Alaskan
Well-Known Member
My 2019 Homage Rohloff HS, delivered in March, developed an annoying creaking noise shortly after its arrival. This noise occurred with every crank of the pedals and every dip while riding over flaws in the road. It was loud, embarassing and very annoying. I contacted L.A. Fly Rides, the R&M dealer where I bought the bike.
The first fix attempted was to change out the isolation films at the mounting/connection points on the motor. This was done at a local shop with Fly Rides providing the parts and reimbursing the charges. This id not fix the problem.
Then the local shop was authorized to dismantle the bike piece by piece to track down the source of the noise. First the front fork/shock was removed....noise still there, Then the motor was removed...still the noise. Then the rear shock removed...still noisy. Finally the rear swing arm was removed...noise gone.
At that point fly rides contacted Rise & Muller. After about two weeks we heard back that this is a known issue with 2019 Homage bikes. The fix R&M came up with involved use of a specially fabricated press tool. Riese & Muller has sent two of these tools to the USA one for the eastern US, the other for the west. They are shipped around between dealers on a first come first served basis.
Fly rides authorized my LBS to pack and ship the bike to them, did the repair and shipped it back to the LBS for reassembly...all at no cost to me. The bike is now perfectly silent. The bike is now the near perfection I was hoping for.
Here is the explanation given me for the issue and fix:
"The vertical suspension mounts and the downtube were initially welded too close to each other that when pedaling, the frame (downtube) flexed enough to rub against the mounts. This created a squeaking sound. We used a proprietary tool to "pinch" the suspension mounts inward without affecting the width of the mount at the shock/suspension. It cleared enough room away from the downtube that they no longer rub."
It is my understanding that recent delays in Homage delivery are the result of Rise & Muller re-engineering the Swing arm/Frame joint to eliminate this issue going forward.
The first fix attempted was to change out the isolation films at the mounting/connection points on the motor. This was done at a local shop with Fly Rides providing the parts and reimbursing the charges. This id not fix the problem.
Then the local shop was authorized to dismantle the bike piece by piece to track down the source of the noise. First the front fork/shock was removed....noise still there, Then the motor was removed...still the noise. Then the rear shock removed...still noisy. Finally the rear swing arm was removed...noise gone.
At that point fly rides contacted Rise & Muller. After about two weeks we heard back that this is a known issue with 2019 Homage bikes. The fix R&M came up with involved use of a specially fabricated press tool. Riese & Muller has sent two of these tools to the USA one for the eastern US, the other for the west. They are shipped around between dealers on a first come first served basis.
Fly rides authorized my LBS to pack and ship the bike to them, did the repair and shipped it back to the LBS for reassembly...all at no cost to me. The bike is now perfectly silent. The bike is now the near perfection I was hoping for.
Here is the explanation given me for the issue and fix:
"The vertical suspension mounts and the downtube were initially welded too close to each other that when pedaling, the frame (downtube) flexed enough to rub against the mounts. This created a squeaking sound. We used a proprietary tool to "pinch" the suspension mounts inward without affecting the width of the mount at the shock/suspension. It cleared enough room away from the downtube that they no longer rub."
It is my understanding that recent delays in Homage delivery are the result of Rise & Muller re-engineering the Swing arm/Frame joint to eliminate this issue going forward.
