Hubs

Neil Smith said:

Dear All,
There was a time when I would annually take apart my 3 main bearings,
re-grease them and replace the bearings. That I used a cottered bottom
bracket and had cones and cups in the wheels hubs will give you an
idea of how long ago it was.

A lot of hubs (including all Shimano's) still use the cup & cone design.
Yes they need occasional maintenance, but they run with less drag than
cartridge ones, and last for ever if they're looked after well. It's not
easy/possible to replace the bearings with some of the cartridge ones.

Quoted message said:

Given the variety of modern designs, which hubs will give you the best
balance between durability, minimum maintenance and a smooth ride. I
am thinking about road biking here.
Any thoughts

I like Campag hubs, though there will be issues with cassette or indexing
compatibility if you don't have a Campag system. Chorus, Record (and older
Centaur/Daytona) models have cups and cones (particularly easy to service
with these models), with pretty good seals, and are very light as well.

Otherwise, I'd expect all modern Shimano hubs to be good - both road and
MTB. Certainly the (relatively cheap) Deore ones in my brother's mountain
bike are working and lasting well. [I've recently come back from riding
this bike in Maple Ridge and Vancouver, Canada! - where my brother & sil
have bugg... er...emigrated to].

~PB

in message <[email hidden]>, Pete Biggs

(') said:

Neil Smith said:

Dear All,
There was a time when I would annually take apart my 3 main bearings,
re-grease them and replace the bearings. That I used a cottered bottom
bracket and had cones and cups in the wheels hubs will give you an
idea of how long ago it was.

A lot of hubs (including all Shimano's) still use the cup & cone design.
Yes they need occasional maintenance, but they run with less drag than
cartridge ones, and last for ever if they're looked after well. It's not
easy/possible to replace the bearings with some of the cartridge ones.

Quoted message said:

Given the variety of modern designs, which hubs will give you the best
balance between durability, minimum maintenance and a smooth ride. I
am thinking about road biking here.
Any thoughts

I like Campag hubs, though there will be issues with cassette or indexing
compatibility if you don't have a Campag system. Chorus, Record (and
older Centaur/Daytona) models have cups and cones (particularly easy to
service with these models), with pretty good seals, and are very light as
well.

Agree.

IME, cartridge bearing hubs, even expensive ones, have nothing like the
lifespan - at least, the hubs are OK but you have to replace the bearings
fairly regularly. The good Campag hubs are expensive, but... you're worth
it.

Having said that, I love the hubs on my Ksyrium ESs, which have adjustable
sealed bearings and run exceedingly sweetly.

I have friends who swear by DT Swiss hubs, but haven't used them myself.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
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