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whats all this? Rohloff fraud?

stubby

Turbo Monkey
Mar 5, 2005
1,473
0
Davidson, NC AKA DURTY THIRTY
hey, im too lazy to search, but whats all this about?


We regret to inform all our dealers and customers that Rohloff has almost forced us out of business. Rohloff USA and Barbara Rohloff have committed at least 5 cases of unwarranted fraud, wire fraud, misrepresentations and have refused to pay the bills the Rohloff Company caused us to incur. We will no longer be bringing in new Rohloff products. All existing parts stock on hand will be made available to prior customers only.

We will be happy to help our existing customers with replacement parts we have on hand but will no longer be offering new sales or ordering new hubs from Rohloff.

Extreme Sports Group Inc. has tried their best to negotiate a solution to the sudden and unnanounced withdrawal of suppport from Rohloff, as they have left a lot of customers and sponsored riders without adequate support. We even had the Canadian Consulate in Munich try to have the Rohloffs negotiate a workable solution but they refused to discuss the matters. We have reports from distributors worldwide that they too are experiencing problems and are experiencing unreliable communication. Extensive discussions on the telephone with Barbara Rohloff herself as well as Thomas Siemann of Rohloff USA led to only more broken promises and additional fraud. We invested a tremendous amount of time and money assisting the Rohloff Company, including setting up a machine shop only to be bilked out of thousands of dollars of expenses.

If you must get replacement parts, we caution you against prepaying for them. The Rohloff supplier/ service center in the US has not returned many customer's products and it can take 3-4 weeks or more just to get an answer from them - if at all.

We are very sorry that the product and the company have not stood up to support bicycle riding here in Canada and most importantly their customers.

Should you have problems dealing with the Rohloff company, please contact us in writing.

Speedhub Complaints
276 B. East Esplanade Ave.
North Vancouver, BC V7L 1A3


We thank all the customers and bike shops that we have had the pleasure of dealing with over the past several years and wish them all the best.

ESGI
 
J

J5ive

Guest
I heard the same thing over here a few months ago, except they were saved with a big order from the german police force. Must have just got their head above water long enough to take a breath.
 

Slugman

Frankenbike
Apr 29, 2004
4,024
0
Miami, FL
Zutroy said:
Aren't these the same guys making there own hub now?
YUP... I asked them about it, and they are talking some serious sh*t. There was another thread (spam) about it a week or two ago.

I'd love to know what is really going on... I think they could be facing some serious slander lawsuits based on the stuff they are saying.

Just based on the way they are talking... I'd never trust the company.
 

Fulton

Monkey
Nov 9, 2001
825
0
Slugman said:
... I think they could be facing some serious slander lawsuits based on the stuff they are saying.

Just based on teh way they are talking....
I could be way off here, but it mght be hard for a german company to sue a canadian company...
 

blt2ride

Turbo Monkey
May 25, 2005
2,333
0
Chatsworth
Slugman said:
YUP... I asked them aboutit, and they are talking some serious sh*t. There was another thread (spam) about it a week or two ago.

I'd love to know what is really going on... I think they could be facing some serious slander lawsuits based on the stuff they are saying.

Just based on teh way they are talking... I'd never trust the company.
It would be interesting to hear the "behind the scenes story." I wonder if this is just a business deal gone bad, or if there was actaully some malicious intent on Rohloff's part. This company's allegations are very serious.

I hope that people won't rush to judgment; since this is only one side of the story...
 

Slugman

Frankenbike
Apr 29, 2004
4,024
0
Miami, FL
blt2ride said:
It would be interesting to hear the "behind the scenes story." I wonder if this is just a business deal gone bad, or if there was actaully some malicious intent on Rohloff's part. This company's allegations are very serious.
This is the email I recevied...

Hello,

It is most upsetting to us what they in fact did. RohloffUSA and perhaps
even Barbara Rohloff are facing 5 or more counts of criminal fraud in
relation to several cases of fraud committed before Interbike, at Interbike
and after Interbike last year.

They lured us down there with the promise of picking up our delivery and
being paid for the expenses of the trip. When the show was over, the guy
from RohloffUSA split his head open in a freak accident and I was the only
one around to offer him care. I summoned help, then went and finished
loading his truck and took it to his hotel, where I then had to go back with
my truck to load it. Our departure that eve. was delayed over 4 hours and
not only did he refuse to pay our expenses, he did not bring me product for
my shipment that was over 3 months overdue.

So, after all the hard work and over $50,000 I invested of my own money,
they basically told us to piss off over what to them should be a small
amount of money - around $10k. One can only assume they are having money
problems to blow us off over such a small amount of money.

As for their hubs, we have had many reports of the hubcap bolts coming off
while riding and basically the hub falls apart and spews oil everywhere -
including the brakes. This even happened to a big sponsored rider. Also, it
appears the rear cogs cannot be removed after some use.

So, that's about it. I wish I had better things to say about them. I hope
your hub is doing well.

If you ever feel like checking out a new system that we are involved with,
visit freeridehubs.com.
 

Zutroy

Turbo Monkey
Dec 9, 2004
2,443
0
Ventura,CA
This is on the front page of the website....if you thought it was that serious of a problem why would you write the UCI? Wouldn't you go to the CPSC in the US or the can, or Euro version to get a recall?





Important news:
We no longer support Rohloff USA and Rohloff Germany as they have seriously defrauded our company and design problems with their hubs have become apparent.

IMPORTANT PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT...
It has come to our attention in recent months that several serious problems have arisen with Rohloff Speedhubs (14 speed internal gearhubs). One problem in particular could be very dangerous to the rider and cause significant injury.

The problems riders have notified us of are:

1. The 8 hub cap torx bolts magically come undone on their own allowing bolts to be lost and gear oil to be sprayed everywhere - including on the brakes. This either seems to stem from faulty design or improper torque settings during manufacture. We suggest you contact your national cycling association and get them to encourage Rohloff to do a recall. Contact the International Cycling body at:

UCI
Union Cycliste Internationale
CH 1860 Aigle
Switzerland
Tel:+41 24 468 58 11
Fax:+41 24 468 58 12
E-mail: admin@uci.ch

2. Many riders have found it impossible to remove a worn out cog without either breaking their chain whips or breaking away the 4 aluminum tabs that the special Rohloff cog tool is supposed to lock onto. We suggest you send the hub into a Rohloff service centre to get them to undo it.

3. From time to time, riders have experienced a complete "freewheeling affect" while under power. This can only be explained as a very dangerous occurrence where the gears must momentarily disengage.

4. We have had many complaints of hubs being very "stiff" even when freewheeling. This has been explained as one of the axle bearings gets unseated in a fall or mishap and creates drag. There is a relatively simple fix to this which can be done with a mallet. Simply take the mallet and give the end of the axle a moderate tap. If that does not work, tap the other side of the axle.

As with any cycling activity, always be sure your equipment is well maintained and in top working condition.
 

DHS

Friendly Neighborhood Pool Boy
Apr 23, 2002
5,094
0
Sand, CA
and this is by far one of the crappiest websites i've been too and will never want what they are selling. too heavy mostly
freeridehubs.com
 

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,647
1,116
NORCAL is the hizzle
Not smart to handle it this way, regardless of what really happened. It's manufacturing and supply, things go wrong. A little discretion is needed to build trust. I sure wouldn't want to deal with loose cannons like these on an OE basis.
 

banj

Monkey
Apr 3, 2002
379
0
Ottawa, Ontario
I'd have no problem with them complaining about getting ripped off if they didn't air every little complaint that their customers have had with the hubs. Definitely makes the whole thing look like slander...especially considering there selling (making?) another geared hub.
 

Biscuit

Turbo Monkey
Feb 12, 2003
1,768
1
Pleasant Hill, CA
There are so many irrelevant details and assumptions thrown around in this I can't believe a word of it. Notice the use of the phrases: "We've heard", "magical", and "over what to them should be a small amount of money".

This reminds me of 13 year old girls spewing nonsense on cell phones about each other, behind each others backs.

I call BS.
 

næstep

Monkey
Mar 8, 2003
110
0
SF Bay Area, California
I have one source who claims that the distributor he works for received a nasty-gram from Dave Flather (Freeride hubs) threatening to sue if they sold any Speedhubs into Canada, and others received the same.

Then supposedly he made a proposal to take over the whole North American distributorship, claiming some dirty deeds by Rohloff USA aginst the parent company. If they story I heard is correct, then that's when Rohloff cut the strings and let him go.

Rohloff Germany said they have "a few" hubs with undertorqued hub cap bolts in the transition to their move to their brand new assembly facility, but that they quickly caught and corrected the problem. I wonder how wide spread the problem was if nobody else is mentioning it?!?
 

skatetokil

Turbo Monkey
Jan 2, 2005
2,383
-1
DC/Bluemont VA
this whole thing is too bizarre. very unprofessional. these sorts of antics give the whole industry a bad name. i'm personally going to stay the heck away from Rohloff and freeride hubs.
 

Fulton

Monkey
Nov 9, 2001
825
0
if rohloff is possibly having finacial issues, what does this mean for the g-boxx? Years of development, and then the company the makes the heart of the tranny goes under...?
 

wydopen

Turbo Monkey
Jan 16, 2005
1,229
60
805
i was looking on mototalk the other day and one of the threads was What Sport is More Unprofessional than Motocross???...i just smiled and thought how much i love my mtb...
 

næstep

Monkey
Mar 8, 2003
110
0
SF Bay Area, California
I don't think Rohloff is in any danger of disappearing. They're in their new facility, they've hit serial number 50,000 this year, indicating their production numbers are steadily increasing. Rohloff USA continues to sell through their inventory soon after delivery. Rohloff AG is on the verge of introducing "Speedhub Lite", with an estimated 1lb. weight savings. I continue to see more and more Speedhubs on the trails and on new bikes here on the forums -- still relatively rare, yet much more common than just a couple of years ago.
 

blt2ride

Turbo Monkey
May 25, 2005
2,333
0
Chatsworth
It seems that this is just a business relationship that didn't work out--it happens every day. What I don't understand is why this company felt the need to do everything in their power to destroy Rholoff's reputation?

My take, if Rohloff really broke the law, this company would pursue this from a different angle. Which would not be the very unprofessional act of name calling.
 

xy9ine

Turbo Monkey
Mar 22, 2004
2,940
353
vancouver eastside
næstep said:
Rohloff AG is on the verge of introducing "Speedhub Lite", with an estimated 1lb. weight savings.
i heard this somewhere else as well. any more details? sounds cool. i wonder what it would take to remove the reduction gearing stuff from the standard hub - turning it into a 7spd - and what the weight savings would be... that would be a pricey experiment.
 

næstep

Monkey
Mar 8, 2003
110
0
SF Bay Area, California
I haven't heard much. Supposedly same gear range as the standard hub, with a 200 pound rider weight limit (which already makes it a no-go for me), and with a higher price tag.

I understand Bicycle Retailer has some info coming up, but I don't subscribe -- hopefully somebody will post what they have to offer.