UKC

Wanting to replace the rear wheel on the missus' bike as the hub seems to be the stickiest slowest freewheeling thing in existence. Which means I'm looking for a good easy spinning hub. It's going to be used mostly for relatively gentle trail centre riding (reds) and some XC so it doesn't need to be a completely bombproof downhill job. I would go with Hope as I love the one on my bike but the missus can't stand the noise!

So, any recommendations?

In reply to chris j: Just buy a shimano hub. You should be able to get something like a Deore one relatively cheaply. Ball bearings and cones can be a bit of a pain in the arse but they're infinitely maintainable without any specialist tools and bearings are cheap. Other than that they're pretty much silent too which should alleviate the noise complaints.

In reply to Frank4short: Fair enough, nice and easy, cheers!

In reply to chris j: Out of interest what is the hub you currently have? Sounds like one to avoid!

Andy

In reply to chris j:

Chris King!! I love the noise they make

In reply to chris j:

Daft question but have you stripped down and cleaned/lubed the hub. Might just be all gunked up. Worth a try before replacing maybe ?

In reply to a crap climber: I suspect that might be out of the OP's budget otherwise I'd have said buy an I9 or Phil Woods hub.

In reply to chris j:

You can adjust the cup and cone bearings on shimano and other similar hubs so they spin ever so freely.

It probably helps reduce friction to grease the edge of the rubber seal on the left hand side of Shimano Deore hubs, and apparently it can help to keep water and gunk out too.

Tim

In reply to sandy:

It's a (presumably bottom of the range) Shimano branded one that came as standard on the missus' Specialized Safire Comp 4 years ago. Been slow and sticky since new which has always been a sore point as I freewheel merrily past her while she's still pedalling away.

I've been gradually upgrading bits on her bike while she's not looking and this is the next thing on the list now I've done tyres, pedals, chainset...

In reply to Timmd:

Can you? Hubs are about the only thing on a mtb I've not got into servicing myself, is it difficult?

In reply to chris j:

It's not difficult, you need a kind of grease which the ball bearings stick to so you don't have a nightmare putting the axle and cones back in, and also watch out for the bearings escaping to under the fridge.

You need to keep checking the adjustment when retightening the cones, by turning the axle to see how freely it turns, and if there is sideways play so it can move from side to side laterally, you want there to be no play and for it to spin freely and smoothly.

You can undo one locknut and cone and slide the axle out, and after counting the threads at the other end of the axle, remove the other nut and cone if you want to and grease the axle to stop them siezing, and after cleaning the bearing races and putting fresh grease into them and putting the same number of bearings back in, you slide in the axle and refit the nut and cone you took off to start with, and start gradually tightening the cone to see how it feels.

You have to hold the cone in position with a cone spanner and tighten the nut against it, and keep going backwards and forwards tightening and loosening them untill if feels right.

For best adjustment you can leave just a hair's bredth of play so that when the quick release is tightened up, it's removed and the bearings are able to turn as freely as possible, but that's not essential. It's something i've read about in magazines, but i'm not always sure whether i've just imagined adjusting a hub that finely or not. I think I have done, but sometimes find it difficult to tell.

It's simple really, have a go.

Cheers
Tim

In reply to chris j: Have a look here http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/hub-overhaul-and-adjustment

In reply to chris j: Superstar

In reply to Frank4short:Much handier than my description.

In reply to chris j: While Shimano Deore are a good option be aware that you need to maintain them by stripping them down, cleaning and regreasing regularly, not waiting til they start feeling rough. The bearing races get "pitted" easily after which the bearings won't run smoothly any more. Superstar Components are often mentioned as decent budget sealed bearing hubs.

In reply to Frank4short: Ta, I'll give it a go and see if it goes back together again...

In reply to Timmd: Well, it's all in bits and the bearings and freehub are strewn across the garage floor and I'm guessing the reason it's been sticky and slow since new is because it's been gunked up with the thickest heaviest grease I've seen. As I recall Specialized had covered the chain in the stuff as well when we bought the bike, that took several cleans to get it all off...

Tomorrow morning's job - clean it all up, regrease and put it all back together again. Suspect this might not be quite so straightforward!