Cycling UK Forum

I discovered I had play in my rear wheel & when I stripped the hub I found it contained some of the rain and flood water I've been riding through over the last few months!
At the moment the hub still has some play and doesn't seem to run smoothly. I had to use the same bearings to rebuild as they were all I had, although I've got new ones now and intend to have another go at the job.

With a LeJog coming up I'm inclined to replace the wheel so I can be confident in it.

The Shimano R501 is in my budget and seems to be well reviewed, if I went for this option I'd get front and back. My concern is they are reduced spoke wheels (20 front 24 back) and there seems to be a note of caution for less spokes when looking through the forum.

I'm more inclined to go get a like for like replacement from Decathlon with 32 spokes. The current wheel has coped with 1500 miles, the last 800 of which have been in pretty adverse conditions so I'm happy with its performance.

Any thoughts on these or other options would be appreciated.

As additional information I'm 80Kg, LeJog is supported, I usually ride with a pannier but max weight of pannier and luggage is 3kg. Very occasionally I might do a ride with two moderately loaded panniers

it could well be the case that the hub is worn out (water is not a very good lubricant!) but it is more likely that the balls and/or the cones are damaged. The cups take a lot of abuse before they fail.

If you have a fair while before LeJog you can rebuild your hub more carefully and see how it goes. A packet of new 1/4" ball bearings is hardly a major investment. It is unusual for a few week's use with water contamination to scrap a hub; if in doubt get a second opinion.

A new wheel from Decathalon is not expensive and is more or less a known quantity; if needs be you could buy that days before your trip.

Minimally spoked wheels are generally absent from touring bikes because they are not rated for large loads. In addition should a spoke break then usually -and in contrast to standard wheels- the wheel is instantly unrideable. Any benefits from having fewer spokes (outside of a 30mph time trial) are largely imaginary or stylistic.

If you ever carry any appreciable load and/or use you bike for utility purposes then I would not recommend minimally spoked wheels as a good solution. If you do choose minimally spoked wheels (e.g. for fair weather, unladen use) then I would suggest that you consider the Campagnolo or Fulcrum models; these are available with a shimano freehub body and importantly the rear wheel spoking is a much better design than the shimano wheels; arguably a Campagnolo 24 spoke rear wheel is almost as strong in some respects as a standard 32 spoke wheel. This is because the most highly stressed spokes (on the rear drive side) are not reduced in number; there are still 16 of them, where in a shimano 24 spoke wheel there are only 12, (albeit the angle is improved in some cases).

hth

cheers

Decathlon wheels are not very well sealed against the weather. my front Triban wheel is on it's way out, I suspect. The cones keep coming loose and when I tighten them, i can't get the hub to turn smoothly. I'll try stripping and regreasing but I did that 6 months ago.

There are stock handbuilt wheels that can be had for around £70. My daughter's boyfriend recently bought an Open Sport on a Tiagra hub with 36 spokes from Evans cycles for his Triban. That would be more suitable for a Lejog than a an R500 or 501. If you do break a spoke, the wheel will still work.

If the seals are not good I would consider that 6 monthly intervals rather long to say the least.
The Op could consider new balls and a careful rebuild. Bet that solves it.

mattsccm wrote:If the seals are not good I would consider that 6 monthly intervals rather long to say the least.
The Op could consider new balls and a careful rebuild. Bet that solves it.

But I'd rather have a wheel that didn't require such attention. Shimano hubs go for years without having to be re-greased, as do Campag.

Hi Vitara,
a friend bought a triban3 about 6 months ago, his rear wheel was in a bad way after 2 months, Decathlon exchanged his wheels for a new pair, no argument, just slightly better quality, but still not too special in the sealing. They seemed to know that they had a problem, I would say that the original races were corroded before he bought the bike. How long have you had the bike, might be worth asking if they can help.
Cheers, Rob.

I just replaced my Triban 3 rear wheel last week. I went for another stock wheel for similar reasons - 32 spokes, proven.

The original wheel had been used for over 2 years and at least 3,500 miles. All weather. I'd regreased it (not even changing the bearings) at around 1,500 miles, and there was a bit of cone pitting. I thought never mind and I'd just run it into the ground. By the end there was a little play, but nothing more. It still ran perfectly fine.

I'm only retiring it because of a prang (and I've retrued it to use as a back-up wheel). I'm still on the original front wheel.

I think Decathlon know what they are doing - they've spec'd fairly heavy wheels as they don't want to deal with too many warranty returns. Original and replacement look almost exactly the same bar labels - the original rim had a sticker saying it was by Mach 1, the replacement doesn't (although the tag claims the wheel was made in Italy).

However, the new wheel did have the cones set too tight though.

Mach 1 are a French company who make some half-reasonable rims and also make spokes and wheelbuilding machines.

Hubs of many kinds (including shimano ones) are routinely supplied set too tight. This often causes premature wear.

IME even quite cheap hubs can last tens of thousands of miles if they are adjusted and lubricated correctly. The correct adjustment is so that there is a tiny bit of free play that just disappears when the QR is tightened in the frame. No play at all with the QR loose means the bearing is set too tight.

cheers

TrevA wrote:

mattsccm wrote:...... Shimano hubs go for years without having to be re-greased.....

They can do,it depends on the hub quality and seals,Shimano road hubs aren't very well sealed against the elements.Their MTB hubs are a lot better,though not immune to water ingress IME.

reohn2 wrote:

TrevA wrote:

mattsccm wrote:...... Shimano hubs go for years without having to be re-greased.....

They can do,it depends on the hub quality and seals,Shimano road hubs aren't very well sealed against the elements.Their MTB hubs are a lot better,though not immune to water ingress IME.

I've a set off Tiagra hubs that are coming up to 3 years old, and i've never had to touch them, still as smooth as silk. i've a set of Campag mirage that are 10 years old. The front has been regreased once, never had to touch the rear. These have been used on bikes that do 3-4000 miles a year.

TrevA wrote:I've a set off Tiagra hubs that are coming up to 3 years old, and i've never had to touch them, still as smooth as silk. i've a set of Campag mirage that are 10 years old. The front has been regreased once, never had to touch the rear. These have been used on bikes that do 3-4000 miles a year.

I've a pair of XT M752 MTB hubs that are about 15 years old and have done in excess of 30K miles,they've been serviced twice in all that time and are still as smooth as the day I bought them and no signs of wear.
I also have a pair of Ultegra 6600 hubs with around 7K and the front cones are pitted ,they've been serviced twice as I was aware the seals weren't as good.They're for sale for £30+postage if anyone's interested(cones are available from RoseVerSand)
At the cheaper end I had a pair of Acera MTB hubs that rumbled and the cones pitted etc.They were unbreakable,just kept rumbling on
Similarly I have an M475 rear and a Formula front,both disc hubs that came with the Kona Dew Drop and haven't done much more than 8K,both are rough with pitted cones.I've serviced them once,but can't feel anything when riding the bike.I have a pair of Deore M591's to replace them with when they give up the ghost .
DT Swiss on one tandem with cartridge bearings,as smooth as with about 15k on them
The other tandem(20k) has an Edco rear which is smooth.The front one is Shimano and is begining to rumble slightly,but I have spares
Other hubs in service but with not a lot of mileage are two pair of XT m756 disc hubs that are smooth as
I can't comment on Campag as don't use them.

That's the thing - Ultegra or XT hubs are £30+ for the hubs alone. A complete Triban front wheel is £30 but the hubs won't last or will constantly need re-greasing. Sometimes you get what you pay for.

TrevA wrote:That's the thing - Ultegra or XT hubs are £30+ for the hubs alone. A complete Triban front wheel is £30 but the hubs won't last or will constantly need re-greasing. Sometimes you get what you pay for.

And sometimes,as with my Ultegra hubs,you don't a lot depends on sealing,Shimano road hubs IME aren't that good,that said I have a pair of 105(1055 series) 7sp hubs in 'the box' that have covered many miles and from about 10k in felt rough but kept running,no one but me knew they were rough and in their day looked,with the rest of the gruppo,very nice on a nice frame.They never fell apart,just like the Acera MTB hubs mentioned before,run and run.
BTW my bikes are well serviced but see all weathers and conditions