I find Shimano hubs last well, freehubs included. OK, I just had to replace a freehub on the MTB, but that's after many years and it's an ex hire bike. The bits weren't high end, new identical hub was only £20 all in, bearings and FH included.
Cycling log - random events in the day of a cyclist II
- Thread starter PhilofCas
- Start date
cubastreet
Espresso Fiend
I think M365 is a common model. I find ebay pretty good for bike bits, at least here in the US.
NeilR
pfm Member
i paid CHF1450 for mine which is about £1200 in old money
I am not suggesting that everyone should spend a fortune on wheels but if you ever get a chance to try a pair of superlight high end wheels, do so. It makes a massive difference to the feel of the bike and for me is totally worth it.
When i bought my gravel bike, I eschewed the totr Electronic shifting model and went for the shimano 105 mechanical version with the intention to upgrade the wheels with the price difference. The end result is i have a much better performing bike than the totr model at a similar price. I even set a PR on my first test ride on a segment i have ridden on my road bike:
https://www.strava.com/activities/3767197699
Pics of bike and wheels in the link.
windhoek
The Phoolosopher
I can't imagine riding a £1K+ bike through the streets of Glasgow. I'm sure it would ride great but it's too risky (I mean, too risky in terms of the bike taking a big in a collision), and besides, I'd want to try it out before parting with that amount of cash.
Jono_13
Duffer
Good point. I have a Foffa single speed hanging up in the garage that needs a bit of attention and your posts have reminded me to get it sorted out. Sadly Foffa appears to have stopped trading which is a shame as the bikes were nice.
Just remembered these guys...
https://www.bricklanebikes.co.uk/blb-city-classic-fixie-single-speed-bike-champagne-chrome-fork
SteveG
pfm Member
It'd be illegal to ride that in a city anyway as, being a track bike, it doesn't have any brakes. It does appear to have mounts for brakes at least though, so you could fit them. Even in London you don't see all that many people riding brakeless fixies thankfully.
SteveG
pfm Member
Unlike the Cinelli mention above (which is a nice looking bike) that BLB thing is absolutely horrible and screams "fixie fashion victim" to me as well! It'd be horrible to ride in town as well - the massive drop to the bars would give me a neck ache.
SteveG
pfm Member
Most shops seem to be out of stock of basic components like those so I've also been resorting to Ebay for Shimano brakes recently. The basic Deore Hydro's are great, and the cheap ones (might be either Alivio or unbadged I think) are also good.
SteveG
pfm Member
I've got multiple wheel sets for my Roubaix as well:
- standard option is a set of semi-aero Shimano RS81 C35's which are carbon but with an aluminium brake track. They're not really light at about 1600g but they're not expensive and are a decent every day option.
- climbing option is a set of Shimano Dura-Ace C24's which are also carbon with an aluminium brake track. They're a bit lighter (under 1400g) but also noticeably more comfortable than other wheels I've used, so I tend to use them most of the time.
- fast option: These are full carbon 60mm deep wheels that are really for my TT bike but I borrow sometimes to use on the Roubaix. Being full carbon they need a change in brake pads to carbon specific ones though.
For my other road bike I've only got the wheelset it came with which is proving ok but isn't particularly light at about 1600g or so. As it's disc braked I can't use the wheels from the Roubaix on it so will probably lash out on something lighter for it at some point as I do like the way a bike feels when it has light wheels fitted.
Jono_13
Duffer
Agreed but it is a load cheaper... Like you I would always go with the Cinelli. My Foffa, see below at the top of Coniston, has bull bars as standard which gives a really nice position.
Foffa by Coniston by Jonathan Roberts, on Flickr
andrew d
pfm Member
Perhaps I'm too harsh on them. I suppose a bit of maintenance isn't such a chore. It certainly wasn't poor quality wheels which led them into receivership in May.
I have tried maintenance on freehubs and established it to be a waste of time. Out of 3 broken ones 2 are BER, when I stripped them down they were full of broken parts and not worth rebuilding even if you could get the bits, which you can't. The third I couldn't dismantle so I cleaned it out, it was full of sludge. It now *appears* to work. A new hub at around Deore level is £20, for this you get the FH and wheel bearings, and a new skewer. Good enough. Even on a MTB used in wet conditions this is a 5 year event. The hardest bit is unscrewing the FH from the hub, which before it is in a wheel is impossible to grip. I have resorted to getting 2 old spokes and threading these into the hub, then gripping the spokes in a vice. You then have a hub that can't turn and you can unscrew the FH. When it's in an assembled wheel it's easy, obviously you can grip the rim and the leverage is enormous. Remove the wheel bearings and axle, 10mm Allen key, unscrew the FH, clean everything up, reassemble with clean grease, adjust cones, done.
Tony Lockhart
Avoiding Stress, at Every Opportunity
Because fat bloke needs better stoppers. From 160mm and resin pads, to 203mm and sintered pads. From centre lock to adapter and six bolt.
andrew d
pfm Member
Yes they do need replacing every so often and at £45 for the road version, it's a price worth paying. They get clogged up with muck so I dismantle, degrease and apply shimano mineral oil every few thousand miles. Mavic recommend every 1,000 miles.
Every 1000 miles is a nonsense. On a bike used for commuting or even just a keen eveninigs and weekends user that's upwards of 4 times a year. Having dismantled a couple and noted the time involved to repack the bearings etc I won't be bothering again. That's before you bear in mind that having dismantled it the internals are generally dead. Taking the thing off and washing it out in petrol makes sense, they have no seals so it's easy to rinse the crud out and spin them until they are no longer gritty. You can then re oil.
Tasty. Better brakes than on some of my old cars.
PhilofCas
pfm Member
Must admit to being a little bit jealous of where you live/ride Neil. We had an holiday in La Barboleuse the other year (in summer), not too far from Lake Geneva, absolutely stunning, will venture back at some point.
All the best.
NeilR
pfm Member
have you heard of the hub doctor conversion to get rid of the death squeal? I did it on my old Kysriums and it worked pretty well.
NeilR
pfm Member
Cheers! It is a lovely area and we consider ourselves very fortunate to be able to stay here. Long may it continue.