Often reported broken spokes; spokes required are often shorter than normal/standard (in Africa, replacements may require non-local options). Some other issues:
http://pedalgogist.wordpress.com/
In the car park of the park visitors centre my worst case scenario had happened. I had lost 4 gears in my Rohloff Speehub. These things are supposed to be bullet proof.
Finally, I pushed off from Ian`s place after almost three weeks during which time I waited for my Rohloff to return from Germany,
http://www.cairo2capetown.org/kenyablog.html
Only one of our five expected parcels had made it through to our host's address, so we were forced to trawl the back-offices, reading through hand-written ledgers of received parcels, speaking with bored and disinterested postal workers, in the hope of locating the missing ones... In the end we were pretty successful, locating all but two; one of which I managed to get the following day (in a different office - all so confusing!), so we were only one short. Unfortunately it was the one with the "oil-change kit" that I desperately needed to service my Rohloff hub, now that it had started to give some troubles in a few of the lower gears!
http://www.more-mtb.org/forum/archiv...hp/t-3594.html
Near the end of last season as I was training for SM 100 I noticed that occassionally (twice during a 60 mile mountain ride) the bottom gears would not engage immedialty. "Sohn eines Weibchens" I said. (Ok I said it in English, I don't know German").
I called Thomas at Rohloff USA. He says it needs all new internals. It is not under warantee, but Rohloff AG approved it. (It is a "crash replacement" if you do need to get new gears approx $200 install...less than cost). So my repair was free thanks to the someone at German Rohloff. (Thanks Rohloff)
It took months to get it back. No big deal since it was winter and I was just commuting and road riding.
Got it back and it immedialty slipped again! "Mutterbumser" I screamed. I rode it until the bottom seven no longer engaged. It was a tough last few miles out of Patapsco.
http://homepage.mac.com/isaetterry/p...eequipment.htm
After 15,000kms a major fault has developed - the hub flange has split where a spoke has pulled through - awaiting a response from SJS cycles and Rohloff about how to address the problem.
Replacement parts are being sent to Wellington where the hub will be rebuilt or replaced (a cycle of over 1000kms).
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntre...ageID=13339027
BigDan: "I've found two cracks in my Rohloff hub, both are on the same side and they are both where the spokes attach to the hub. I thought these things were bombproof, obviously that doesn't include chubby Englishman proof (more deadly than a bomb by far!). Is there anything can be done? The hub is aluminium so does that mean it CAN'T be welded? Does it really matter-will it affect how it all works? I am setting off tomorrow to cycle from Lhasa to Kathmandu so don't really want anything to go drastically wrong while I'm on the 160kms 4400metres downhill."
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntre...rt=30&tstart=0
goldenbez: "I went and checked mine the next day. Shock! I dunno if it was a good or bad thing reading this post. I found cracks in mine identical to the ones in Dans photo."
http://www.hrpu.co.uk/karennben/notes.html
The SpeedHub is so big that you need short spokes (again, not good to have non-standard parts: I had to order mine from Germany!) and a 2 cross lacing. However, this makes the spokes pull on the hub far from tangentially (too much angle), and this caused the body of the SpeedHub to crack at 3 holes where leading spokes were attached. We were in Bolivia when this happened. Luckily we made it to the capital (slowly and carefully, and I reatached the 3 spokes to the flange via the fastening screws) and contacted Rohloff by email. They sent a brand new one via DHL in 3 days, no questions asked! It's been OK since.
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=288804&page=4
brontotx: I've been running a speedhub for about 9 months and when it had about 80 miles on it, it slipped - it spun with no power and made nasty grinding sounds. Thinking it was my shifting under power (generally a no-no), I kept riding it. I also read that changing the oil might help, so I did that. But as I put more miles on the hub the slipping got more frequent. In all cases, the hub never left me stranded and all I had to do was shift it up and down a couple of gears and the slipping disappeared for another 20-50 miles.
I finally sent it in for repair about a month ago and Rohloff USA replaced the whole drive unit. The replacement drive unit was really sweet with almost no break-in required (whereas the original hub "whirred" for about 6-700 miles - especially in seventh gear).
Two weeks ago, however, the replacement hub missed the shift to eighth gear - it did not engage ("click") into gear until after 1/4 to 1/2 a crank revolution. This happened right after I shifted into eight or if I had been coasting in eighth (and, yes, my cables are "slack" and not "tight" as suggested by others here on mtbr).
I contacted Rohloff USA and Tom contacted Germany before sending me an e-mail about some out-sourced axles being made without a necessary slot, which they had to modify at the factory. Tom said this caused one of the prawls to be too slow, causing the mis-shift. Tom suggested I ride it some more to see if it goes away and, if it doesn't, to send it in again for another replacement (they also offered to pay the shipping to them this time ). Rohloff USA's service has been exemplary - at least on getting my wheel back to me quickly and no quibbling about their responsibility to fix it (I am also very thankful that it has a two year warranty).
Perhaps I've had the extremely bad luck of getting two lemons , but am wondering if anyone else has experienced failures/problems such as these
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=288804&page=4
bshallard: Just discovered this thread. I rode what must be a fairly early speedhub for about three years before going back to deraileurs. I found that I had to soft pedal changing between 7th and 8th gears or it would hit neutral and I would hit the bars with my knee. It would also jam if I tried to shift under power. When I first fitted it I had to learn to shift at the bottom of the pedal stroke to let it snick through the change easily while the power was low. I was always wildly enthusiastic about it when asked about it, (especially on muddy rides) but eventually I got sick of the noise and the rough feeling through the pedals in the lower gears (esp. 7th). I also talked to Rohloff about the shifter, the shape of which I always hated after having used grip shift. The triangular shape was bulky and uncomfortable and I felt it caused me to shift too many gears on occasion. They basically told me they were happy with it and had bigger fish to fry. Eventually the rubber grip on the shifter parted company with the barrel and kind of left me stranded and unable to shift without difficulty. I never got around to trying to glue it.. instead going back to regular shifting.