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There may not be any definite answers to these questions….. but any help is appreciated.
1) Are most MTB hubs the same? (I mean the actual hub, not the bearings, axle etc).
2) Can you generally remove an old solid axle from a hub, and replace with a new QR skewer/axle? Or will a QR not fit a hub that had a solid axle?
3) Further to the second question, if the hub uses normal bearings (cup & cone), can I replace them with cartridge (sealed?) bearings? Or are the hubs different for cartridge and unsealed??
Basically I have an old MTB wheel with a solid axle, and a new broken wheel with perfect QR axle. I think the new wheel might have cartridge bearings (not sure)? I want to swap the axles so the old wheel gets the new QR axle.
I would rather not take apart a perfectly good old wheel/hub if the QR will definitely not fit. I am not confident I will ever get it back together properly. Last time I took apart an axle the ball bearings went everywhere!!
Any advice would be awesome. Thanks
1) no. there are massive differences
2) in some cases you can but it is not a general rule.
3) no way. the bearin races are not designed to come out of a cup n cone hub and even if they did it would be only by massive coincidence if the external diameters were compatible.
you're best bet is to see if you can swap the hubs over entire (unless it is the hub that is broken on the newerr wheel). for this, the flanges where the spokes attach need to be the same distance apart and have the same spoke hole pcd and the same number of spokes. then you can reuse your original spokes.
if you're unsure, come back on the forum with as much info as you can get on he hubs and someone may be able to help. a new set of basic spokes would be about £18 on crc iirc.
all this is assuming you want to have a go at wheel building. there are plenty of youtube tutorials.....some even help....and it is a very satisfying skill to have. good luck
