Cup and cone bearings:How long do they last?

I’m on a very tight budget for some 29er wheels and the shimano hubbed offerings seem to be cheapest. I’m a bit slack with wheel maintainance and have had perfectly good wheels die due to pitting the hubs. What sort of mileage should you get before a service is needed?

On a tight budget then its a no brainer. Shimano are very good and servicing costs about £3.50 per hub and takes 15 minutes once you have done it a couple of times. That said they dont tend to wear unless they run then dry or you manage to get water in from a jet washer or a really really boggy ride etc

For me the no brainer is to get cartridge bearing hubs every time

If you’re a reasonable mechanic and can be bothered to serive them once or twice a year, they last forever, just about.
I’ve had 4 year old Deore hubs looking like new inside.

servicing costs about £3.50 per hub

I think you have the decimal point in the wrong place there, more like £0.35 IME 🙂

Teej, on a budget though….
Show me some cartridge hubs for under £50/pair please!

Twice a year sounds fair enough. TJ, I thought you were a cup and cone man?! Must be thinking of someone else.

ages, if you service them BEFORE they need it.

Service them to to three times a year, late Autumn, late Winter, late Spring, they last ages then.

IME in 2 years the freehubs fail, but arroud that time I usualy find the rims have got so many dings in them and the spokes/rim seem to lose their stiffness so it constantly needs fettling and it’s time for new wheels.

3 times a year service? Just get cartridge bearing ones and change the bearings every few years with lovely friction and faff free running

I like rebuildable freehubs as well and I like to be able to get spares

Cripes! The wheels from my old 2001 Stumpjumper FSR have never been serviced and they have got WTB cup & cone bearings.
The rear does sound decidedly rumbly now, but they just keep on going.

I use them on my Inbred since retiring the old bike and am just gonna run them until they fail – I figure 10 years out of a set of wheels that have had no attention isn’t bad and if I take them apart I probably won’t like what I see; ignorance is bliss and all that.

I’ll probably look after their replacements a bit better…..

3 times a year service? Just get cartridge bearing ones and change the bearings every few years with lovely friction and faff free running

Yes, but how much are a set of hope proII’s?

How much are a set of XT hubs?

He said he’s on a budget, you can pick up XT hub’d wheels for £100/pair, hope hoops are £300+. I agree the hope hubs are better (I’ve got XC/bulb’s on my summer bike), and will survive being built into several wheelsets, but as someon up there pointed out, 15minutes servicing is all they take, it’s probably quiker servicing a front hub than it is to change a puncture!

Running costs of cartridge hubs are much higher than decent cup and cone in my experience, and purchase cost is usually higher too.

Buuuut, Shimano freehubs don’t seem to be as good as they once were. I’ve got a set of 20 year old Shimano Exage hubs still doing daily service, I’d have spent hundreds of pounds on bearings for my Pro 2s for that sort of mileage, rather than maybe a tenner’s worth of bearings and grease. But would I get the same out of today’s XT? Not really convinced.

One thing’s for sure, cartridge is better for bike abusers, lots of people don’t think to service their bikes til it’s too late.

how long do they last? in theory, forever. in reality, after a few wet rides.

Show me some cartridge hubs for under £50/pair please!

Ok, show me some cheap Shimano hubs where the freehub does not in any way die after a fairly short time…

Personally I think cartridge bearings are a downgrade. Small niche companies making expensive (and nice) stuff used them because it’s far easier (and probably cheaper) than machining their own bearing parts. Then because these fancy components used them, people started to associate them with “better quality”. (That’s my opinion anyway)

Like people have already said, servicing of proper bearings is no problem (at least you CAN service them) and they last forever as long as you keep them greased and adjusted periodically.

Ages. Very easy to service. I also find they tend to give fair notice of needing a look at. IME cartridge bearings tend to go randomly if not suddenly.
I prefer cup and cone.

Cartridge bearings for the win. I was forever having problems with faffy cup and cone bearings in my Shimano hubs. Just replaced the bearings in my front Pro 2 (which I’ve had for over a year and was bought 2nd hand) and it was a 10 minute job, spinning as normal again.

I don’t mind the cup an cone hubs,but I could imagine that if you are heavy handed ,then a service may not be as straight forward.
IMO there is a lot of ‘feel’ involved to get them running nice.
Just saying like 🙂

I find that a service once per year will keep cup and cone hubs running indefinitely. As my 20-year old set demonstrates.

Shimano freehubs will also last for many years if you prise off the seal and pack it with grease. The only freehub I’ve ever broken is a Hope, and my only bearing failure on a newish hub was also a Hope.

Ok, show me some cheap Shimano hubs where the freehub does not in any way die after a fairly short time…

All of them Deore and above. Freehubs last about as long on average as cartridge bearings in most peoples Pro 2s, cost about the same, and are easier to replace. BUT you have to be BOTHERED to look after them a little bit.

I use mostly catridge bearing hubs, but I’m not blind to the cost of keeping them running. Decent bearings are not cheap. On a budget, if you’re a decent mechainc, C&C lasts just as well and costs less. A lot less.

On a really tight budget, there’s loads of people offload nice OE wheels, with Mavic rims and serviceable hubs for £50 a pair. All you need to do is look after them.
I’ve got a set, 117 rims, 475 hubs, perfect nick, £50.
That’s all you really need for general riding and at that price you can chuck ’em away and replace ’em evey 2 years and still be in pocket!

But if you’ve got the money, cartrige bearing hubs need less servicing. But they cost a LOT more, and the OP is on a budget

Both have advantages, both have disadvatages
You pays yer money, you takes yer choice.

IMO there is a lot of ‘feel’ involved to get them running nice

True, it’s a quick job but I take a good 1/2 hour to do mine. The result has me standing in my garage sipping tea in awe of the silkiness of the freshly serviced Shimanos.

The only freehub I’ve ever broken is a Hope

The only free hub I’ve ever broken is a Shimano one…twice. Once was on a dark and snowy ride when the free hub packed in completely so I had no power. That was a nice walk home 🙁

At least a Hope free hub can easily be taken apart and put back together.

Shockingly, I’m now going to answer the actual question, rather than argue the toss about something else…..

I’m on a very tight budget for some 29er wheels and the shimano hubbed offerings seem to be cheapest. I’m a bit slack with wheel maintainance and have had perfectly good wheels die due to pitting the hubs. What sort of mileage should you get before a service is needed?

Mileage – Service them BEFORE you ever use them. Most C&C hubs are a bit light on grease from new, and I’ve seen brand new ones have the lockrings come loose and lock up.
I use grease that we put in pivot bushes on heavy plant. It’s thick and gloopy and stays put. ‘Cycle specific’ greases are crap, and expensive.
I open up BRAND NEW hubs and do this before I ever use them.

Service intervals? About as often as you replace your chain is about right.

If you ignore them, you’ll damage the cups. But they’ll still carry on for a loooong time with pitted cups.

The lesson is this – Learn maintainance, save money!!!
And that applies top ALL mantinence, not just hubs.

“Just get cartridge bearing ones and change the bearings every few years with lovely friction and faff free running”
The cartridge bearings in hubs I’ve had don’t last that long?

“agree the hope hubs are better”
SLX/XT/XTR hubs have faster pickup though, run ‘free’ almost silent for anything really cheeky, where at least the previous non evo pro II had the hub body cracking problem, that noise, bearings can be stiff from new, freehubs won’t take standard SS sprockets and cost £££

“Shimano freehubs don’t seem to be as good as they once were”
Indeed, shimano freehubs can go free or lockup much more suddenly than cartridge beaings can get rough

“I was forever having problems with faffy cup and cone bearings in my Shimano hubs”
Likely worn bearing races, cone nuts and/or ball bearings IME

The only freehub I’ve ever broken is a Hope

I’ve broken every wheel, hub, freehub, bearing, axle, spoke, rim, QR, ratchet ring, pawl, spring, widget, doohdah and thingumy known to man.

They all break. Then you fix them. This is the way of the world.
But ‘breaking’ and ‘wearing out’ are different to this.

Look after things, and they wear out more slowly. This also is the truth.

Here endeth todays lesson.

“Once was on a dark and snowy ride when the free hub packed in completely so I had no power. That was a nice walk home

At least a Hope free hub can easily be taken apart and put back together”

Could/would you have taken apart a hope in that circumstance? ie dark/snowy ride?

You can replace the ball bearings and cone nuts easily, the race inside the freehub you may well end up swapping when you replace the freehub. Its just a shame the one on the non-drive side is part of the hub (At least I think it is?)

IMO there is a lot of ‘feel’ involved to get them running nice.

This is probably why I don’t like the hassle of them. The bearings in a Pro 2 just get whacked in with a hammer and they’ll probably be fine for at least another year 🙂

Northwind – Member
One thing’s for sure, cartridge is better for bike abusers, lots of people don’t think to service their bikes til it’s too late.

_tom_ – Member
The bearings in a Pro 2 just get whacked in with a hammer and they’ll probably be fine for at least another year

There you go.

Cartrige Brigade – buy expensive hubs, ignore them until the bearings fall apart, buy more expensive bearings

C&C Types – buy reasonably priced hubs, do minimal easy necessary maintenance, change really cheap parts if necessary.

I’m now going to answer the actual question

Pffft, we’ll have none of that nonsense arroud here thankyouverymuch!

SLX/XT/XTR hubs have faster pickup though

No they don’t, the XT (6-bolt) freehub has 16 points of engagement! More boutique hubs have anything upto ten times that!

Freehubs are the one thing I’d chnge on Shimano hubs.

C & C for the mechanically sensitive/skilled
Cartridge for the lazy hamfists

😉

I agree with Pete. Nothing wrong with C&C will outlive most Cartridge bearings if they are loved. Easy to swap in a new Freehub and its cheap to pick up hubs as they are widely available.

Hope hubs – replace cartridges every 12 months. 10 minute.
C&C replace bearings and grease every 12 months. 20 minute job.

the cup/cone bearings on a 1973 bianchi I have still run smooth.

the grease has been changed a few times in the last 40years.
Had to replace some mavic classics hub bearing after only 9 years!
cheap modern stuff,throwaway society..etc.

got DA on one bike,mavic classics hubs on another,they’re both smooth.
pickup on newer shimano hubs is 36 points I think,on the xts I have,seems a bit more on the DA.

you can get replacement cones,or buy a cheap hub and use it for spares.
still cheaper than new bearings.

http://sheldonbrown.com/cone-adjustment.html
the man himself.

if you’re on a budget.cheap shimano hubs,cone wrenches.
if you’re not.shimano hubs,cone wrenches.

if you really can’t be bothered.cartridge.more expensive to buy,more expensive to run though.some things you can’t have with shimano though.
like 9-15-20 front hubs.or the trials hub.

ps.you can lube your shimano freehub.it’ll last longer.

“No they don’t, the XT (6-bolt) freehub has 16 points of engagement!”

The XT 6-bolt hub is 8 (model) years old (2004 groupset IIRC)

2009 SLX has 32 engagement points/revolution, 2008 XT and 2007 XTR have 36

With a little playing with the axle spacers and a touch of wheel dishing an SLX freehub will fit onto a 2004 XT 6-bolt hub if you want. Else a centrelock to 6-bolt adaptor on a 6-bolt hub if you want to use 6-bolt rotors and keep costs down below cartidge beaing hubs

I run both sealed bearing (hope) and cup’n’cone (shimano) without problems.

HAve a look on ebay for cheap sealed bearing hubs. Novatec are pretty good (these ones are pretty heavy tho)..
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Novatec-Sealed-Bearing-MTB-Disc-Hub-32h-6-bolt-Gold-/150371767317?pt=UK_sportsleisure_cycling_bikeparts_SR&hash=item2302db1415#ht_500wt_1180

I’m an abuser so I avoid shimano hubs these days. I always forget to do something until its too late.

superstarcomponents might offer a cheap cartridge alternative.