[road]

Im currently running a cartridge bearing front wheel and a standard cup/cone shimano rear hub. The cartridge wheel is really smooth and I doubt it will need new bearings before the rim wears out. Im contemplating a new rear wheel this year so wondering what type of hub to get.

Im very competent in servicing a hub and quite enjoy it, but if cartridge bearings are going to be lighter and smoother then ill get some.

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[Anonymous]

epic milage
epic milage

[Bob's Bikes]

Another thing to consider is.

Another thing to consider is. You can have the best hub in the world but, if the cartridge bearing is put in (by a overworked underpaid LBS staff member or a well meaning amatuer) slightly out of true you’re knackered as even any replacement after that is still going to be out, cup & cone may be considered old fashioned (by some) but it’s still around for a reason.

[BBB]

In the simplest terms cup and

In the simplest terms cup and cone hubs are consumables that still need servicing and cartridge hubs are a fit and forget investment.

With cup and cone you need to always stay on the top of maintenance routine. If you don’t, the (unreplaceable) bearing races will get pitted). With cartridge ones you use them until they develop significant play or roughness. That’s the only time you need to service them.

My Hope rear hub clocked over 30000 miles in all possible conditions. No cleaning, adjusting or any other maintenance. The bearings are slightly rough but when I finally put the new ones in the hub will be like new.

 

 

[kev-s]

Both cartridge and loose ball

Both cartridge and loose ball bearings have there merits, i have both types on different bikes and its more down to the quality of the bearing than the actual type of bearing fitted

Cartridge bearings can & do wear out, they wont last forever

Most of the problems people have with Cartdridge bearings is that lower end wheels (sub £500) tend to use cheap Chinese bearings to keep costs down

Higher end wheels will use Japanese or German bearings (nsk,skf etc…) which last much longer and are generally used in industrial equipment

I ended up replacing the chinese bearings in my work bike wheels after approx 2000 miles of all weather use due to wear

I fitted a set of Japanese bearings and so far they have done 5000 miles with no faults

The price difference between chinese and japanese/german bearings should give you an idea of the diference in quality

2 chinese bearings for my wheels were 2.99 for the pair

2 Japanese bearings were £11 each

You also have the choice of going ceramic bearings but for the cost versus the performance (£90+ for one bearing) id stick to just normal Japanese/German bearings

Google Chinese versus Japanese bearings to get an idea of the difference and if you ever need to replace a Chinese bearing then pop it out and take it to your local bearing supplier who will match it up to a good quality bearing and tell how bad the Chinese ones are in comparison

 

 

 

[Anonymous]

Eventually im aiming to get a

Eventually im aiming to get a disc road bike, so I suppose ill stick with cheaper cup/cone till then.

When i do get some disc wheels I wont need to replace the rim, and if I get cartridge bearings then there wont be a bearing race to wear out in the hub either, should last a lifetime, or untill someone brings out some other amazing innovation.

 

Fair points there regarding quality rather than type, I hadnt thought of that aspect, makes sense, thanks.

 

Flying scot, what rims do you use? I can imagine something like a Rigida rim never wearing out, but anything else will do. Ive switched to using Swisstop green pads which are meant to be kinder to the rim, a bit expensive, but then so is a new wheel. Ive worn out two rear and one front rim in 11 years, probably lower than the average.

 

 

[HalfWheeler]

Depends on the cartridge

Depends on the cartridge bearing. The only time I’ve ever used them once and they were shockingly bad,  worn out and replaced within 100s rather than 1000s of miles. Mind you they were part of a wheel package fitted onto a Sensa bike; cheap shit to cut costs on an otherwise decent bike.

[Jack Osbourne snr]

Some of the lightest and
Some of the lightest and smoothest hubs in existence are built around cup and cone bearings, whilst some of the worst use cartridge bearings.

Some of the lightest and smoothest hubs in existence are built around cartridge bearings, whilst some of the worst use cup and cone bearings.

Both statements are equally true.

I have had examples of all of the above. My advice would be to go with whatever hub works for you in terms of weight, looks and general reliability before even thinking about bearing type. Even when you do consider bearings, serviceability is the only criteria you need take heed of. If the bearings can be serviced/ replaced then that’s all that matters.

@Flying Scot… You’ve seriously never worn out a rim? The roads on your side of Glasgow must be much cleaner than on mine. I’ve killed rims in a single winter…and yes, I do clean them between rides.

[Flying Scot]

What is all this ‘rim wearing

What is all this ‘rim wearing out’ stuff, I rotate round a few sets of wheels, and in 30 years have never worn a rim out, I do replace loose hub bearings every 3000 miles or so though.

i do lots of long descents, so I use my brakes hard, I get 2000 miles out a set of blocks and they are worn to virtually nothing.

 

 

is this the same school of thought that chains, cassettes and chainrings need all replaced at once? 

[Author]

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