Ultegra 6800 rear Hub and lacing

xrecymech
xrecymech Posts: 27
edited March 2015 in Workshop
This is one for all the wheel builders out there, looking for your opinions\experiences re shimano Ultegra 6800 rear hub (32H). I bought the wheels from Planet x 18 months or so ago and they are hubs as mentioned, laced 3x onto Ambrosio rims. back wheel needing truing constantly; almost every time i went out the back wheel would be all over the place when i got back, however, I never once had any issues with the cone adjustment. So, I had the wheel rebuilt with new spokes and as it turned out it also needed a new rim, no issues with that I suppose so new rim, wheel rebuilt by LBS, off I went, only this time the cones on the rear come loose after about 10 miles, had new cones fitted but no change 10 miles or so cones come loose another 10, 20 miles and play is pretty severe. Now, LBS that built the wheel has gone bust so not much happening on going back to them so took wheel to shop in midlands that is Shimano Service centre, guy there before he even looks at wheel asks; 'is the wheel laced properly?' I give him the wheel and he has a look at hub, says hub looks ok but wheel has been laced differently from original build (when cones where fine) he says it needs rebuilding and lacing properly (he shows spoke wear marks on hub to show difference). I take it to another LBS, guy there has been building wheels for 35 odd years and I have a set of DA Hubs on archetypes that he built which are spot on, he looks at wheel and says he would build and lace exactly the same as it is now and so doesn't understand what the Shimano service centre bloke is on about. So after all that, and before I take it back to Planet x for them to see how\why they laced it differently, I am just after anyone's thoughts as to whether they have had any issues similar to this on these hubs, which might go some way to identify which of the people who I have spoken to already in the different shops, is telling me a crock of horse-s**t and the hub may just have to go back to shimano, or fleabay, cheers in advance

Comments

  • Lacing and cones have nothing to do with each other. If you have problem with the latter, it is a hub issue, not a wheel issue.
    left the forum March 2023
  • I asked the bloke in the shimano service centre what his rationale was as to why the cones where coming loose due to the lacing and he started going on about hub design on these etc, I work in IT so wtf do I know, guy should be a shimano guru so I didnt want to stand and argue the case on something which I assumed he would have the knowledge on, Either way looks like the hub will go have to go back to shimano for them to look at, cheers
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,243
    Sad, but not uncommon... mechanics are often appalling in this country.

    I blame the certification system... instead of an apprenticeship, you just need a Cytech 2, which frankly any imbecile can get in a week and doesn't mean a thing.

    Certificates aim to standardise the level of skill, but they do so by lowering the standards... it's getting that way even for degrees, which are nowadays a commodity anyone can buy, although it still takes three years to get one.

    In the past I did look at getting a wheel building certificate, but the Cytech one is a joke and and the DT Swiss one... well, they can't even build their own wheels properly, how can they pretend to teach?

    In this respect it is a shot world we are living in... :?
    left the forum March 2023
  • JayKosta
    JayKosta Posts: 635
    Are the cones and their locknuts still tight together? If yes, then perhaps the 'races' in the hub have been compressed inward (deformed) which would cause the trouble.

    My guess is that the bearings were adjusted after the rebuild so there was very little or no clearance between the cone/ball/race - and when the wheel was clamped in the dropouts it jammed everything together even tighter - BAD!
    This would be the fault of the shop that did the rebuild, the hub was probably fine before their 'delicate touch'.

    The original trouble with wheels needing constant truing, is another matter - probably due to poor build quality - wrong tension or inadequate 'stress relief' after adjusting the nipples.

    Jay Kosta
    Endwell NY USA