MZilliox

Hello,

I picked up an old 1984 specialized explorer and the ride seemed laggy. I tuned the bike up, and took the wheels off to clean things up and maybe switch out the rubber. when i put the wheels back on and began to pedal it was really sticky. i thought maybe some brake rub, but no, brakes were clear. I took the wheel off and took apart the hub area. the axle came out broken just before the cone. I think the quick release skewer was all that was keeping things in line and i think that is why the ride felt laggy, my rear wheel was not spinning freely.



I did some searches and most pointed to picking up a new axle at your local LBS for cheap. well, my local LBS stared at me blankly for a bit and told me I need to buy new wheels. dude grabs a generic $200 set off the wall and says "these are pretty cheap." I told him "hey, they look specially made for my old 7spd cassette here too."

I laughed inside a bit, said "thanks for your help", and walked out mumbling about how nobody takes pride in their job anymore and how an amateur like me learned more in 30 minutes on youtube...

So do i have options here or is a new wheelset really the answer? This Explorer has all original 1984 parts, I'm not about to drop money on a modern wheelset for it.

Seems threads i read say a bike shop can fix a broken axle no problem?

Thanks in advance for help and advice

Al Criner

Call some other bike shops. You can buy it online if necessary. Or you can get an old 7-speed wheel off of Craig's List and cannibalize it for parts.

dsbrantjr

+1 A shop which is more interested in customer service than picking your pocket should have no problem sourcing and installing a new axle for you. Just hang onto the cones, they are the more difficult parts to source, the axle is just a threaded tube.

FBinNY 

You have a 10x1 threaded axle, and it's the only broken part. The length you need is 11mm (or so) longer than the locknut (frame) width, and they're readilly available on line for something in the $10-15 on ebay or at various sites.

That and a few minutes work and you'll be rolling again.

My commuter uses a very similar design SunTour hub and has about 25,000 miles on it, during which I've replaces 2-3 axles. That's probably longer service between repairs that you'd get with a generic wheel.

BTW - if you're keeping this bike a while, and put on decent mileage, buy a pair of axles so you'll have a spare and minimum downtime if/when the next one breaks.

MZilliox

Thanks so much, great advice!

Andrew R Stewart 

I'll just add to Francis's good reply that this hub uses radial contact cartridge bearings that ride on a threaded sleeve. The threaded sleeves mean that a common axle (of the correct dimensional spec) will do. The threaded sleeves allow the bearing preload to be set to the whim of the installer. This whim should be to have the slightest bit of free endplay after all is done and the QR retightened, or the bearings will wear prematurely. Andy.

FBinNY 

Good luck with it.

BTW- I'm in the industry and have friends at a number of shops, and was floored what not one shop out of about 10 I phoned stocked axles anymore. It seems that actually fixing things is dead these days. I can understand that for some things where repairs are going to be expensive anyway. But a new $200 wheel vs. a $15.00 part and low straightforward labor to the tune of maybe $20.00 seems kind of ridiculous.

IMO- bike shops don't understand their role. They compete with internet vendors on replacements, but parts can't be fixed that way. So I'd expect that a smart dealer would try to showcase that they can do what the internet can't and save people money in the process. Not only that, if they stock the one longest axle, which they can trim to size if needed, they'd have the ability to offer "right now" service which is faster than the fastest Fedex delivery speed.

Jeff Wills

Agreed. Some of the Sansin/Suntour/Specialized sealed bearing hubs used a specific axle, but this isn't like that.

MZilliox

There is one other shop in town, but they were closed today. Maybe they can restore our faith?

i agree about the role of LBS and most mom and pop shops. I still pay for expert advice or service, but you need to be an expert, or at least fake it well.

FBinNY 

Many jobs, like replacing an axle don't call for any great degree of expertise. Just the willingness to stock some spare parts and offer fix as an alternative to replace.

bikemig 

Wheels manufacturing carries the axle you need.

Wheels Manufacturing, Inc.

dedhed

More and more I get "we can order that for you" on parts. Well, so can I and it will come right to my door and save me a trip!

HillRider

I find this really odd and am amazed you've broken so many. Perhaps freewheel hubs are that broken axle prone but I've never broken one on a freehub of any kind including a Campy hub with 30,000 and Shimano with 55,000 miles.

Jeff Wills

Broken axles were commonplace with freewheel hubs. I remember doing this consistently, even with 5-speed freewheels. I don't recall ever replacing a cassette hub's axle, except when changing to a longer or shorter axle.

HillRider

Oh, I know they are breakage-prone. I'm just a bit surprised Francis broke that many. I rode a Sansin 6-speed freewheel hubs for about 12,000 miles and never broke an axle but I'm not that heavy and either I was careful or lucky. A friend did have a broken axle on a Maillard 6-speed hub on a used Trek with who knows how many miles so I do have experience with replacing them.

Oddly, the Campy hub I mentioned is almost the same design as a freewheel hub since the drive-side bearing is inboard and the freehub body is cantilevered over the unsupported axle length. What saves them is their oversized aluminum axle. It's an inferior design but worked around very effectively.

Little Darwin

I broke a few axles back in the 70's when I rode 5 speed freewheels, and weighed 150 pounds... that was in a 7 or 8 year time frame. In the last 10 years, with cassettes (mostly 8 speed) I haven't broken a single axle, and I weigh over twice what I did in the 70's.

Admittedly, back in the 70's I delivered papers (so an additional 40 pounds of weight or so) and when I wasn't doing that, I liked riding through the woods (i.e. mountain biking) on my "lightweight" road bicycle.

bikeman715

+1 I can't agree with you more .