peahrens

Hi all. I've started maintenance on my old Trek 460 and have some key parts availability issues. I've also got a newer Trek hybrid for fun, so no rush to get this project completed. I'd like to get the 460 maintained and reliable, so I can see if I want to ride a road bike more and/or splurge on a new road bike. The 460 has replacement rims (Mavic 3C) but old Maillard 500 hubs, which use 9 1/4" loose ball bearings (each side) rear and 10 3/16" in front. It's a 12 speed (6 x 2) with Sakae CR 42/52 crankset.

The big issue is that the axle cones are somewhat pitted so should be replaced and I can't readily find them. If I could, I'd replace the cones and the bottom bracket (the axle is also pitted a bit), which my LBS guy says is easy to replace with a readily available, inexpensive newer cartridge unit. Then I'd have good bearings and just somewhat worn freewheel and large chainring. I could ride it that way until deciding to also invest in those, which would likely end up including a new crankset as the Sakae CR chainring seems unlikely to be found.

Of course, I could put it together with the damaged bearing surfaces, but it might be bothersome and would just postpone dealing with the problem.

Any sources you can point out? Thanks!

ColonelJLloyd 

Regarding the chainrings, you can use a standard 110 BCD chainring. It'll look a bit weird, but will perform just as the originals.

You could just replace the BB axle if the cups are fine, but as your LBS told you, a new cartridge unit won't set you back too much. However, the BB spindle length depends on the crank, so decide which crank you'll use for sure first. Used cranks are available on eBay and in the "For Sale" subforum here.

The front hub actually takes 3/16" (not 3/8") bearing balls. You should be able to purchase them from any number of online retailers or your LBS will sell you some.

roccobike

Where are you from? If you are close to Raleigh, NC I can help you with the bottom bracket and the BBcups. Sorry, I can't help with the axle cones, but a good C&V freindly mechanic at an LBS should have a set of those.

peahrens

Roccobike, I'm in central Texas.

redxj

Find the oldest shop in your area and check to see if they have the cones or not. Older shops tend to have a drawer of random cones for various hubs. It might not be an exact match, but they can often find one that fits the threading of the axle and the general profile of the original cone pretty easily. The other would be to post up your rough location as mentioned before because a lot of us have a decent amount of random parts just sitting around for times like those.

I often will recycle trashed wheels that I got on a bike or when I was working at a bike shop. But, almost always I cut out the hubs to save them to have spares of cones, axles, nuts, washers, skewers, and even a complete hub comes in handy sometimes.

dedhed

My everyday '88 trek has the 500 hubs. I tried a replacement cone that looked close - didn't work. +1 on old shops dusty drawers. I gave up, so now I just change out the bearings every year instead and the wheels seem to be fine. A replacement Shimano freewheel in 14-28 or 14-24 is cheap and readily available and with the hyperglide shift ramps works way better than original.

I buy bearings at a bearing supply house by the 100 - way cheaper than at the LBS.

bennie222

Peahrens, if you're in central texas, you just need to go to Yellow bike co-op in Austin. If you're looking for old stuff then it's in a bucket there somewhere. The staff are mostly all volunteers and very helpful. Check their website for hours of operation. I think they are closed until after the new year.

peahrens

Well, I went to Austin bike shops today and fortunately one shop had one good condition used cone for front and one for back. So I got those and a new sealed bottom bracket ($28) and put it back together as the other cones weren't too bad to try awhile. I went by the Yellow Bike coop but they were closed. I'll go back and hopefully get some good cones for front & back for next go round. New tires are on and new handlebar tape. The bike just needs some touchup paint at this point. Too rainy today to ride about so maybe tomorrow. May have to adjust the hubs as I haven't done that in years so they may be tight and/or loosen. Thanks for the advice. Oh, I may try to switch to a 7 speed freewheel (and thinner chain?) if I interpret the info on one site correctly that I can do that with the existing 1985 6x2 speed frame and crankset.