Originally Posted by
GamblerGORD53
In 2012 I bought this RD5w hub from SJS, my first IGH. My spokes were slow coming, so I played with the shift chain several times. I kept wondering why it kept sticking going back in. I used it a year and liked it very much but, it didn't get any better. So the next annual take apart, I sanded the corners on the 2 key nubs. It was a little better, but still troublesome. The last time I tried it gears 2, 3, 4 wouldn't work at all, so I let it sit 3 years.
This week it was raining so I got it out again. I stripped it down to the axle and pinion planets assembly, HSA675. I put it in the vice horizontally and spent an hour yanking on the key chain till I figured it out. There are 6 rows of 4 nubs in the assembly, so there are 5 slots the key goes in/ out.
ONE of them was OK, the other 4 were NOT. This may be why so many of these hubs failed.
=====The SOLUTION turned out to be very EASY. I got out my diamond bit engraver to mark the bad slots. Then I got the bright idea to use it to lightly grind off the last 6 mm at the mouth end of the slots and round off the lip more. The grinder works very fast, so it just takes 30 seconds each. I did this until the key had NO stickiness. I don't know if it could be done without this engraver actually.
Then I spent all day converting the Rohloff setup and my chain case. I took it out three times for 50 miles. It works PERFECTLY now. Yayyyy. So now it works as well or better than my 46/ 16T Rohloff, if only using gears 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14. LOL. SA is with 46/ 17T now so I can go try going 46 mph down my fave hill again soon. ha. This 5w is WAY faster than my new 3 speed. I LOVE this hub again.
SHAME SHAME on SA for putting me and likely many others thru this horrible ORDEAL.
.....But OTOH, I would have struggled with 35 to 92 GI in Vietnam with the SA 5w. LOL
Well done. Your experience explains why the shifting function of these hubs often improves with use. These interfaces wear in over time and move more freely.
That said, the wide range version of the 5 speed is the most problematic of all versions I have worked with.