Inherited Rohloff Very loud

[Brucey]

Seems a bit of a waste to not be able to pick up on speed on a downhill to make the next up less work.

In rolling terrain it can be a useful thing to be able to pedal when you are going fast downhill; it is great fun too. But the Rohloff gear is arguably best set for use with a loaded bike, and there are only so many gears in there. This link shows a graphical representation of your gear ratios (assuming a 26" wheel with a ~47mm width tyre on it)

http://www.gear-calculator.com/?GR=RLSH&KB=41&RZ=16&UF=2050&TF=90&SL=2.6&UN=MPH

this shows gear inches (equivalent wheel diameter if the pedals were directly attached) and the speeds in gears are in mph, assuming that you pedal at 90rpm (which you probably don't). A sub 20" gear is what you will probably need if you have a load on and you are tackling a long climb with (say) a 10% gradient. The (efficient) direct drive 11th gear of about 66" is a good gear for cruising on all day. The higher gears are for downhills and tailwinds. Going more than about 30mph on a well loaded bike is something that many tourists try to avoid; loaded bikes can get out of shape very quickly. Brief excursions to ~110rpm will see you doing 30mph or so and this is probably fast enough. Because of the way air resistance varies with speed, you are usually better off saving your efforts for when you are going more slowly, over the course of a full day's riding.

If you only use the bike with no load on, a higher gearset might have some attraction but with a load on, most folk would aim to get more use from the low gears than any higher ones. A simple way in raising the gear ratios is to use a larger chainring.

BTW I don't see your most recent photos; I just get a thing that says that someone needs to upgrade their photobucket account. Since I don't have (and don't want) a photobucket account I assume this isn't meant for me....

cheers

[PH]

FWIW 41/16 is the kind of gear experienced cyclists will ride all day. if you don't cycle that much, you probably have a lower cadence, and thus favour higher gears at present, especially on short runs. That may change as time goes on.

Speak for yourself!

I could ride all day at 68" so long as the roads were flat. Mind you, if the roads were flat and the wind light, I'd rather be up nearer 90" .................... more like 52/16.

On a Rohloff?
With a 700c wheel that's probably a top gear over 100"

[PH]

BTW I don't see your most recent photos; I just get a thing that says that someone needs to upgrade their photobucket account. Since I don't have (and don't want) a photobucket account I assume this isn't meant for me....
cheers

Off topic:
Get used to it - it's the user rather than the viewer who has been told they need to update their account before they can share photos.
https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/4/15919 ... aid-update

[LollyKat]

According to Sheldon Brown's calculator a Rohloff with 41/16 and a 26" wheel gives gears of 18.6" to 97.7".

[Gearoidmuar]

If the chainwheel with an even number of teeth has been used with a sprocket with an even number and the sprocket has been changed in position so the matching teeth no longer match, this can be very noisy. I've experience of this. If both have an even number of teeth, shift the chain on one of them by one tooth and see.

[InSearchofSunrise]

The photobucket thing is pretty lame. Maybe Dropbox will work?





Maybe my conversion from the road bike gears was off, I usually ride it at 53/11 on anything flat

Any thoughts on the issue with the Pitlock axle nuts? Can't get a chain tug in there because they take up so much thread.

Any good options for security nuts? Atomic22 is the only other one I've heard of.

[InSearchofSunrise]

Think they work if you open it in a new tab. That is a pain.

Trying to change that sprocket a bit of oil leaked out, and looked pretty dirty for only being in there two weeks, and only riding one of those. Makes me think Bikefix did a bit of a [inappropriate word removed] job of doing the oil change. Think it lost enough that I should just do it again, but I'm going to talk to SJS and see if they can have a look at it before I head back to Canada, and things get really difficult to get service done.

[PH]

Think they work if you open it in a new tab. That is a pain.

Trying to change that sprocket a bit of oil leaked out, and looked pretty dirty for only being in there two weeks, and only riding one of those. Makes me think Bikefix did a bit of a <i>[inappropriate word removed]</i> job of doing the oil change. Think it lost enough that I should just do it again, but I'm going to talk to SJS and see if they can have a look at it before I head back to Canada, and things get really difficult to get service done.

The oil always looks dirty and a bit often leaks out, it won't have lost enough to need doing again.
Have you run it on a different chain/sprocket/chainring? Until you have it isn't possible to isolate where the problem lies.

[InSearchofSunrise]

Need a tool that I don't have to change the sprocket, going to borrow it from work today. Hopefully get it sorted tonight.
Teeth on the old sprocket do look a lot smaller than the new one. No idea how to tell if it's been flipped before so I figured I'll just change it, then I know.

Hard to really say how much came out, tablespoon or so? Took off the wrong bit and exposed the seal, I guess.
Doesn't seem like there is very much in the thing to start with.

[PH]

Hard to really say how much came out, tablespoon or so? Took off the wrong bit and exposed the seal, I guess.
Doesn't seem like there is very much in the thing to start with.

There isn't - it's usual to replace with 25ml but only to ensure 15ml actually gets into the hub.
Rohloff say that the oil coating the moving parts is enough to last between service intervals even if you have a leak.

[Brucey]

Teeth on the old sprocket do look a lot smaller than the new one. No idea how to tell if it's been flipped before.....

Might be worth thinking of a new style sprocket carrier if you are in it for the long haul; this uses a splined sprocket fitting (at last!) which makes changing out the sprocket a lot easier;

Unfortunately Rohloff have chosen to use a proprietary splined fitting (with 13 splines)

which means you still need to buy special sprockets. I suspect that it is only a matter of time before a third party starts to make a carrier that will accept a more standard sprocket fitting, if the sizes work out...

You can compare the teeth on the new and old sprocket by lining up the driving flanks and then sighting through them to compare the profiles; this way you will soon see if the sprocket has been flipped before or not. This is a lot easier to do with flat sprockets that don't have a shoulder though. I've found some pictures that may help you;

The sprocket on the left here

has been used both ways round. This sprocket would definitely be noisy with a new chain. [a cheapskate like me might de-hook it an carry on though.... ]

The sprockets here have only been worn on one side, and if flipped, would almost certainly run quietly.... However it is too late for these; the teeth are just too thin and might fail at any moment (there is one tooth tip missing in the lower picture)



I thought the above would be the worst worn Rohloff sprocket picture I would find, but I was wrong...!!



hth

cheers

[InSearchofSunrise]

Wow, yea OK it isn't that bad. Does look a bit like the top example.
I thought about switching to splined, but didn't want to have to muck about with the chain line if I wasn't going to change the front sprocket, which I never did make a decision on. I've got the thing now, so I'm kind of committed to sticking with the threaded one for now.

[geocycle]

Wow, yea OK it isn't that bad. Does look a bit like the top example.
I thought about switching to splined, but didn't want to have to muck about with the chain line if I wasn't going to change the front sprocket, which I never did make a decision on. I've got the thing now, so I'm kind of committed to sticking with the threaded one for now.

There are two sizes of carrier now. When I changed I had to use the one larger one. It did change the chain line but not with any material effect. The narrower one would have been close to ideal. Overall, I'm pleased I switched as I just flip the sprocket on an annual basis and let it wear with the chain.

[InSearchofSunrise]

Oh well that does sound better doesn't it. Would likely be a good idea if I'm going to do a big tour like I've been thinking about.

[InSearchofSunrise]

Changed the sprocket and gave the chain a bit more slack and it seems to have quieted down.
Was thinking that the spinning while rolling was the axle tension being too high, but it does it even without nuts on. The frame is pretty tight, so that could be it, I suppose. Don't really want to manhandle the thing apart though. Was kind of hoping that the shop would have given me a tiny bit of clearance.
It's not really a huge issue though is it?

I've looked at about every sort of chain tug and spacer and none will fit. I think when I get to my dad's shop back home I'll just make up some wood spacers for where I want the wheel to stay and glue them in.