Pitlock in Rohloff coming loose

[jamesbradbury]

I've got a problem with a pitlock skewer in our Thorn tandem Rohloff hub (vertical dropout) coming loose on a ride. The front one seems fine.

I'm not sure how tight I need to do it up as my torque wrench only has fittings for allen key bolts. I usually stick a 3-inch allen key through the hole and do it until it "clicks" a couple of times. I'm slightly wary of doing it up tighter as there was a warning on the packaging about overdoing it with a Rohloff hub.

TBH if I can't rely on it I may simply switch back to the old quick release as it doesn't seem safe for it to be loose and it's scrubbing the paint off the dropout.

[CREPELLO]

If it's been retightened many times, Pitlock advise replacing the teflon and serrated washers. These can be bought as spares from SJS.

[DaveP]

And they would probably be the people to advise on the care of Rohloff hubs in tandems!

[jamesbradbury]

Thanks, I've ordered some of those. I don't remember it ever having teflon washers, so perhaps these were lost early on.

[Brucey]

if the axle is a loose fit in the dropout and/or the axle 'no-turn' provisions aren't quite right then the wheel may move around/loosen in service, almost regardless of the method used to tighten it. Pitlocks have their own characteristics which may make that more likely but these may not be the sole cause.

cheers