Bicycle Hub Components
 

Hey guys,

I am new to this forum and require some help with the bicycle hub. The rear bicycle hub in particular. I need to know what are the components (incl the washers, spacers etc..) that make up a general bicycle hub. If anyone can help by showing (or sending me a URL with the required information) an exploded view of the parts of the hub with descriptions so i can identify what they are exactly that would be great. It dont want a state of the art bicycle hub, just a simple one.

Thanks a heap :D ,

Aaron.

P.S. AutoCAD drawings would be fantastic.

Search the web for 'Sheldon Brown'

Enjoy

Or go to the Shimano site; they have exploded drawings of most of their stuff.

A Shimano rear hub from right to left:

Axle
Outer locknut
Washer/spacer(S)
Cone
Dust seal/cap
1/4" Ball Bearings
Freehub body
(Which consists of: splined shell, hub bearing race, tiny ball bearings, pawls, springs, inner freehub body, 10mm bolt)
Aluminum hubshell
Steel race
1/4" Ball bearings
Dust cap
Cone
Washer/spacer(s)
Outer locknut
Other end of axle
I'm sure you'll find some accurate drawings out there. Good luck.

I doubt you'll find detailed drawings in any usable format... If your livelihood depended on selling a product that you produce for market, Would you let highly detailed production worthy drawings out on the internet? I know how the Department of Defense feels about easily edited drawing and 3d model files even being shared between various branches of the military. If you're lucky, you'll find some raster images that aren't terribly detailed, or maybe some sort of an assembly drawing intended for consumer or bike-shop use.

Bottom line- whatever project you intend to do will include YOU modeling and drawing the entire thing, and it's going to take a hell of a long time. Shimano and Rohloff aren't going to do your homework.

lol, yeah i figured that but i thought id give it a shot.

Unless anyone knows how to convert a pdf file to AutoCAD dwg file?

I have a heap of pdf files with the exploded view of the hub but obviously no AUtoCAD ones.

Sharpear are you in high school or college? What class is this project for?
PDF files with illustrations are transposed jpegs. They cannot be converted to Autocad or any other more evolved CAD software through IGESS or other means.
George

And how hard do you think it would be for a competitor to buy a hub and take it apart, measure all the parts with laser scanners and then find out exactly the same things?

Its what competitors do. Most companies within their R&D have what is called a Competitive Analysis department which does precisely that....performs a Value Analysis of competitors products...Geometry, weight, metalurgy/material, est. manufacturing cost etc...a long list of metrics. Patent infringement is the biggest impediment to stealing other designs because there is always a better mouse trap out there...probably why Shimano doesn't have hidden cables...lol...would have to pay a royalty to Campagnolo for their patented design.
The Japanese have been copying designs for years. Now its the Koreans and Chinese. Laser scanning or using a CMM to measure a part is only scratching the surface of part design.
George

Yeah, but the issue here was a detailed drawing, not a complete analysis...

To your point...from a competitor's standpoint, the drawing has little meaning and isn't worth creating in a vacuum, i.e. without the analysis.
Fly by night places copy designs all the time. Invariably their products fail and they incur liability and hence the cycle repeats itself. Good companies can not afford this liability.
George

I think we're talking past each other here.

What I meant was that a major manufacturer has NOTHING to lose from publishing detailed drawings of their parts' interiors, as the same information is available to any potential competitor for very little money and time.

we are talking past one another but what you write simply makes no sense. Businesses that produce engineered products are highly protective of their designs including any CAD math data and/or detail drawings. Depends on your definition of a detail drawing. The technical definition is a drawing that contains all the GD&T which would be huge windfall for any competitor. No company wants to make it easier for the competition to copy their designs. The exploded views put out there for a layperson to interprete are cartoons or facsimiles of the product and don't remotely resemble a detail drawing.
George

Ok, so I'll say it a third time.

The dimensions and shapes of all the individual parts can be found out in very little time and for very little money, by any potential competitor simply by buying a hub or two and measuring it.

Thus, releasing a detailed (and I mean really detailed) drawing of all the hub components doesn't help the competition much at all. I'd think they'd save them a few thousand and a couple of days of work, at the most.
So keeping them secret serves no real purpose.

Regrettably I have to be more blunt and redundant. Respectfully, you have no idea what you are talking about CdCf. I am not going to teach a class in mechanical design on this board. Measuring a part has no major value other than a primitive beginning. A detail drawing has not only a datum scheme that prioritizes part attributes in terms of their role in function and how they are measured by gages that are built but geometric tolerancing that provide +/- 3 sigma of the manufacturing process capability. Part clearances are based upon tolerances in terms of root mean square or VSA tolerance stack up and critical to assembly, dynamic function, reliability and durability. THAT is why a detail drawing is critical...not measuring a part and putting nominal dimensions on it...doesn't even skim the surface of design. Suppliers are as guarded of their detail drawings as they are of their children. They are always a work in progress as every released design out there with any complexity typically evolves over time to increase reliability, decrease liability and reduce cost as products mature through their life cycle. I know because it is what I do.
George

Exactly, and here's where both our points agree.
Since what I'm talking about is so uncritical and "unhelpful" to a competitor, there's no reason for keeping that information secret.

Lets just drop it...particularly if you see any agreement in our respective positions which I do not. Its OT and no help to this great forum anyway.
Cheers,
George

lol, good work guys...i was entertained for a good 10mins!