Rohloff Speedhub. Not fit for purpose?

[woodsmith]

I built up a Surly ECR in 2018 with the long term goal of a multi-year trip around the world and a Rohloff hub seemed like just the thing for such an Adventure.
That summer saw it take me 1000 miles around Scotland and 2500 miles across Turkey. The following year it never turned a wheel as other adventures beckoned.
2020 saw me set off on the Big Trip only for covid to force me to abort it after only a couple of weeks. The rest of the year saw lots of day rides in lockdown before 2 months around Scotland in the late summer.
In all this time the hub ran faultlessly and I was quick to sing its praises to all that enquired.
Over the approx 8000 miles oil change intervals were religiously followed, even changing the oil after a years storage in a modern dry garage. In all those miles probably less than 10 days were in the wet . Never submerged on a river crossing or washed with a pressure washer.
So it was with some bemusement when the thing seized up.
The whole wheel needed to be sent in to SJS for repair, which they did within a week and with great communication and support from their Mechanic. A phone conversation with the mechanic revealed that the noxious smell of the oil, experienced on every oil change , was due to the presence of water in the oil.
Having used it in generally benign condition I now have zero faith in its ability to cope with anything more than a warm summer day and certainley not to carry me to the remote destinations I'd originally purchased it for.
All the above was explained to Rohloff themselves but they refused to make any comment beyond implying any failure was down to me. At first they even denied any knowledge of a hub with that serial number until I showed them the email confirming its registration on their website.
Thankfully SJS/Thorn only charged half the usual sevice fee of £140 quid so the experience has only left me £100 out of pocket.
Oh well. Back to cr@ppy derailleurs I guess

[redefined_cycles]

Here here to crappy old derailleurs and Santa Cruz bikes...

[lune ranger]

Sounds bad. Sorry to hear that. Is it un- repairable? I ask this because one of mine originally belonged to my father in law that had it on a bike he kept on a yacht - tied to the railing unused for 2 years. When I got it the ex box was a a ball of corrosion, the shifter was totally stuck and externally it looked ropey. At home I did what I could. On a bike I could change some gears, not all. It slipped and crunched and the bearings were shot.
It went back to Rohloff in Germany and came back working like new.
The report stated salt water submersion. The repair cost £300. For me it seemed like good value for a new hub. I guess you’d not think the same - but it probably can be fixed if you’re that way inclined.

[woodsmith]

Sounds bad. Sorry to hear that. Is it un- repairable? I ask this because one of mine originally belonged to my father in law that had it on a bike he kept on a yacht - tied to the railing unused for 2 years. When I got it the ex box was a a ball of corrosion, the shifter was totally stuck and externally it looked ropey. At home I did what I could. On a bike I could change some gears, not all. It slipped and crunched and the bearings were shot.
It went back to Rohloff in Germany and came back working like new.
The report stated salt water submersion. The repair cost £300. For me it seemed like good value for a new hub. I guess you’d not think the same - but it probably can be fixed if you’re that way inclined.

It has been fixed and is presumably as good as new. I just no longer have any faith in it. If I had abused it in some way I'd accept the fault was down to me and try not to repeat the error. This isn't the case as I've pretty much babied it from day one.

[lune ranger]

Only you will know whether you trust it or not but FWIW....

The one that got fixed has ridden me to work every day for the last 4 years. It’s parked uncovered at work. It has also been through many Dartmoor fords. 2 oil changes, no problems.

My original was bought in 1999, has ridden across 3 continents, been submerged more times than I can count, done thousands of km of UK, Norway, Iceland, bikepacking etc, etc It still runs fine.
Maybe you got unlucky with pot seals on yours. Who knows, but you don’t need to write it off.

[woodsmith]

Only you will know whether you trust it or not but FWIW....

The one that got fixed has ridden me to work every day for the last 4 years. It’s parked uncovered at work. It has also been through many Dartmoor fords. 2 oil changes, no problems.

My original was bought in 1999, has ridden across 3 continents, been submerged more times than I can count, done thousands of km of UK, Norway, Iceland, bikepacking etc, etc It still runs fine.
Maybe you got unlucky with pot seals on yours. Who knows, but you don’t need to write it off.

The seals were tight enough to pressurise the hub enough to push the plunger back out of the syringe at the last oil change ( only 200 miles before the bearing seized, and not ridden in the wet or washed since that oil change).
As it looks like we will be stuck in the UK this year it has a chance to redeam itself. But the any sign of stinking oil at the first oil change its getting ripped out and sold .

[fatbikephil]

Odd - you'd have thought when you dropped the oil the water would come out with it. A mate who has one has said he does get emulsified oil out of it if its been in for a while and will then flush it with thin oil....
Neither a fan nor not a fan but I've heard lots of stories of them going for many miles without issues.......
Dunno. For every load of good ones there is the odd bad one.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Do they have a breather of some sort? Could water contamination be condensation if a breather were blocked (assuming there is one).

[ScotRoutes]

For every load of good ones there is the odd bad one.

This. I've heard of (and seen) some stoaters but; Survivor Syndrome.

[ripio]

Do they have a breather of some sort? Could water contamination be condensation if a breather were blocked (assuming there is one).

Rohloffs breathe through the axle I believe.

[BigdummySteve]

They do indeed, rohloff warn against greasing the axel in case it blocks the breather.

I’m another who ran a speed hub for many years in all weathers without problems,
As for the smell the rohloff oil does whiff a bit even when new. The hub should be fine with a little water inside as long as it’s used regularly. When I had mine I bought a couple of the big bottles of flushing and running oil, the little bottles are silly expensive. I’d change the oil every 1000 miles and also if I’d submerged it to any great degree, but this is over kill.

The other thing to remember about speedhubs is that they breathe, take a cold hub into a hot room and they can weep a little oil as the air pressure increases inside.

I don’t regard any bike bearing as fully waterproof, I’ll pull the crank if it’s been underwater and perhaps remove wheel axles and pop the hoops somewhere warm. I’d say the speedhub is one of the most reliable bike components made, plenty of examples going 100k + without any issues. Ride it often, change the oil if you think you might have water in it AND are going to lay it up for a while and I’m sure yours will as well.

Motor bikes are the same, you can leave it outside every day, ride it in all weathers but if you park it in a garage and leave it festering for a few months you’re asking for trouble, expensive on a V4

[ledburner]

I'm sorry for your disappointment. Thank guys for storage advice. I will be wary where it is store.
Ihave to bought rohloff spares from John St cycles. All dealings with the hub were with Ison distribution, via the local bike shop.
it was renovated after 15yr, new lighter internal shift spring in germany as it was idleing in neutral, after oil change. Also, converted to disk end caps & ext box in uk. , free carriage to Germany back+ free manual on return, don't ask parcel forces charge to Ison distrution, UK. Paid just UK workshop time *+ UK fitted part, (end cap d shift box) I can't fault Ison . they had no record of hub but honored it when I told em it was purchased & registered in 1999.