# Cheapest place to buy a Rohloff Speedhub online



## justilew (Aug 6, 2004)

I have been looking around the net for a good price on a Speedhub. Ebay usually has them very cheap but almost always are used. I am more interested in a new Speedhub. Universal Cycles has one fore $1,300 (http://www.universalcycles.com/shopping/product_details.php?id=10657&category=2713) and I also found one on Starbike in Europe for $1,092 (http://www.starbike.com/php/product_info.php?lang=en&pid=5208) at todays exchange rate. Although, I am not sure if duties have to be paid which may equal the two prices out. Anyway if you have any suggestions or ways to find a new Speedhub on the cheap, please post.


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## s1ned (Sep 8, 2009)

starbike can lower invoice price. But there are very low custom taxes in US. You can buy it from there. 

I found a good deal on ebay.de


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## Speedub.Nate (Dec 31, 2003)

I imported my first Speedhub from New Zealand. Customs overcharged me the import duty by nearly double, adding around $150 to the "bail" to get it from the post office. And that was for the hub at around $650. I evenutally got my Customs overcharge refunded, but just be aware of extra charge.

Also, Rohloff USA tracked serial numbers and knew what hubs were originally sold in the US vs. other countries. The way Thomas explained it at the time, he was on the hook for any warranty repair costs, and had been seeing a flood of imported damaged hubs being sold by Storck cycles (apparently a load of bikes went overboard into the English Channel and had salt water damage -- they were showing up on eBay regularly). In any case, Thomas said he had the right to deny domestic warranty coverage, which would force the owner to send the hub back to German for any service. I don't know if he ever followed through with this threat, I don't know if Cycle Monkey (the current US service provider now that Rohloff USA is defunct) has the same practice. I do know that the hubs rarely need to go in for service, so it's not a high stakes gamble to buy overseas.


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## s1ned (Sep 8, 2009)

Speedub.Nate said:


> I imported my first Speedhub from New Zealand. Customs overcharged me the import duty by nearly double, adding around $150 to the "bail" to get it from the post office. And that was for the hub at around $650. I evenutally got my Customs overcharge refunded, but just be aware of extra charge.


once I've had to pay $30 custom taxes for $1500 guitar shipped to US from Canada.


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## Speedub.Nate (Dec 31, 2003)

s1ned said:


> once I've had to pay $30 custom taxes for $1500 guitar shipped to US from Canada.


It's ridiculous -- type "bicycle" into the search box at the following URL: http://hts.usitc.gov/

There are differing import rates assigned to complete bikes, frame tubing, big wheels, small wheels, spokes, rim strips, 3-speed hubs, brake parts, blah blah blah. Oh, and country of origin, too.

US Customs took the easy way out and charged my Speedhub, sprocket, chainring and another part the highest bicycle-related rate they could find. I had to pay the full amount, then write a letter explaining what each component was and what category I thought it fell in to, in my request for a refund.


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## justilew (Aug 6, 2004)

I am getting the hub shipped to Canada, I just looked at the tariff schedule and it looks like if the hub is not build into a wheel yet then there is no tariff applied. I assume I would only then pay sales tax. This seems to be the cheapest to me so far.


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## themanmonkey (Nov 1, 2005)

justilew said:


> I am getting the hub shipped to Canada, I just looked at the tariff schedule and it looks like if the hub is not build into a wheel yet then there is no tariff applied. I assume I would only then pay sales tax. This seems to be the cheapest to me so far.


You will pay a duty + GST + PST on any bike part import into Canada. Depending on the shipper the duty can be as low as about $45. If you can get the part to ship from England it's cheaper I believe. I worked in a shop up there for 3 years and had to deal with this stuff all the time.


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## danger gadget (Mar 31, 2008)

I bought mine on eBay from Australia in 2005 for £340 - UK customs didn't charge me anything for some reason - it may have been officially 2nd hand but it hadn't been used. One thing to bear in mind is that a lightly used (2000km or so) hub is the best of all - it's started to quiet down and you shouldn't have to pay customs duties on it. I find the only "wear" that's an issue is abuse to the shifter and its box and I've done over 20,000km on it now with a mix of commuting (on salted roads), touring and downhilling. The hub itself just keeps on getting better - quieter, smoother (now on it's 3rd rim and 3rd frame, 2nd cog).


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## alaskadude (Nov 9, 2013)

danger gadget said:


> I bought mine on eBay from Australia in 2005 for £340 - UK customs didn't charge me anything for some reason - it may have been officially 2nd hand but it hadn't been used. One thing to bear in mind is that a lightly used (2000km or so) hub is the best of all - it's started to quiet down and you shouldn't have to pay customs duties on it. I find the only "wear" that's an issue is abuse to the shifter and its box and I've done over 20,000km on it now with a mix of commuting (on salted roads), touring and downhilling. The hub itself just keeps on getting better - quieter, smoother (now on it's 3rd rim and 3rd frame, 2nd cog).


this is what I was looking for on here. I am seeing a lot of Rohloff on ebay, second hand. they are usually sold in the $700 usd range. of course, you can not tell what has happened to it, but there are many that look like they were bought, rode around a while, and then are being sold. Has anyone purchased rohloff on ebay? What should I look for? Questions I might ask the seller. I ve bought hundreds of things on ebay and have done OK so far. Im thinking of going this route. I usually give myself a long time period to research and get a good deal on the product I buy on ebay, like several months.I would only buy from the USA and so the customs duty is not an issue


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## fokof (Apr 24, 2006)

There was one guy who was around here a couple of years ago , he was Bit**ing Rolloff and saying how unreliable it is , not warrantied by Rohloff etc.

We learned later that he bought used from Ebay .....

I'd say it's the same thing as a frame : If you buy your frame used , don't expect the lifetime warranty if it breaks.

I bought my 3 hubs new , got my fist one 12/13 years ago , still going strong.

You can be lucky :???:


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## cyclingdutchman (Mar 18, 2015)

Could be me but I am that long here ;-) I wouldnt blaim rohloff for not warrantying a hub that was not purchased new.But I do complain that the flanges are too weak. Issues with broken flanges are repetitive an known over time. If you suffer it you have a big chance that the bike will have a longer downtime. When you dont have warranty its getting expensive too. So when you want a rohloff you better buy a new one so you have warranty. Rohloff always sais that the first owner has warranty and a lot of goodwill after that. I also would recommend.to have ALL service/work on the hub done by an lbs to make sure nobody can blame you for not taking into account the requirements to lacing, spoke tension and even which spokes to use. I can not recall any other manufacturer having so many issues with that.


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## Velobike (Jun 23, 2007)

cyclingdutchman said:


> ...So when you want a rohloff you better buy a new one so you have warranty. Rohloff always sais that the first owner has warranty and a lot of goodwill after that. I also would recommend.to have ALL service/work on the hub done by an lbs to make sure nobody can blame you for not taking into account the requirements to lacing, spoke tension and even which spokes to use. I can not recall any other manufacturer having so many issues with that.


My observation is that people who have Rohloffs often do huge mileages and with the bikes heavily laden.

I'm surprised there's not more breakages.

I will add I would prefer to have a 36 hole hub which lessens the individual load on any particular part of the hub or rim.


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## fokof (Apr 24, 2006)

cyclingdutchman said:


> I can not recall any other manufacturer having so many issues with that.


You had multiple issues with different hubs ?

You're the first I read about that problem , here anyways.

I've re-laced my oldest hub at least 5-6 times , never had any issues ......


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