Recommendation - Well Sealed Road Hubs

Steve Sr. said:

I am probably going to have built up a new set of road wheels and am
looking for suggestions for well sealed hubs including the freehub.
This would be for a Shimano drive train. I would probably be going
with standard 32/36 spoke rims. BTW, which is the current standard
number of spokes - 32 or 36? or is one front and the other rear?

While I don't go looking for rain to ride in it sometimes finds me! I
am looking for something that is sealed well enough to keep water and
road grit out of the working bits. I have been lusting after a set of
Phil Wood hubs but am wondering if there are other options that are
almost as good for considerably less money.

Does anyone know if there is a way to get a good deal on a set of
custom wheels with Phil hubs or better than list pricing on the hubs
alone?

Thanks,

Steve

Best sealed hubs for Shimano are Shimano XT, LX, and Deore. Rear spacing is 135 mm, but can be lowered to 130 mm.
Dura Ace, Ultegra and 105 hubs are labyrith and contact sealed.

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In article <[email hidden]>,

daveornee said:

Steve Sr. said:

I am probably going to have built up a new set of road wheels and am
looking for suggestions for well sealed hubs including the freehub.
This would be for a Shimano drive train. I would probably be going
with standard 32/36 spoke rims. BTW, which is the current standard
number of spokes - 32 or 36? or is one front and the other rear?

_ 32 is sort of 'standard' these days, but you can easily get
parts for 36 if you wish. Unless you're carrying loads or very
heavy or want the extra reliablity I don't see much reason to
get 36 spoke wheels these days.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

While I don't go looking for rain to ride in it sometimes finds me! I
am looking for something that is sealed well enough to keep water and
road grit out of the working bits. I have been lusting after a set of
Phil Wood hubs but am wondering if there are other options that are
almost as good for considerably less money.

Quoted message said:

Best sealed hubs for Shimano are Shimano XT, LX, and Deore. Rear
spacing is 135 mm, but can be lowered to 130 mm.
Dura Ace, Ultegra and 105 hubs are labyrith and contact sealed.

I just got a Tiagra hub for pretty much the same purpose and as
far as I can tell it has identical seals ( at least on the wheel
bearings ) as a Deore Hub. I didn't take the freehub apart so I
don't know if there is any difference there.

MTB hubs work just fine on road bikes as long as you get the rear
spacing right and if you want the most rain resistant solution
is a good way to go. Overpacking[1] a standard hub with grease also
works well on hubs with little or no sealing. It's pretty hard for
water to displace grease unless it has pressure behind it.

- - Booker C. Bense

[1]- i.e. all available space between the axle and hub is packed
with grease. This increases rolling resistance a bit, but greatly
increase the rain resistance.

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Steve Sr. said:

I am probably going to have built up a new set of road wheels and am
looking for suggestions for well sealed hubs including the freehub.
This would be for a Shimano drive train. I would probably be going
with standard 32/36 spoke rims. BTW, which is the current standard
number of spokes - 32 or 36? or is one front and the other rear?

While I don't go looking for rain to ride in it sometimes finds me! I
am looking for something that is sealed well enough to keep water and
road grit out of the working bits. I have been lusting after a set of
Phil Wood hubs but am wondering if there are other options that are
almost as good for considerably less money.

Does anyone know if there is a way to get a good deal on a set of
custom wheels with Phil hubs or better than list pricing on the hubs
alone?

Thanks,

Steve

while i've had ok luck with shimano mtb hubs, i've had nothing but bad
luck with both campy and shimano road hubs in bad conditions - grit
intrusion is terrible. the best hubs i've ever had for wet weather are
those in my mavic cosmos wheels. sealed bearings, two winters and still
smooth as butter. can't even do a couple of months in the rain on the
above road hubs without having to strip and clean the crud out.

daveornee said:

Steve Sr. said:

I am probably going to have built up a new set of road wheels and am
looking for suggestions for well sealed hubs including the freehub.
This would be for a Shimano drive train. I would probably be going
with standard 32/36 spoke rims. BTW, which is the current standard
number of spokes - 32 or 36? or is one front and the other rear?

While I don't go looking for rain to ride in it sometimes finds me! I
am looking for something that is sealed well enough to keep water and
road grit out of the working bits. I have been lusting after a set of
Phil Wood hubs but am wondering if there are other options that are
almost as good for considerably less money.

Does anyone know if there is a way to get a good deal on a set of
custom wheels with Phil hubs or better than list pricing on the hubs
alone?

Thanks,

Steve

Best sealed hubs for Shimano are Shimano XT, LX, and Deore. Rear
spacing is 135 mm, but can be lowered to 130 mm.
Dura Ace, Ultegra and 105 hubs are labyrith and contact sealed.

So it sounds like the MTB hubs are the best. I thought I recalled
someone saying a while back that Shimano 7700 were pretty well sealed.
What is a 7700? Is this the 9-speed Ultegra?

The application I have is for a 10-speed Shimano. What is the rear
spacing (130 or 135)? Will the rear MTB freehubs take a 10 speed road
cassette?

Thanks,

Steve

daveornee said:

Rear
spacing is 135 mm, but can be lowered to 130 mm.

How?
s it possible to do it the wother way around - i.e. increase from 130
to 135 mm (on a front hub?

Ride your 2 wheels, but in order to ride them yet another day!
jbr

BigBen said:

On Mon, 14 Aug 2006 12:19:14 +1000, daveornee

Quoted message said:

Rear
spacing is 135 mm, but can be lowered to 130 mm.

How?
s it possible to do it the wother way around - i.e. increase from 130
to 135 mm (on a front hub?

Ride your 2 wheels, but in order to ride them yet another day!
jbr

Most front road and mountain are spaced 100 mm (exceptions are out their for track, freeride, etc. @ 110 mm).

Steve Sr. said:

So it sounds like the MTB hubs are the best. I thought I recalled
someone saying a while back that Shimano 7700 were pretty well sealed.
What is a 7700? Is this the 9-speed Ultegra?

9spd Dura Ace. 6500 is 9spd Ultegra.

Quoted message said:

The application I have is for a 10-speed Shimano. What is the rear
spacing (130 or 135)? Will the rear MTB freehubs take a 10 speed road
cassette?

Rear spacing is 130mm. AFAIK all Shimano 8 or 9spd hubs will take 10spd
cassettes. DA 10spd hubs will only take 10spd cassettes, though.

I'd also like to know if it is easy to convert an MTB hub to 130mm.
Seems like you'd probably need a shorter axle unless you have fat
dropouts... and then there is the issue of the rubber seal on the left
side not fitting when you remove 5mm of spacers from that side. Dave?

Steve Sr.... I suggest that you allow your posts to be archived... no
reason why this should disappear.

Ron Ruff said:

I'd also like to know if it is easy to convert an MTB hub to 130mm.
Seems like you'd probably need a shorter axle unless you have fat
dropouts... and then there is the issue of the rubber seal on the left
side not fitting when you remove 5mm of spacers from that side. Dave?

The rubber "seal" is primarily a cosmetic cover over a couple spacers
and the left side of the hub. If you dispense with the cover, replace
the spacer with a 5mm thinner one, and replace the axle with a 5mm
shorter (probably 141mm length) axle, you can get a MTB hub to work in
130mm length.

Back when I was working in a bike parts warehouse, some rear hubs might
come in 8 variations: black or silver, 32 or 36 hole, 130mm or 135mm
width. We had a heck of a time keeping things organized.

FWIW: I prefer to go the other way- I have a Shimano 105 hub that's
135mm width right now. But that's another kettle of fish...

Jeff

quote='Ron Ruff'Steve Sr. said:

So it sounds like the MTB hubs are the best. I thought I recalled
someone saying a while back that Shimano 7700 were pretty well sealed.
What is a 7700? Is this the 9-speed Ultegra?

9spd Dura Ace. 6500 is 9spd Ultegra.

Quoted message said:

The application I have is for a 10-speed Shimano. What is the rear
spacing (130 or 135)? Will the rear MTB freehubs take a 10 speed road
cassette?

Rear spacing is 130mm. AFAIK all Shimano 8 or 9spd hubs will take 10spd
cassettes. DA 10spd hubs will only take 10spd cassettes, though.

I'd also like to know if it is easy to convert an MTB hub to 130mm.
Seems like you'd probably need a shorter axle unless you have fat
dropouts... and then there is the issue of the rubber seal on the left
side not fitting when you remove 5mm of spacers from that side. Dave?
<SNIP>.[/QUOTE]
Yes, if you remove 5 mm of spacing it is also good to shave the axle 5 mm and replace the rubber boot with a shorter version.
I did the above operation once, but only removed 2.5 - 3 mm of spacing (shaved off the same amount of axle) and used the same boot positioned covering a portion of the locknut including the wrench slot. We filled the inside of the boot area with grease. This was on an older Novara Randonee that had 130 mm spacing and needed a wheel swap during a loaded tour. We were in eastern Montana near US Route 10. Not many bicycle shops around so we made do with available parts. The wheel is still working fine today after crossing the US and back for 3 summer loaded tours.

On 20 Aug 2006 16:40:44 -0700, "Ron Ruff" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Steve Sr.... I suggest that you allow your posts to be archived... no
reason why this should disappear.

Done! I forgot that I had this set from another instance of Agent.

Steve

JeffWills said:

Ron Ruff said:

I'd also like to know if it is easy to convert an MTB hub to 130mm.
Seems like you'd probably need a shorter axle unless you have fat
dropouts... and then there is the issue of the rubber seal on the left
side not fitting when you remove 5mm of spacers from that side. Dave?

Quoted message said:

The rubber "seal" is primarily a cosmetic cover over a couple spacers
and the left side of the hub. If you dispense with the cover, replace
the spacer with a 5mm thinner one, and replace the axle with a 5mm
shorter (probably 141mm length) axle, you can get a MTB hub to work in
130mm length.

I've cut axles to get the proper length. It's a pretty simple operation
with a hacksaw and a file to trim up the result. No need to replace the
axle, IMO.

Removing spacers on the left side will move the hub to the left, leading
to greater dish and greater spoke tension imbalance. This will make a
rear wheel harder to build and slightly less strong (but stiffer
laterally).

If I had to do it by removing left side spacers only, I'd want an offset
rim, overkill in the spoke count, or some other way to strengthen the
wheel. But I've always been able to squeeze a few mm out of the right
side (older 7 or 8-speed hubs in 5, 6 or 7-speed spacing), leaving the
dish nearly the same.

--
Dave
dvt at psu dot edu

Everyone confesses that exertion which brings out all the powers of body
and mind is the best thing for us; but most people do all they can to
get rid of it, and as a general rule nobody does much more than
circumstances drive them to do. -Harriet Beecher Stowe, abolitionist and
novelist (1811-1896)

Booker C. Bense said:

...

Quoted message said:

Best sealed hubs for Shimano are Shimano XT, LX, and Deore. Rear
spacing is 135 mm, but can be lowered to 130 mm.
Dura Ace, Ultegra and 105 hubs are labyrith and contact sealed.

I just got a Tiagra hub for pretty much the same purpose and as far as
I can tell it has identical seals ( at least on the wheel
bearings ) as a Deore Hub. I didn't take the freehub apart so I don't
know if there is any difference there.

I had an old PowerTap hub which had a 105 freehub. In about a year of
use (over 18 months... damned thing kept breaking spokes and I
eventually had to rebuild with 13-gauge because of poor hub drilling),
I went through *3* cones. They were all rusted and pitted in the 105
freehub. And I never rode it in the rain!

This compares to 0 cones I've ever trashed in Dura-Ace or Ultegra hubs,
ever. Thus I suspect the seals on 105 freehubs are awful.