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Sealed or unsealed bearings

Old 07-17-05, 10:22 PM
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Sealed or unsealed bearings

I have unsealed bearings in my front and rear wheel. Are sealed bearings worth having. Whats the difference?
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Old 07-17-05, 10:41 PM
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i have had unsealed for about three years....just this spring i went to sealed bearings in front and back...alot more money but awsome quality...the differerence between sealed and not...is that the sealed ones last much longer, are alot smoother...easier to maintnance...the unsealed are not to bad unless you do actually ''ride'' your bike.....but please for the love of pete....buy sealed
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Old 07-17-05, 10:43 PM
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Originally Posted by DCdense 88
i have had unsealed for about three years....just this spring i went to sealed bearings in front and back...alot more money but awsome quality...the differerence between sealed and not...is that the sealed ones last much longer, are alot smoother...easier to maintnance...the unsealed are not to bad unless you do actually ''ride'' your bike.....but please for the love of pete....buy sealed
Alright, but what are the price ranges for sealed bearings.
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Old 07-17-05, 10:48 PM
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if i were you i would go with the Alex Triple Wall rims..with Poverty Hubs(sealed bearings), and whatever spokes you want....i have that set up and it is AWSOME....should be any where from like 130-150..depends on what kind of spokes you get
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Old 07-17-05, 10:52 PM
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I have a racing bike and I have sun rims. Should I just by new hubs with sealed bearings
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Old 07-17-05, 11:01 PM
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ya that would work....but Sun Rims are mostly for light weight...not strength...so go with Alex Supra-E or Supra J
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Old 07-17-05, 11:02 PM
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Originally Posted by DCdense 88
ya that would work....but Sun Rims are mostly for light weight...not strength...so go with Alex Supra-E or Supra J
Ok I will ,but what are the best sealed bearings.
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Old 07-17-05, 11:05 PM
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well the best are either Profile or Proper,,,,but those about 350 for a set of hubs

just go with the Poverty Hubs...anything Poverty is good
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Old 07-17-05, 11:08 PM
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Originally Posted by DCdense 88
well the best are either Profile or Proper,,,,but those about 350 for a set of hubs

just go with the Poverty Hubs...anything Poverty is good
Thank for the help.
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Old 07-17-05, 11:11 PM
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sure...so what are you going to do???
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Old 07-17-05, 11:18 PM
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Originally Posted by DCdense 88
sure...so what are you going to do???
I'm going to look at those Alex rims and get some profile hubs. I just went to the bikeshop and ordered titanium spokes, because i always have problems with my spokes.
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Old 07-17-05, 11:25 PM
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good man good man....sounds good to me...if you have any problems with that set up...you are too fat..lol...j/k
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Old 07-18-05, 01:09 AM
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Are you having problems with your hubs now? Do you service them once in a while? If you're only a kid, and not fat, there shouldn't be too much difference between sealed and unsealed when it comes to racing. And why would you order titanium spokes? There's no weight advantage, as you have to use brass nipples with them.
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Old 07-18-05, 04:28 AM
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unsealed hubs can actually spin better vs. sealed. back in the day pro's like billy griggs actually ran campi hubs that he would repack every few weeks. the big advantage to sealed hubs is that they are, for the most part, maintainance free.

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Old 07-18-05, 04:51 AM
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Originally Posted by DCdense 88

just go with the Poverty Hubs...anything Poverty is good

you need to get slapped
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Old 07-18-05, 08:12 PM
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lol...ohh thanks....well i know that alot of you guys really bang on Poverty parts and make them look like crap...i have had a few parts from poverty and they have always served their purpose...so just shut up with your stupid comments about how Poverty sucks..
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Old 07-18-05, 09:29 PM
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Originally Posted by BikerLRY
I'm going to look at those Alex rims and get some profile hubs. I just went to the bikeshop and ordered titanium spokes, because i always have problems with my spokes.
If you're breaking spokes, first check for the usual suspects, uneven spoke tension and munched hub flanges. If those are good, get heavier guage or butted steel spokes before wasting money on Ti.
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Old 07-18-05, 09:34 PM
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Originally Posted by cru jones 2
unsealed hubs can actually spin better vs. sealed. back in the day pro's like billy griggs actually ran campi hubs that he would repack every few weeks. the big advantage to sealed hubs is that they are, for the most part, maintainance free.
He's right...quality unsealed bearings, properly maintained and adjusted will outperform sealed. Unsealed bearings are also adjustable, sealed typically are not. However, not many BMXers are religious (or even remotely skilled) enough at maintaining their bikes to realize the benefits of good loose-ball bearings.
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Old 07-18-05, 09:57 PM
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Originally Posted by Expatriate
Are you having problems with your hubs now? Do you service them once in a while? If you're only a kid, and not fat, there shouldn't be too much difference between sealed and unsealed when it comes to racing. And why would you order titanium spokes? There's no weight advantage, as you have to use brass nipples with them.
I always clean my bearings, its just that people say there alot smoother and require no maintenance.
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Old 07-18-05, 11:59 PM
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Originally Posted by DCdense 88
\...anything Poverty is good
HAHAHAHA ur SOOOOOO funny!!!!...TAKE IT BACK NOW!!! You must apolagize for giving me a headache.
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Old 07-19-05, 09:40 AM
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Originally Posted by DCdense 88
lol...ohh thanks....well i know that alot of you guys really bang on Poverty parts and make them look like crap...i have had a few parts from poverty and they have always served their purpose...so just shut up with your stupid comments about how Poverty sucks..
He didn't say Poverty sucks - that is a given.

He said you need to be slapped.

My opinion is that he didn't need to say that either... it was a given as well.
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Old 07-19-05, 04:57 PM
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so what do you guys think are the best hubs for racing
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Old 07-20-05, 01:29 AM
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Ones that spin smoothly. Do you have money to burn? I've never met anyone that thought their hubs were the only thing holding them back from winning races.
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Old 07-20-05, 05:11 AM
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Unsealed hubs may feel like they spin better, but that's only because of the seals dragging. And there's a world of difference beween spinning an axle in your fingers and how they roll when they're loaded.

Not all sealed hubs are great, flip flop hubs with 14mm axles can be pretty **** because the bearings have to be so small, but if you get a hub with decent sized bearings, Gsports for example, they roll better than pretty much any looseball hub.

As well as sealed bearing hubs requiring very little maintenance the other advantage is none of the components are compromised by having to perform 2 jobs. A cone nut has to be a bearing surface and a nut, 2 functions that require different metallurgical qualities, on a seaed hub the bearing is just a bearing and the cone nut is just a nut.
You might not think it important but when Skyway used to use Campy hubs they had to soften the come nuts quite a bit so that they wouldn't explode when used for freestyle.

For BMX sealed is the way to go

I dunno what the big deal about Povery stuff is, surely it's just generic taiwanese stuff, no better no worse than than most.

And Alex triple walls suck, way too heavy and difficult to true, get a Big City if you want strong rims.
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Old 07-20-05, 09:36 AM
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Originally Posted by DCdense 88
well the best are either Profile or Proper,,,,but those about 350 for a set of hubs

just go with the Poverty Hubs...anything Poverty is good
your a idiot.



Poverty makes ****y hubs/wheels, and the ones that come stock on their bikes are made by Alex.


your right about Profile hubs.

but the proper hubs are ****. they may be "the lightest hubs available" but the Magnesium body is not going to last like aluminium would becuase Magnesium has a lower impact strangth then aluminium therefore if you run pegs youll probly end up denting, stress cracking and destroyin these hubs, not to mention the $200some dollar price tag that they hold, its not worth it. Also for someone learning how to use pegs, running pegs or someone that isnt clean or rides street is going to bend the Ti axles...and why put hubs that are worth more then his entire bike on ....
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