A squeak in my Crossmax hub

Westie said:

Just tracking down a small squeak today. It's coming from
the front wheel hub of my Crossmax SL's.

I have the wheel off the bike. If you rotate the axel by
hand it squeaks, sticks and 'grips' here and there. It
doesn't feel like little pieces of shredded metal. It
feels/sounds more like there is something rubber like an
O-ring (or something) binding in there. I haven't touched
the circular plate that adjusts the bearings yet as it is
secure and firmly in place. It is winter here and the bike
has been through plenty of puddles and mud. The weather
has been freezing in recent weeks too.

Is it, at worst, stuffed hub and bearings? Or is it just
time for some TLC? If so, are the Crossmax hubs easy to
service (I've not done this before) or would it be
faster/easier to fire it off to the LBS until I have time
to fiddle around and learn about hub/bearing maintenance?

The front hub is extremely (read: too damned) easy to open.
(Mine came apart with finger strength and no tools.)

If you still have that lame plastic "bearing adjustment
tool", try loosening that first a bit. Maybe dab a drop of
TriFlo in there, too.

If that doesn't fix problem, pull/screw the thing apart and
clean/lube and reassemble. Worst case: buy a new bearing,
but probably not necessary.

If you bought 'em locally and they're less that two years
old, then the shop SHOULD fix 'em for you under warranty.
(Mine replaced my rear bearing -- didn't fix drag issues --
AND charged me $10 for a minor truing that I would have
done/tried myself.)

Bill "not thrilled with my XLs, but they ARE easy to service
(good damned thing!)" S.

Westie said:

Just tracking down a small squeak today. It's coming from
the front wheel hub of my Crossmax SL's.

There's your problem right there... you have them.
--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

ZeeExSixAre said:

Westie said:

Just tracking down a small squeak today. It's coming from
the front wheel hub of my Crossmax SL's.

There's your problem right there... you have them.

:-P
--
Westie (Replace 'invalid' with 'yahoo' when replying.)

S o r n i said:

Westie said:

Just tracking down a small squeak today. It's coming from
the front wheel hub of my Crossmax SL's.

I have the wheel off the bike. If you rotate the axel by
hand it squeaks, sticks and 'grips' here and there. It
doesn't feel like little pieces of shredded metal. It
feels/sounds more like there is something rubber like an
O-ring (or something) binding in there. I haven't touched
the circular plate that adjusts the bearings yet as it is
secure and firmly in place. It is winter here and the
bike has been through plenty of puddles and mud. The
weather has been freezing in recent weeks too.

Is it, at worst, stuffed hub and bearings? Or is it just
time for some TLC? If so, are the Crossmax hubs easy to
service (I've not done this before) or would it be
faster/easier to fire it off to the LBS until I have time
to fiddle around and learn about hub/bearing maintenance?

The front hub is extremely (read: too damned) easy to
open. (Mine came apart with finger strength and no tools.)

If you still have that lame plastic "bearing adjustment
tool", try loosening that first a bit. Maybe dab a drop of
TriFlo in there, too.

If that doesn't fix problem, pull/screw the thing apart
and clean/lube and reassemble. Worst case: buy a new
bearing, but probably not necessary.

If you bought 'em locally and they're less that two years
old, then the shop SHOULD fix 'em for you under warranty.
(Mine replaced my rear bearing -- didn't fix drag issues
-- AND charged me $10 for a minor truing that I would have
done/tried myself.)

Bill "not thrilled with my XLs, but they ARE easy to
service (good damned thing!)" S.

Okey dokey. I think that I have Lame Plastic Tool (r) around
somewhere. I guess that even I can't stuff too much up with
sealed bearings.
--
Westie (Replace 'invalid' with 'yahoo' when replying.)