and seemed to think it would work fine if properly executed.