hub bearins - sealed cartridge? cup and cone? confused!

evsy

Hey everyone.

I have shimano rs10 wheels on my bike but the bearings in the back wheel have gone again! ive only been biking for about 10months and the bike was brand new and this is the second time they have gone!

i have taken it in to my lbs where i bought it and they have assured me that the cup and cone?? are ok, its just the bearings again. they are replacing them for me.

they told me its riding in the crap during the winter and shimano wheels are renowned for it. are they?? (wish they had told me when i bought the bike!!)
i dont understand how they can have gone again - i clean the bike after every ride.

i have been thinking of maybe changing the wheels for something else. but my budget is max £140 and i dont want to buy something which is going to be as vulnerable to the elements. the planet x wheelset have sealed cartridge bearings. what exactly does this mean? how does it differ to shimano wheelsets?

would you recommend i give the rs10s another chance? or buy some model b's? or some aksiums?

thanks

evsy

rake

riding in the muck and rain is going to do that whatever. seal is really the wrong word. capilliary action draws in moisture. dont know weather shimano are any more prone but they make arguabley the best cost strength performance hubs about. this is why a lot ride winterbikes ith budget components. for instance tiagra hub about £20 quid and fine after 1 winter no maintenance.

rolf_f

Mudguards. That's it.

evsy

Rolf F wrote:

Mudguards. That's it.

have actually got full guards fitted. my lbs fitted them when they did the bearings last time.
i have made sure i have done everything they said to try and preserve them but it hasnt worked.
pretty annoyed because they are good wheels.

Pigtail

Have you thought about changing them yourself?

The advantage of cup and cone, as I understand it, is that all you need is some ball bearings and some grease.

My bike is about 14 months old, with sealed bearings that have gone, but I can't get into them. I've just bought a pair of Shimano 501 wheels, because they will be easier to maintain. I'm finding out though that bikes need more maintenance than I expected. Be careful when washing as well. Don't direct water under pressure at the hubs, and don't use detergent/ degreaser near them, or you will wash the grease out of the hub.

redvision

i have shimano wheels and have just replaced the bearings myself. its not as hard as you think although i did struggle with how tight to do the cone back up after (viewtopic.php?f=40020&t=12829794).

if you have the correct tools then why not give it a go yourself?
im as useless as anyone with diy but it really isnt as hard as you think.

nferrar

Twice in 10 months seems a bit OTT although they are fairly cheap hubs in those wheels, I'd say you should usually be expecting to replace every 1-2 years and be servicing them every 6 months (i.e. regrease). Sealed cartridge don't need servicing but still wear out and when they do it's more expensive as you have to replace the whole cartridge unit not just the individual bearings. Personally I much prefer decent sealed cartridge bearings as they're fit and forget, get some with decent seals and you can go 3 years+ without doing anything to them.

petemadoc

My commuter and cyclocross bike has some cheapo wheels with Shimano 105 hubs. This bike has been hammered for over 2 years now and the bearings are still smooth as a very smooth thing.

No mudguards, raced in mud and crap, ridden through all the snow and ice last winter, hardly ever cleaned, Weird!

Edit: This bike is on it's third BB :oops:

keef66

I have RS10s on my one and only bike. Ridden year round but it does have full guards. 3 years old including 2 foul winters, and they are still silky smooth.
I stripped the hubs once and found the bearings to be in perfect condition, so just squirted a bit more grease in there and put them back together. I concluded that the seals are pretty effective.

I like the easy servicing that cup and cone bearings allows. All you need is a couple of cone spanners. Appeals to my inner fettler.

desweller

How are you washing the bike? Solvents, pressure washing, anything like that?

The seals on Shimano hubs are usually labyrinth seals. The way the seal works is by forcing any leakage through a series of ridges; if the seal has failed then it's usually because it's been exposed to positive pressure or damaged during a maintenance op.

racingcondor

It's pretty hard to beat Shimano hubs for poor weather (I don't know if this is true of their factory hubs but their stand alone are renouned for running maintenance free for years). From the conversations I've had Shimano, DT and Chris King are the go to brands for hubs that will put up with mistreatment.

Assuming the RS10's aren't any worse (or that the LBS hasn't damaged the seals) I suspect you're spraying degreaser sideways onto the hub and/or washing down with a hose, both of them are likely to cause problems over time. This will shorten the life of the bearings as you'll wash out the grease sooner or later. I seem to get away with rinsing by pouring water on the tyre (i.e. vertically down the wheel) and just wiping around the hub with a wet cloth.

At the price you're looking at the best sealed hubs I can think of would be some handbuilts with Sora/Tiagra hubs. The Planet X hubs may be great for the cash (light at least) but they're basically sealed by sticking a plastic washer over a cartridge bearing (as are any wheels, especially cheaper ones).

I'd stick with what you've got and hope the advice about washing is what's causing you problems, you're certainly having a lot more maintenance on the hubs than you should expect to.

PK1

My planet x sealed bearings only lasted 6 months !!

centimani

Shimano R500 Tiagra wheelsets are virtually maintenance free IME.
3, maybe 4 years winter commuting, in all weathers, salt, grit, rain, theyve seen it all....ive never had a spanner on them, they still run true and free. One of the best wheelsets you can get for commuting (IMO)