Cartridge Bearing hubs on a budget?

[born-again-biker]

Burners!

Anyone found a good value hub that uses cartridge bearings? I'm thinking of swapping my rear hub from cup/cone to cartridge....

It seems all the usual suppliers (Chain-Wiggle-Pushys etc) are just Hope groupies...?
(I know, I'm gonna get flamed by the Hope Fanclub any second....but you can kiss my butt....their prices are offensive for a part-time weekend warrior like me...)

Is it true that all Shimano hubs are C&C bearing....or are the latest ones cartridge style? On the website there are a couple of models with "....sealing and angular contact bearings"....which sounds like fancy speak for C&C...??

FleaBay has heaps of no-name hubs with cartridge bearings...but are they made of anodised paper-mache? Anyone tried mr-ride, circus monkey, Novatek.....??

 

[linkl8r]

All shimano hubs will have cup and cone bearings still, no doubt they are good value but do require a fair bit more maintenance to keep them running nice. From my experience with those three hubs I would go with novatec, there hubs are surprisingly good and supply alot of OEM wheels so parts are easier to find. Sometimes cycling deal have them at reasonable prices.

Sent from my ASUS_Z008D using Tapatalk

 

[styler]

I have run Octane One Orbital Pros on a couple of builds, I have not had a problem with them as yet. One of my wheelset's built with these hubs on spank rims would have about 6000km on them and still working perfectly and the price is right. :thumb:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/...gclid=CJypl53ZqdACFYKZvAodQzEGug&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[Minlak]

Novatec are meant to be solid. I have never used them and do not vouch for them.

http://www.cyclingdeal.com.au/buy/novatec-mountain-bike-hubs-kit-shimano-8-9-10-spee/D881882

 

[ctguru]

just don't buy powerway, they are real shit!

 

[Minlak]

Why not buy second hand? I am bout to have a set of Sram MTH for sale that have had little use XD driver though. What are you looking for QR? Boost?

 

[JTmofo]

Whats your budget?
Are you building up the wheel yourself or getting a builder to do it?

Reason I ask it that building up wheels (or a wheel) with a cheapo hub is a false economy.

Either
A. Buy a built wheel either on special or second hand (thats cheap to start with) or
B. Spend the money on a decent hub seeing as you'll spend the same again on spokes/rim/nipples/build anyway. Cheaper to do it once properly than twice cheaply.

 

[Nambra]

Whats your budget?
Are you building up the wheel yourself or getting a builder to do it?

Reason I ask it that building up wheels (or a wheel) with a cheapo hub is a false economy.

Either
A. Buy a built wheel either on special or second hand (thats cheap to start with) or
B. Spend the money on a decent hub seeing as you'll spend the same again on spokes/rim/nipples/build anyway. Cheaper to do it once properly than twice cheaply.

I'm with you JTmofo - a shit hub is not easily replaced. If I had the choice of $139 for F+R Novatec hubs from Cycling Deal vs about $270 delivered for a pair of DT Swiss 350 hubs from Germany, I'd probably go for the latter for peace of mind in reliability and serviceability. Nothing against Novatec (I've not used them), but a buggered hub 10km from your car would have to be a right pain.

That said, B-A-B is aiming at a particular price point and the quality of the hub needs to be balanced with the rest of the wheel.

I wonder whether, at the same price point, a budget quality cup & cone hub is any better or worse than a budget cartridge bearing hub?

 

[born-again-biker]

Why not buy second hand? I am bout to have a set of Sram MTH for sale that have had little use XD driver though. What are you looking for QR? Boost?

I'm a big fan of good second anything....

Only reason I haven't looked much is because there is so many diff types of hub that the chances of finding a rear hub that has the right number of spoke holes, correct width, correct disc mount flange, correct axle standard might be hard ??
....oh AND be in good condition AND for sale in the next week...

Ideally I would like to do 2 things at the same time:
1. "Upgrade" to cartridge bearings (I know C&C are just as good when maintained & adjusted, I'm just looking to reduce maintenance intervals....)
2. Upgrade from 135 x 5 to 142 x 12....

I will revisit Novatec....

 

[The Duckmeister]

Stick with the Shimano, but replace the bearings with stainless steel ones.

The convoluted overlapping seals mean they're better sealed against water ingress than many cartridge hubs, plus the angular contact means they better handle lateral - cornering loads.

Yes they need attention to proper adjustment otherwise they'll rapidly eat themselves, but with a small amount of care are a superior system that will last for years.

 

[born-again-biker]

Whats your budget?
Are you building up the wheel yourself or getting a builder to do it?

Reason I ask it that building up wheels (or a wheel) with a cheapo hub is a false economy.

Either
A. Buy a built wheel either on special or second hand (thats cheap to start with) or
B. Spend the money on a decent hub seeing as you'll spend the same again on spokes/rim/nipples/build anyway. Cheaper to do it once properly than twice cheaply.

I'm with you JTmofo - a shit hub is not easily replaced. If I had the choice of $139 for F+R Novatec hubs from Cycling Deal vs about $270 delivered for a pair of DT Swiss 350 hubs from Germany, I'd probably go for the latter for peace of mind in reliability and serviceability. Nothing against Novatec (I've not used them), but a buggered hub 10km from your car would have to be a right pain.

That said, B-A-B is aiming at a particular price point and the quality of the hub needs to be balanced with the rest of the wheel.

I wonder whether, at the same price point, a budget quality cup & cone hub is any better or worse than a budget cartridge bearing hub?

My main motivation is to simply reduce the maintenance intervals (with a young family & a house to renovate I am time poor. What precious mountain biking time I have should be for riding, not adjusting hubs etc...)

This is not about "building" a complete wheel set from new, with carefully chosen components. I completely respect your comments about building wheels the right way, once. If I was building or purchasing new wheels I would spend enough to make it worth it.

....no, this is about simply purchasing a cartridge rear hub (only) and getting the LBS to chuck it into my stock rear Giant SXC2 wheel for as little as possible. I would then have a rear hub that shouldn't need any adjusting, repacking etc for at least a year or two (assuming nothing fails!)

Am I barking up the wrong tree ?

 

[born-again-biker]

....maybe I should just get faster at servicing my existing hubs until I win Tatts lotto...? hwell:

 

[shmity]

Well you're looking at the cost of the rear hub + spokes + build from the LBS which is probably not a sound investment on the stock giant rim...

I would look at the second hand market for a complete wheel as that will probably give you better everything for the same money.

 

[born-again-biker]

Well you're looking at the cost of the rear hub + spokes + build from the LBS which is probably not a sound investment on the stock giant rim...

I would look at the second hand market for a complete wheel as that will probably give you better everything for the same money.

Yeah, you're prolly right...

 

[Nambra]

....maybe I should just get faster at servicing my existing hubs until I win Tatts lotto...? hwell:

That's the spirit!

Serious question though, if it's a stock Giant SXC2 wheel, the OEM hub shouldn't be giving you too much grief, surely? Are you looking to swap hubs because the existing one is buggered?

 

[Mr Crudley]

Since nothing is broken yet and your current rear wheel is fine.

Why not have a go and building a spare rear wheel yourself? Not like you need it tomorrow and must have some time left till you need it. Or trawl the sales of bike sites or your LBS and find one on special.

Kudos for what you are trying to do and all but it also sounds like you are aiming to solve a problem that you don't have today. :love:

 

[silentbutdeadly]

Like the Duck said...good grease and stainless steel bearings.

Failing that...Novatec hubs in the models offered aren't as shit as their asking price from Cycling Deal would suggest. Sure the bearings aren't the last word but they are well protected and cheap to swap...even to Enduro brand ones. Although the 881 linked to is superceded and the freehub is not one they'll likely support long term.

 

[born-again-biker]

That's the spirit!

Serious question though, if it's a stock Giant SXC2 wheel, the OEM hub shouldn't be giving you too much grief, surely? Are you looking to swap hubs because the existing one is buggered?

Since nothing is broken yet and your current rear wheel is fine.

Why not have a go and building a spare rear wheel yourself? Not like you need it tomorrow and must have some time left till you need it. Or trawl the sales of bike sites or your LBS and find one on special.

Kudos for what you are trying to do and all but it also sounds like you are aiming to solve a problem that you don't have today. :love:

Unfortunately it is giving a little grief. The bike hasn't done a huge amount of miles (new in 2015, not ridden much in winters, prolly get out 2-3 times a month in the warmer seasons)
....anyway, the other day I noticed the rear hub sounded like a boat trailer axle when I moved the bike. When you spin it, you can hear the bearings growling loudly. So I took the wheel off today & sure enough, the cassette is wobbly too....so I think at the very least it just needs new grease & tension adjust. Worst case would be damaged races / balls cones etc.
I'm waiting on some cone spanners, chain whip & hub tool to arrive in the mail this week so I can get in there & have a look.....
....so this is how/why my original post question came about....I figured I could upgrade the hub for ~$100-$150 and move on to cartridge bearings....y'know always looking for a reason to upgrade a component...

 

[silentbutdeadly]

Hub upgrade cost depends on whether you can reuse the spokes and nipples. If not then factor in about $80 for the build, another $80 for spokes and nipples and whatever you spend on the hub.

 

[The Duckmeister]

Sounds more like the freewheel body rather than the hub itself. Although the main axle bearing cup is contained in the freewheel body assembly, it's mounted to the core of it, which is firmly bolted to the main hub shell. The freewheel then spins on its own fully independent bearings, which aren't readily serviceable. If the freewheel bearings are toast, a new body is only about $25-30.