elbows

Recently a wire broke inside my Nexus generator hub (long story, and probably my fault...), which gave me occasion to disassemble it to a much greater degree than Shimano recommends. I was surprised to find that the non-serviceable left side of the hub contains ordinary loose bearings, protected by exactly the same seals as the right side of the hub.

The seals had mostly kept dirt out of the hub, but the cone was still badly pitted (not surprising after 3-4 years of commuting without an overhaul).

To be fair, I probably wouldn't have noticed anything wrong with the bearings if I hadn't taken the hub apart. But I have to imagine that over a few more years the damage would become evident.

Has anyone used a Nexus hub for 5+ years? How did it hold up?

sauerwald

I have a Nexus hub on a commute bike which has ~4 years and 12,000 miles on it. It has been overhauled once, and has never given my any issues. The wheel had to be rebuilt once, after an incident which ruined the rim. I have another bike with a much newer Schmidt hub on it, and that has lower rolling resistance - not sure how much of that is because it is a newer hub, and how much is because it might be a better quality hub. The Schmidt is definitely shinier!

M. Rhoten

Let me get this straight, the "normal" service and rebuild schedule for the hub does not include service of loose bearings on the left side of the hub?

elbows

That's right. If you look at Shimano's diagram of the hub, the whole left side, including all the electrical bits, is considered a single part, and the loose bearings aren't even shown -- I always assumed there was some kind of cartridge bearing in there. To get the left side apart, you'd have to unsolder the wire coming out of the generator, and resolder it when you're done.

rhm

I'm not sure exactly, but I've had mine for at least six or seven, maybe eight years. Until 2005 it got about 12 miles per day. Then I rebuilt it into a 16" wheel for my folding bike, and it gets more like 16 miles per day, turning about twice as fast as it used to. I have never overhauled, lubed, nor even adjusted, the bearings.

PaulH

I've had my hub for over seven years of daily, year-round operation. It appears to operate exactly as it was when new.

Paul