Cycling UK Forum

I’ve done about 9,000 miles on an Exposure branded SP-PD8, and, as the bike was second hand, who knows how many miles it did before that. So far, no problems.

I have SON, Shimano and SP hubs, so no brand loyalty. The SP ones do have a reputation for not being as long lasting, plenty of reports and the distributer stepped in offering a reconditioning service, that isn't to say every one is doomed to fail, it'd be hard not to notice the disproportional number of failures. I choose SP for my folder which doesn't get the same mileage as my other bikes and it was half the price of the cheapest alternative. I bought the SON in 2001 when there wasn't such a good choice, it went off for a service at around 70,000 miles, polished silver and came back looking and feeling like new, which you'd expect from a service which cost the same as a new Shimano. It's the old style model that can be serviced in the wheel, unlike the current versions, so that's an advantage gone.
If it was for a high mileage bike, I think I'd choose one of the better Shimano models. The flange offset isn't huge, not like a rear cassette, I read elsewhere of someone mitigating this with an asymmetric rim, but it isn't something I have experience of.
As others have already said, the failure mode is likely to be gradual, being user serviceable is a plus, but it wouldn't be a priority for me.

Out of interest what is the nature of failure on the SP hubs. Is it catastrophic or is it more a case of bearings start to get noisy and can keep going for a few hundred miles more?

My Exposure branded one eventually had a bearing go. As this one wan't in the UK via the official importers, (I assume it was via Exposure) they wouldn't handle the standard repair whereby they sent it back to Taiwan. All the purchaser does here is pay them You can do it independently but you have to post it and either insure it at its value or say it has no value.
Check with your supplier.
I mended mine myself but then killed it doing something else.

mattsccm wrote: ↑28 Jun 2023, 6:28am My Exposure branded one eventually had a bearing go. As this one wan't in the UK via the official importers, (I assume it was via Exposure) they wouldn't handle the standard repair whereby they sent it back to Taiwan. All the purchaser does here is pay them You can do it independently but you have to post it and either insure it at its value or say it has no value.
Check with your supplier.
I mended mine myself but then killed it doing something else.

How did the failure present itself?

pwa wrote: ↑27 Jun 2023, 12:47pm

Mick F wrote: ↑27 Jun 2023, 12:06pm Very happy with mine too ................ or maybe not ................

There seems to be a chuff-chuff noise from it recently. I've yet to investigate, but I suppose it could be something else up-front. Mudguard or tyre perhaps or even a brake block catching. Can't seem to hear anything untoward when I spin the wheel.

I'd be suspecting the tyre rubbing on something with that sort of noise. Have you got a loose spoke maybe?

I've yet to check. Busy with other stuff - re-decorating the living room is only one of the things.

Tyre rub on the inside of the mudguard sounds the best bet.

Mick F wrote: ↑28 Jun 2023, 9:14am

pwa wrote: ↑27 Jun 2023, 12:47pm

Mick F wrote: ↑27 Jun 2023, 12:06pm Very happy with mine too ................ or maybe not ................

There seems to be a chuff-chuff noise from it recently. I've yet to investigate, but I suppose it could be something else up-front. Mudguard or tyre perhaps or even a brake block catching. Can't seem to hear anything untoward when I spin the wheel.

I'd be suspecting the tyre rubbing on something with that sort of noise. Have you got a loose spoke maybe?

I've yet to check. Busy with other stuff - re-decorating the living room is only one of the things.

Tyre rub on the inside of the mudguard sounds the best bet.

After I asked if you had a loose spoke, it occurred to me that saying someone has a loose spoke could be one of those metaphors for not being quite all there.
That is definitely not what I meant!

iandusud wrote: ↑28 Jun 2023, 6:32am

mattsccm wrote: ↑28 Jun 2023, 6:28am My Exposure branded one eventually had a bearing go. As this one wan't in the UK via the official importers, (I assume it was via Exposure) they wouldn't handle the standard repair whereby they sent it back to Taiwan. All the purchaser does here is pay them You can do it independently but you have to post it and either insure it at its value or say it has no value.
Check with your supplier.
I mended mine myself but then killed it doing something else.

How did the failure present itself?

Sideways play like normal knackered bearings and when they came out they were!

pwa wrote: ↑28 Jun 2023, 4:37pm

Mick F wrote: ↑28 Jun 2023, 9:14am

pwa wrote: ↑27 Jun 2023, 12:47pm
I'd be suspecting the tyre rubbing on something with that sort of noise. Have you got a loose spoke maybe?

I've yet to check. Busy with other stuff - re-decorating the living room is only one of the things.

Tyre rub on the inside of the mudguard sounds the best bet.

After I asked if you had a loose spoke, it occurred to me that saying someone has a loose spoke could be one of those metaphors for not being quite all there.
That is definitely not what I meant!

I'm watching paint dry at the moment, and hopefully the wall I've just emulsioned doesn't have any "holidays". I'll wash the brushes out if it's fine .............. and then I'll have a look at the bike front hub noise. Hopefully, I'll find a bit of mud or summat stuck inside the front mudguard.

Back later.

Well .................

The bike is a Moulton with 406 rims.
I've turned the bike upside down ......... it stands steadily like that.
I spun the front wheel, and all is fine. Nothing stuck in the mudguard, and no loose spoke.

The thing is, with these bikes, they have a suspension system and you get all sorts odd rhythmical noises .............. but what I hear when actually riding the beast, is a chuff-chuff noise.

Spokes:
Some time back I re-laced the front wheel that was 28h 2x into radial both sides. I have just been feeling the spokes, and I reckon that they have ALL unwound a tad as they all appear a lot less tight than when I built it. It could well be that it's the WHEEL that is chuff-chuff-ing and not the SP dyno hub.

Upside down and no weight on the bike, the wheel is happy and true and round.

Sounds like I need to get my Spokey out and re-tension all 28 spokes.

I don't know if it is relevant to Mick's mystery wheel noise, but I wonder what effect ambient temperature has on spoke tension. For example, if a wheel is put together and tensioned, good and true, on an autumnal day in a room at 17c, how would that wheel be affected by being at 24c for a prolonged period. If at all. The spokes will grow in length as they warm up, but the effective ERD of the rim will also increase by a small amount.

Hi guys!

Wheel out and into the wheel-jig this afternoon and had a play with my Spokey Pro.
Most of the spokes weren't tight in the slightest.
Most needed a complete half-turn, and a few a quarter-turn.
The wheel is true, and maybe even true-er than before.

I put the wheel back in the up-turned bike and it's still central between the brake blocks.

All I can do, is to try a ride and listen.
If the chuff-chuff is still there, it's not the wheel or the mudguard or the brakes ......... but the hub.

Maybe Saturday or Sunday ride.

Mick, aren't choughs a feature of where you live?

Choughs don't seem to be around here!

We have blackbirds, but they don't have red legs or a red beak.

Mick F wrote: ↑29 Jun 2023, 2:59pm Hi guys!

Wheel out and into the wheel-jig this afternoon and had a play with my Spokey Pro.
Most of the spokes weren't tight in the slightest.
Most needed a complete half-turn, and a few a quarter-turn.
The wheel is true, and maybe even true-er than before.

I put the wheel back in the up-turned bike and it's still central between the brake blocks.

All I can do, is to try a ride and listen.
If the chuff-chuff is still there, it's not the wheel or the mudguard or the brakes ......... but the hub.

Maybe Saturday or Sunday ride.

My experience building lots of 17" Moulton wheels taught me that you need to give them A LOT of tension as the spokes are a) short (particularly when radial) and b) plain 14 gauge. Both of these factors mean that they are not very elastic compared to a much longer DB spoke.