BigHit-Maniac

Hey guys... here's a quick topic I wanted to see your opinions on...

I just bought an 03' Specialized BigHit Comp right before Christmas.....

I took it into the shop yesterday to have the rear hub tightened.. because it had some side to side play... (i know what the play means... ). The thing is.. I never realized that you have to pull the cassette off just to adjust the hub!?. Sheesh.

Also... I was talking to the main mechanic while he was truing up my wheels... and he was saying that Unsealed hubs are stronger than unsealed hubs... and that Shimano uses unsealed stuff on ALL their hubs (Deores, LX, XT, and even XTR :shock: ). Is this true? Why would Shimano make all their hubs unsealed...? ... I don't get it..


Also.. I'm wondering this... What all rear axles can I fit onto my frame? It has standard drop-outs... could I fit a 9mm axle hub back there? (disc hub). Who all makes 9mm rear disc hubs... 9spd compatible.. and not rediculously expensive ? .

Thanks in advance... I could use all the info on this topic as possible.

-Matt

pokey

What a total overload of applesauce. Shimano hubs have been 'sealed ' for years,some better than others. More expensive ones are bettter sealed.Part of what you pay for.Where do theses people get this drivel?Maybe it mkes them think they sound good?

RainmanP

I suspect Matt and his LBS buddy are referring to "cartridge" bearings, which term many freely, if mistakenly, interchange with "sealed". My LBS also told me recently that Shimano doesn't make cartridge bearing hubs.

Matt, I think 9mm is pretty much the standard axle diameter. All of mine are, but then they are all road bikes. I believe you have to have a hub that is disc brake compatible. There is more to it than just the axle.

pokey

True about cartridge bearings.But still have never heard the one about them making the hub significantly stronger.Interesting that shimano and Campy still use the ball and cone style with no appaarent problem.

MichaelW

Industrial cartridge bearings are designed for high speed/low loading, and they are "sealed" against the loss of grease.
Cup and cone hub bearings have rubber seals to keep water and grit out, and are better able to resist side-to-side loading than cartridge style.
Smaller hub manufacturers find that tooling up for cup and cones is too expensive, so use cartridges, but the better ones use 3 or 4 sets to do the job.

BigHit-Maniac

Awesome.

I'm glad to hear some reassurance from you guys.

I went to Shimano's website and looked for Axle Diameters of my rear hub... which is a Shimano M-525.

It's not bad.. it's a 10MM axle.. with the regular QR skewer.

Hmm.. yeah. I appoligize for not saying "cartridge bearings" instead... I'm too used to just calling them "bearings" (from my RC Car hobby... )

But yeah.

For the applications of Big Hit Riding... would you guys suggest keeping the standard QR skewer on there... or switching over to something else? I'm just wondering.. I just don't wanna' see that little skewer go "SNAP" lol.

Thanks for all the info guys. You're all a big help.. and I appriciate it.

BigHit-Maniac

while we're on the subject of hubs & stuff....


which PART of a rear hub (that uses a cassette) actually makes the "clicking" noise...?

(sorry.. I'm ********).

I know it's the paws and the wheel mechanism.. but where's that at... in the "barrel" under the cassette?

Also.. is a LOUDER clicker mean it's stronger than a near-silent one? ..