about a month ago, in my eagerness to get into the world of fixed gear, I dropped about 60$ for a 27" rear wheel, with a quando hub. I knew that good things wern't said about this hub, but whatever, right?

Well when I got the wheel in the mail, I noticed that it seemed like there was dirt or something in the bearings.every half of rotation it hit some heavy friction. In my excitement, I threw it on and rode on it. No problems really, though I noticed when on my friends fixie over the weekend, that his starts were MUCH smoother. And when my tension was high, it binded a lot easier (his was tight to the point were there was no lag between forward and back pedaling, while mine had a 1/16 to 1/8 in jump). So today I decided to regrease the bearings. After messing around with it for a bit, I noticed that one of the bearing caps was slightly bent; oh and I couldnt get the other one off, at all. So after a regrease, I threw it back on and 5 secs into my ride, the cap that wouldn't come off BLOWS off, and the bearings with it. Yeah. sucks.

Needless to say, I'm bummed as hell. And I don't get paid till thursday. Not to mention that the thought of riding my 10 speed trek makes my heart hurt.

My question now is what to do? The front wheel needed to be replaced soon, so do I get a whole new wheel set? I also need a new chain, a single crank set, and maybe a new bottom bracket. I was planning to get all of that with this check, but now I can't. If I take the hub to a shop could they fix it? Any idea of cost? Is it worth it? If I'm gonna choose a new hub (and get it relaced) and ideas on what to pick up?

I was thinking maybe an IRO set, or just get a really decent hub and get it relaced. the 'fixing it' idea only popped in my head in the past few hours.

I'm confused so I'm gonna get some sleep and see how I feel tomorrow. Thanks for hearing me out.

cheers.

iro wheel set...what do you need a new crankset and chain for?

I'm riding on the inside of double that came with the bike that I found (panasonic sport deluxe). I'm worried that the stack bolts are going to go soon.

I am really concidering IRO, it would just save me headaches in the long run. plus, I would like to move to a 700c, so I can get cool tires :) (aka not 12$ giant replacements).

those bolts will be fine if you leave them alone.
you can get decent 27 inch tires from harris cyclery, among other places.
I've heard only good things about those IRO wheelsets but I've also heard a couple of negative comments about build quality. Whatever bike you get you're going to have to work on and keep any eye on. With a new bike everything will be compatible, but it might be no more reliable than an old bike.

Get you and your tight pants to the LBS and pick up some replacement bearings from them. Unless you stripped the hub some how, you should be able to fix it up for not much money. The LBS should be able to tell you what to do and sell you the bearings for not more than a few bucks.


27" tires are readily available and there is little reason to switch to 700c wheels unless you're just itching to upgrade.


You should be able to get a few thousand miles out of that quando hub unless you really beat it to hell. Get new bearings for it and get riding!

After a night's rest to sooth the frustration, I was thinking this exact thing. However I'm worried about the dust caps (I'm pretty sure thats what they are) being bent out of shape. Should I try to bend them back or will my LBS stock them?

to fill you guys in, i got the parts and fixed it (for the most part). I had to bend the cap back and epoxy it to the cone. That's when I noticed that my entire rear hub is messed up.

The shell itself, where the lock right tightens on, is bent in. It seems like someone dropped it or bashed it in. So everytime the bearings hit that spot, it causes a lot of friction. Oh well. On a good note, I am confident in myself now to regrease and repair hubs. The tightening I could work on , it took awhile to get it just right, but other than that, I'm gold.

So a new hub will do me good in the long run. I am also looking for my next challenge. I was thinking of buying a truing wheel, and start building wheels and whatnot. Should I just back off and just buy a new wheel (eventually), or go through and learn how to build?

If you are only getting one wheel, buy it.

If you think you've got the bike bug hardcore, get a cheap truing stand and spokewrench, and build your own! Follow Sheldon Brown's page, it has about as good of instructions as you'll find anywhere. Truing, tensioning, redishing and building your own wheels is very satisfying, and if you take your time, very effective.

I'm glad you got that hub mostly fixed. I'd say take your time finding a good deal on an IRO hub, and in the meantime, ride your current hub until it dies a terrible death.

peace,
sam

Just curious on what negitive things you have heard about the builds on the IRO wheelsets, I'd like to set it straight.

Tony

Skip the truing stand until you don't care about the expense, unless you plan on building several wheels. You can do a passible job building the wheel in the drop out. Worked for me... and thank you Sheldon!

Oops, I didn't mean to suggest anything about the wheel build but rather I was thinking about this thread in which two members had drivetrain problems pretty much out of the box. I realize that two relatively minor problems does not make a brand or a builder unreliable.

The point of my comment was that just buying something new doesn't necessarily relieve one of maintenance problems or responsibilities.

TonyArms, I sure do appreciate your willingness to address questions and concerns on this board, I'm sure everybody does. And I'll bet you were more than willing to adress the specific problems mentioned in the above thread. I'm sorry that my earlier post was poorly constructed. I certainly haven't read any negative comments about your wheel build, quite the contrary, and if you wanted to send me a pair I'd be more than happy to give them an thorough and honest evaluation myself.

I think I am going to buy one. I am riding on 27" now, but I would like to move to 700c's down the road. I figure if I replace the quando hub in a month or so and keep the 27 rim, it will give me time to get 700c rims and a nice front hub, and then rebuild. Also, I have about 3 friends that will be riding fixed soon, and 4 to 5 that will be going SS (I am one of 3 guys that are fixing trash bikes for friends, they pick them, we fix them ... we are at 6 or so right now), so I am thinking that if I get a stand that it will help me show them how one more thing is done.

I am in love with bicycle maintenance. I find it quite relaxing to work on a machine for 5-6 hrs. Sometimes I sit at work and daydream about the next thing I get to do to my bike, or overhauling a friends bottom bracket that hasn't been touched in twenty or some odd years. I love being able to look down at my bike when I'm riding and know EXACTLY whats going on. And I feel that when you put that much work into something like that, it becomes very personable. It's no longer a bike, but MY bike.

Needless to say, one of these days I will have to learn wheelbuilding, so I might as well just jump in head first. Any good cheap truing stands out there? I hear that the cheap park's is a piece of junk, but there was one around 40ish that was great, just not mountable ...

I have one of those Minoura stands from Nashbar, they're on sale right now for $40, I think mine was $50 but it was a christmas gift.
I highly recommend it for a cheaper stand. I have built two wheels on it, and never wished I had a more advanced stand. It comes with a doodad to center the feelers etc. etc., and the base has slots for mounting it, although I never did so I could pop in a movie while truing - something that I found makes the hour or two spent on truing and tensioning go by pretty quickly.
I'm probably not going to build every wheel I ever own, but being able to do something with really sweet hub and/or rim lying around is just awesome. Plus it opens up a whole new realm of purchasing options - sometimes you can find really cool unlaced hubs on ebay for cheap.
I also feel that being able to build and true your own wheels takes you one step closer to absolute self-sufficiency with your bicycle.

edit: here's the stand: http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...eid=&pagename=

Its a bit outdated now, I realise that, but october last year (2005), I bought a bike, with quando hubs.
Two months later the stops in the freewheel did not catch the stopwheel, a few weeks later, they did not rise from the stopwheel, so my cranks kept turning, I had to keep on pedaling until stopped otherwise my gear would have been destroyed. The bike was still under guarantee so i went back to the shop, and the shopowner (very friendly guy) took off the freewheel, opened it and cleaned it and lubricated it. I don't know what kind of lube quando uses, but it looked brown, and sticky, the only difference with the brown stuff that comes out of your rear is that it did not stink that way.
Yesterday I opened the hub for inspection, it made a cracking sound, the balls on pignon side were completely worn out, after 6000 km. I changed the balls, but I am thinking of changing that hub for a reliable one. Better pay a bit more for a good hub.

Wait. What?

Have you heard only good things, or have you also heard negative things? *confused*

For basic wheels, I am starting to question how cost effective it is to build your own. I have built two wheels myself and it is great experience, but can't really say it is the big cost savings some claim it to be.

Formula hubs, Mavic CXP22 rims can be had on BicycleWheels.com for $135 or $155 depending on color plus $20 shipping. They claim to be handbuilt.

I got similar hubs from Nashbar for $30 (after discounts; before shipping). I can get Open Pro rims (upgrade from the CXP22's) for $48 each (after discounts; before shippping) from Nashbar and spokes I would get from my LBS for approximately $24 per set, I think. $30 + 96 + 48 = $174.

Now, don't get me wrong, I think the Open Pro's are a considerable upgrade, correct me if I am wrong, but if you are looking for a cost effective wheelset, building yourself is not the no-brainer it is sometimes made out to be.

What I found was that building wheels didn't save me any money, but I did wind up with a better wheelset than I would have been able to afford. For approximately the cost of an IRO wheelset I built my set with Miche rear, Promax front hubs double butted spokes, and open pro rims. That required bargain hunting for all the components, but I was in it for the experience. If I just wanted a good reliable wheelset for the least $ buying a built set would have been the cheapest and most expedient choice. although I doubt a machine build would stay true as well as my hand built set has.

Over a year old this time folks. LET IT DIE.

The OP asked a question, debates building his own, I gave my opinion/experience. If you don't like the conversation, go elsewhere. It's really that simple.