DanO220

Anyone know of a mechanic in southern California who is willing and able to overhaul an internally geared hub? I've been riding a Sram Spectro S7 for a year now and it seems like the bearings are getting a bit loose. I tightened it up a bit by tightening the locknuts on the outside, but it loosens up again. I downloaded instructions for disassembly and rebuilding form the Sram web site, but it calls for a few special tools and I'm getting cold feet. I think I'd better seek professional help but most shops would rather see you walk in wearing a postal uniform and waving a gun. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks. DanO.

Retro Grouch 

I don't have very much internal hub experience and I have none at all on the hub you are talking about, but I do have this experience:

Whenever I've had any hub whose bearings wouldn't stay in adjustment, it has been because the axle threads right at the "sweet spot" were worn. A new axle is the cure. That's major surgery. As I see it, you have two choices: Continue to struggle with it the way that it is or tear into it with the understanding that, in the worst case, you may have to buy yourself a whole new rear hub/wheel. If it was my bike, I'd do the second. If I fubared it I'd just consider the cost of a new wheel as part of my tuition in the school of bicycle mechanics. You'll never get any smarter just by looking at that hub from the outside.