Servicing a generator hub in the NYC area
 

Hi. I have a bike with a generator hub that was built when I was living in the west coast. I live in NJ now, and I was wondering if you, from the bikeforum community, knew of any place that I can go if I ever needed to service my hub or build a new wheel with my hub generator. I would prefer going to someone nearby instead of shipping it out and I also prefer to go to someone who has some experience with it.

I read peterwhite's website, and felt nervous about giving to some random mechanic who might try to mess with the bearings. Does anyone know of any NYC or NJ bike mechanic who has experience working with hub generators?

The most likely place would be Bicycle Habitat in NYC. Phone them first an ask for Eric S. Tell him I recommended you and he'll give you an honest answer as to their level of experience with Generator hubs. Another possibility is 718 bike in Brooklyn. Both these shops do a large commuter business, and so should be familiar with this type of hub.

In any case divide the knowledge into three groups.

Building a wheel on the hub which is no different than t would be on any hub, so any decent shop should be able to serve you, though some have better builders than others.

Bearing/axle service, which isn't too different from normal hubs, and again any decent shop will be OK, provide they exercise decent care not to mess up the electicals.

Servicing the electricals, which is pretty specialized, and you'll need a shop experienced enough to do it, or one that knows their limits, and seeks out qualified advice, rather than bulling their way through.

I know we took a bunch off some Castro Valleys, so they are floating around somewhere, I hope (against hope) we didn't loose those little plugs. Any decent shop should be able to handle that.

If it's a Schmidt SON Hub .
1) it has sealed cartridge bearings & 2) their replacement is @ Their German Factory Job.

are you certain they need anything? and you, mistakenly, assume,
the magnetic drag of the Dynamo, functionally, as a Problem?

Sorry for not being clear. There is nothing wrong with my SON hub. I am just asking because if I need anything to do done to fix my wheel or do any kind of service that revolves around my hub then I would like to take it to someone who has some experience working with these hubs rather than someone who has never dealt with them before.

Thanks, but so far I am getting the idea that there aren't too many places that has knowledge of this kind of stuff.