They can be considerably cheaper than good quality cartridge bearings, but are they mote work to maintain?

but are they more work to maintain?

Well yes, because you don’t maintain cartridge bearings, you only touch/replace* them when there dying.

*Unless you want to get into the pre-greasing arguement which I am ignoring.

But as to your original question “Cup and cone or cartridge?“, for me cartridge everytime, but C&C are generally cheaper & have less resistance within the bearings IIRC, and will last years if properly maintained.

No more work at all IME, but you need to have the knack of doing it correctly, which only comes with experience. And 50p for a bag of bearings is a lot cheaper than £10-£20 for a set of cartridges…

PP how can you say that?
You need to take them to pieces regularly to regrease them, how is that not extra work?

Not gunna get into an arguement with you over this again though..

if you want to spend more time servicing your wheels on the cheap then C&C – if you don’t mind spending a bit more/year and want t quick and relatively easy job go for cartridges.

My opinion is if you neglect C&C your stuffed – if you neglect your cartridges then you are not so stuffed 🙂

FR has it and this shold be a sticky.

It’s generally worth ignoring those with radical views on almost any topic though.

al, can you pop over to the ipad thread and sort it out please 😈

Naaa, if you neglect C&C to the point of failiure you’d trash the axel in a cartridge hub too. I’ve never had a C&C hub get tot he point of being iretrievably worn, even when the races are pitted they stil run acceptably smooth.

If you have too much time on your hands then cup and cone bearings

If you prefer riding your bike to pissing about with bearings then cartridge hubs.

I mean’t stuffed as in permenantly pitted ! Not unridable but who want’s nosey pitted races?

if you neglect C&C to the point of failiure you’d trash the axel in a cartridge hub too

Eh when? Even if this is the case, the axle’s are replaceable.
The worst case I found is that if left too long, the cartridge bearings fall apart inside the hub and can be a bugger to remove, but even then it’s not impossible to do.

z1ppy – Member
al, can you pop over to the ipad thread and sort it out please

*cracks knuckles and looks out ‘dusters…*

I would agree with both zIppy and foxyrider. I’ve run cartridge bearings for years, since Hope hubs appeared, but are not cheap to run. Apart from the bearing cost you really need to factor in buying the correct size drifts etc for safe removal/installation.
There is also a certain smug satisfaction in nipping up the cone nuts and getting just the right amount of play with cup and cone bearings!

Cup ‘n’ cone bearings also have a habit of becoming loose over time. Cartridge for me.

if you like wobbly wheels then definitely cup and cone, cant beat a bit of side to side play for make cornering more interesting

and before any corrects me the only way of fixing play in cup and cone wheels is to tighten them up until they dont go around. I know. I’ve tried.

Hope – because when things do get trashed you can get all the bits replaced easily.

If Hope did C&C i’d be inclined to learn to service them safe in the knowledge that they’d repair my errors for a nominal fee, or that I can get only the replacement part I need rather than having to buy a whole new hub. However as Shimano aren’t as forthcoming in spares and repairs I’ll stick with cartridge as thats what Hope offers.

“and before any corrects me the only way of fixing play in cup and cone wheels is to tighten them up until they dont go around. I know. I’ve tried.”

It’s a black art – you’ve either got it or you havn’t!

ive always wondered why C and C dont have a replaceable cup? Ive ruined several good sets of wheels by having grit wear out the inside of the hub. Some sort of stainless insert would surely work?

Some sort of stainless insert would surely work?

Campag do, and you can take cups out of shimano hubs too to replace them.

Stainless woud be too soft maybe?

i did not know that (regrets binning several shimano wheelsets)

My old Campag Veloce cups are still sweet (12 years old) but they are road wheels!

Are the cups in shim hubs prohibitively expensive to take out?

cartridge all the time for me too.

cartridge on all my off road bikes since ages ago.. Only bike with C+C is the commuter. Front wheel never have any issues with, but the back always works loose, even when adjusted properly, tightened up using 3 foot adaptors on the cone spanners for extra torque and threadlock..Would stay tight for 2 -3 months then the wobble would come back..reservice etc etc.. Then the races get pitted (the hub is not fecked) but runs with an annoying gritty sound. I have 3 spare XT rearwheels in the garage that have come off my commuter in last 6 years. all with pitted bearing surfaces.

Just whacked on a spare cartridge hubbed rear wheel, and no probs in the last 4 months of truely shite weather….

Hope if you earn £35K or above, IMO.

Cup and cone wheels are only cheaper if your time has no value.

“the only way of fixing play in cup and cone wheels is to tighten them up until they dont go around”
That sounds like pitted races?
New (undamaged) hubs will tighten up without play really easily IME

“you can take cups out of shimano hubs too to replace them”
How?

tbh, I’d buy a C/C hub, simply because I wouldn’t be happy buying (m)any of the cartridge ones. An XT (or SLX) c.lock has a faster pickup speed than a lot of other hubs, and the £50 to get one doesn’t seem too riculous

Much prefer C&C. Agreed you can forget cartridge for a bit but they do go sticky and how long does it take to strip and grease a C&C? If it takes 10 mins I reckon I have been faffing. I spend longer than that polishing spokes.

Im faffing about with my deore cup and cone hubs at the moment. Park site says adjust with a bit of play which skewer will elliminate on doing up. Well theres no play out of bike but done up tight there is still a bit of play. Is too loose or too tight better ?

Hope cartridge for me. I previously had Shimano XT c&c but could never get them spinning nicely for more than one ride – there’s apparently a knack to getting the cones set up just right but I’ve not been able to get it.

Never had cartridge bearings go sticky or anything, used to use them on my bmx again as had similar problems with c&c being a complete faff.

Neither. Take your time and do them properly. Should only take 5 mins anyway. Just make small adjustments at a time. Do it with the wheel in the frame or forks, QR loose.

Cup and cone is far superior to cartridge bearings, which are only used on CNC’d hubs because they just can’t afford the equipment to produce cup & cone.

I reckon I change service my cup and cones hubs quicker than some cartridge bearings can be changed.

the only issue i really have with cup and cone is the disposable nature of shimano freehubs.

cartridge bearings, which are only used on CNC’d hubs because they just can’t afford the equipment to produce cup & cone.

Quote of the week, what utter rubbish, I really hope you missed the smiley.

I reckon I change service my cup and cones hubs quicker than some cartridge bearings can be changed.

Yet if your unlucky cartridge bears only need to be replace once a year. How many times a year do you need to service C&C, to keep them in good order?

IME Hope XC hubs run for years without requiring replacements, their Pro II need a new outer freehub bearing once a year.

Cup and cone wheels are only cheaper if your time has no value.

eh? does servicing cartridge bearing hubs take zero time?

do you pay people to do every menial task?

“could never get them spinning nicely for more than one ride”
Mine have been spinning fine for ages

“Hope XC hubs run for years without requiring replacements”
Mine needs new bearings after about a years use in total

Whatever the longevity of the two types both are ruined by direct jet washing!!!

Have bikes with XT’s & Pro2’s. XT’s spin faster, (as in spin wheel & let it spin to stop). Hopes very smooth, but always feel quite sticky. The noise from a Pro2 freehub grows tiring. If I was building a new set I’d buy XT’s.
Knack to setting C+C is to mount the wheel on the outside of the dropout with the skewer tight, then adjust. Shimano’s C+C’s need a fettle when new IMO, as they put very little grease in them at the factory.

Have JUST successfully serviced my rear XT hub (FH-M756) for the first time. IMO anyone who can’t do this is ham-fisted. Yep, I said it. 😆

The most important point with hubs must surely be how well they spin, and if c&c spin more freely than cartidge then it’s a no brainer (so long as you’re not ham-fisted)

XT hub service

With cup and cone servicing, my QR never seems to take up any play left after tightening, so i just tighten it before hand until no play remains while feeling less draggy.

I have never liked the idea of C&C but I but the bullet and serviced them myself and had no problems.

If anyone is throwing out any ‘knackered’ C&C wheel sets then pass them over as I fancy a crack at repairing the damaged cones.

I’d use either really. Similar sort of time to service each, although I guess the cartridge replacement is more of a cut and dried job.

Hope proII takes five bearings which can get a bit spendy if you’re replacing them often. Have to say I got a good run out of my last set though, well over 2 years.

50:50 IMO.

Either are fine, C&C’s take 10 mins to service and need doing once a year at most. I’ve left C&C hubs for over 2 years with no ill effects whatsoever.

C&C’s are cheaper to service, a bag of bearings is a couple of £ at most, cartridge bearings are more expensive but a bit less fiddly.