newkie

Been a few weeks since I commuted in so didn't take too much notice when the chain was skipping yesterday. Put it down to the frosty morning, stiff bearings, no oil, who knows. Went up a hill and the rear hub came undone! Back wheel was connected only on one side. Only saving grace was I could walk the bike home (unlike the 3 flats I had last month).

Is this an expensive repair? I've a Giant Rock mtb w/ road tyres, two years old, and it seems I've wasted about €150-200 in repairs in the last year. I wasn't going to allow myself an upgrade until I'd gotten a few more years. Is this a good excuse?

MichaelW

Undone? Can you be more specific.
Is the axle lose in the frame or the hub lose on the axle.
Axle bolts or quick release skewer?
If the hub is lose , then you need to service the bearings. Are these Shimano cup and cone or another brand cartridge bearing system?

newkie

I should say the hub itself is busted. The skewer is fine and connected on both ends. The hub itself has separated between the wheel and the fork. I can see all the grease and all packed inside the hub.

CCrew

Sounds almost like a cup and cone where it's come loose on one side.. and then possibly lost the bearings. Is it the freewheel side or the other side?

If unfixable/damaged I'd just look for another wheel. They're fairly inexpensive. Or upgrade the bike if you need an excuse

newkie

its on the non-cassette side. Spoke to a shop who said it might not be a big repair €15. But if the hub need to be replaced then a new wheel is closer to €50-100. I think I have a good idea what the expense might be now.

enigmaT120

Any idea what caused it?

newkie

No idea! That's what kills me, this bike isn't so old to be falling apart. It probably only has only 5k on it. But every other Giant component has been replaced (headset, bottom bracket). At least the braking and gearing is Shimano, tho low-end. If I did repair/replace the hub it would almost be a new bike. I'll certainly be wary of Giant in the future anyway.

Thanks for the help. I'll see what the shop says next week and hope for a cheap repair. Been a lot of money in tyres and flats as it is recently. Bad timing right after xmas.

wahoonc

I have never had problems with Giant bicycles, sounds like a maintenance/set up issue. I have a Giant Iguana that is around 20 years old that was a daily rider/week end trail bike for 10 years. Only issue I had was a bad wheel cup early on and that wheel was replaced under warranty. I still have the bike with the all of the original equipment still on it and currently use it as a expedition tour bike to ride on fire trails to remote campsites.

I also have a similarly aged Giant Excursion and have never had a problem with it either.

Aaron