Cables with internal actuation

Internal actuation is now available only as a spare part, but many older SPEEDHUBs have it. The cables run from the shifter to a cable stop, where two bayonet connectors join them to the cable built into the hub — one movement separates them to remove the wheel. It cannot be combined with a disc brake, as the bayonets would foul the disc.

Where the cable stop goes

• On the brake boss: the 13° cable stop replaces the left brake’s fixing bolt (with the supplied M6×25 bolt, a little grease, 4 mm Allen, 6 Nm, held with a 13 mm spanner). Everything else of the brake stays on the boss. The spacer is only needed if the boss thread is too short or the stop would foul parts of the brake.
• On the chainstay: the 0° (straight) cable stop (Art. no. 8260) is clamped to the chainstay so the cables leave the hub as straight as possible.

Caution

There must be at least 240 mm between the hub centre and the cable stop.

The 1 cable sits at the front at both the shifter and the hub, the 14 cable at the back (with chainstay routing, at the hub the 1 cable is at the bottom, the 14 at the top).

Connecting the cables

1. Screw the two adjusters into the stop with a little grease, and turn the stop (13 mm) so the adjusters face the hub’s cable guides. The adjusters should be about two turns out.
2. Run the 1 cable into the front adjuster, the 14 into the rear one.
3. Shift the gearbox to gear 14: pull the rear, 14 hub cable by its bayonet tip through every click to the stop.
4. Pull both cables alternately to the stop and check that the housings sit fully in the stops. Pulling the 14 cable should turn the grip towards 1, pulling the 1 cable towards 14 — if not, swap the cables at the stop.
5. Pull the 1 cable to the stop (the 14 retracts and the grip turns past 14), then the 14 cable until the grip’s “14” faces the housing mark.
6. Hold the 14 cable beside the fully extended 14 bayonet tip and cut it exactly at the end of the tip. The Rohloff cutting gauge (Art. no. 8506) makes this foolproof.
7. Back the bayonet connector’s two clamp screws out about 2 mm, put the connector on the tip, and push the cable through the spring’s hole to the stop (10 mm deep). Tighten one screw until its head is flush with the connector, then the other (M4×4, 2 mm, 1.5 Nm) — that centres the wire.
8. Pull the 1 hub cable to the stop, tension the 1 cable and cut it the same way at the end of the 1 bayonet tip. Open the 14 bayonet, connect the 1, then close the 14 again.
9. Shift back and forth a few times to settle the cables, and set the tension so the grip has about 2 mm of free play. Check that all 14 gears work (13 clicks).

Replacing the hub cable

Properly fitted, the 0.9 mm Rohloff special cable lasts about 8,000–10,000 km. If it breaks sooner, find the cause: a kinked run from a wrong axle plate or cable stop position (Axle plate position), a loose torque support that let the axle turn, or a fall.

How you replace it depends on the axle ring:

• Quick-change axle ring — the axle plate is held by five screws, and the cable guides sit in black plastic cylinders. The axle ring stays on the axle. A quick fix is the Schaltseil-Easy-Set (Art. no. 8573): a pre-assembled cable with bayonets and bellows.
• One-piece axle ring (up to serial number 25,300, early 2003) — the axle plate is held by six screws, and the cable guides are pressed in. See Cable replacement with a one-piece axle ring.

With a quick-change axle ring

1. Remove the wheel, cut the four cable ties at the ends of the bellows, unscrew the bayonets (2 mm) and pull off the bellows.
2. Note the axle plate position and take it off (five M4×25, TX20).
3. Lay the wheel axle-ring-side up and, moving gently, pull out the cable guides with the plastic cylinders and the cable drum. Do not tilt the wheel towards the axle ring: oil can run out.
4. Holding the aluminium nut (sprocket side) with a 17 mm spanner, turn the shift shaft anticlockwise to the stop with an 8 mm spanner — that is gear 14.
5. Remove the old cable, clean the drum and remove any burrs. Thread the new cable from the inside of the hex through the lower hole to about halfway, the other end through the upper hole — both ends the same length — and pull it tight into the groove.
6. The drum’s orientation matters: the back has a step in the inner hex, the front does not. With the drum on an 8 mm Allen key, bend the wires into the groove: wind the front one about 2¼ turns, the rear one half a turn; the groove points to 10 o’clock.
7. Align the groove with the Torx screw, push the drum onto the shift shaft’s hex and lay both cable ends in the axle ring’s cut-outs. Thread on the cable guides, plastic cylinder first, and press the cylinders in short, flat side first.
8. Put a little grease between axle ring and drum, refit the axle plate in its noted position and tighten the five screws crosswise (TX20, 3 Nm).
9. With the rear cable fully out, measure 165 mm from the top edge of the rear cable guide and cut it with sharp side cutters. Carefully slide on the new bellows, fit the bayonet tip pushed fully home (2 mm, 1.5 Nm). Pull the front cable through 13 clicks to the stop (gear 1) and cut and fit it the same way. The 165 mm brass tube (Art. no. 8711) makes it easier.
10. Fix the bellows with cable ties in the grooves of the cable guides and bayonet tips.