CurtisRider Posted January 7, 2013 Report Share Posted January 7, 2013 (edited) I currently have a Formula 9mm front axled hub with 5mm quick release running in my 06 Reba Teams. The forks twist rather alot at the lowers and apparently the 9mm through axles make a decent difference with them, although a pretty small amount. I cant really justify spending £50+ on a front hub for something with such a minimal gain and I fancied something constructive to do....so why not cunger up a 9mm through axle hub out of old crap hub? I found an old Shimano M475 hub in shed with dead bearing races, perfect! I have smacked out the steel races leaving me with space to fit a 26mm OD bearing in, at 7mm wide one side and 8mm wide the other side-a fairly typical size for most front hubs it seems from a bit of googling Now heres where I need some help. Can I go for simply a 9mm ID and run a 9mm through axle skewer straight through the bearings? Or should I be looking to run something like a 15mm ID and an alloy axle to disperse the stresses more so? I have been looking at cutaway drawings of hubs, and it seems most have the 9mm through axles go straight through some adaptors that make effectively make the hubs bearing ID smaller without an extra axle. Preferably I would skip the alloy axle and just run the through axle skewer with alloy spacers to centre the hub correctly in the fork. This is also the cheapest and lightest option as 26x7x9mm bearings are FAR cheaper than 26x7x15mm, and I would have the advantage of bigger bearings. Example of adaptors straight to bearings Basically if i go the cheap bearing way with a Superstar 9mm through axle skewer, i can do this for about a tenner Less if i go ahead and build the through axle skewer myself, which is the more fun option too. Edited January 7, 2013 by Paul Oliver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dezmtber Posted January 8, 2013 Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 Drill out the qr adaptors to fit the superstar axle. Maybe it will work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurtisRider Posted January 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 I'm not sure if you read what I write correctly. I have just a Deore hubshell currently (and some bearings+9mm QR on the way now), no adaptors. I'm going to try using the through axle as the main axle that the bearings run directly onto, with some spacers made up to space the hub correctly, and an internal spacer as to not put too much stress on the inner races. I'm not holding out on it working that well and i'm already saving for a new wheelset anyway but it's fun to try stuff out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyseemonkeydo Posted January 8, 2013 Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 I hadn't come across those Superstar QR's- just ordered myself one to have a play with on my Inspired (though that involves drilling out the QR adapters on my Hope Pro II which seems like a slightly silly idea... meh! As for the Deore project- what sort of bore have you ended up with once you removed the races? I would imagine you'll have to do a little modification to get the new bearings to fit nicely in there but it should all work out quite well... keep us posted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurtisRider Posted January 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 Bore is 26mm (well 25.72mm on my digital calipers) hence getting the 26mm bearings as they are the cloest match. I can put the hub body into hot water before fitting them, which should hopefully expand it enough.... Gone for 8mm wide at disc side and 7mm wide at the other as they were the widest I could fit flush. This could be the first Shimano sealed bearing hub Drilling the Hope end caps makes sense, for some reason they don't seem to do a 9mm version (or I couldn't find any at least) so you probably have very little option! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dezmtber Posted January 8, 2013 Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 Put a solid axle in the shimano and nut it on. Hope do a superstar conversion for the pro 2 It's a 10mm through adaptors http://www.hopetech.com/page.aspx?itemID=SPG161 hope tech support page will help you both out with the info you need for any adaptors ect.. for your hope hubs Open the exploded view of your hub on.that it will also show all the options avalable for your hub and bearings too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurtisRider Posted January 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 I wanted to retain QR as I like the convenience, and solid axle wasn't an option on this hub as the races were shot! Why would you want to run 10mm through adaptors on a 9mm through axle? Are you getting confused with the back end? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyseemonkeydo Posted January 8, 2013 Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 Hope do a superstar conversion for the pro 2 It's a 10mm through adaptors Yeah Hope do sell 9mm converters but they're just the QR adapters with the centres drilled out to 9mm so I'm not going to pay for anything when I can adapt what I've got. I'm astounded Shimano have never gone down the sealed bearing route. I would never run even XTR or whatever hubs if they aren't sealed. It's like they're stuck in the bloody 70's! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurtisRider Posted January 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 Shimano hubs are sealed, it's just they use cup and cone over cartridges. There is nothing wrong with that, as long as you don't mind tweaking them once in a while! I had a M525 Deore hub for nearly 10 years and never once regreased it or adjusted it...it was used for trials, xc and dj on various different builds, and just kept running awesomely! Even the freehub never skipped which is a rarity for those hubs haha. I Just got a brand new SLX rear hub (the high ep, high torque model for 29s) for £20 posted, I just need to get some spokes and that's me sorted out back for now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dezmtber Posted January 8, 2013 Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 Any one who has had the 2012 xt wheelset will know the rear hub bearings fail just before the axle snaps of if your lucky the freehub strips the treads holding it onto the hub shell. No not a fan of shimano hubs here horah to the day shimano use sealed press fit bearings. They should do a mavic type hub I would get one for the xc rig. Shimano use cup and cone as it reduces rolling resistants Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyseemonkeydo Posted January 8, 2013 Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 Sorry, I meant cartridge rather than sealed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurtisRider Posted January 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 I'm guessing they won't be ditching the cup and cone system anytime soon, seeing as everybody else did that 15 or more years ago and they shimano stuck to thier guns. If the cartridge Deore front works, I may attempt a cartridge rear just to see if it would work. I have a spare M525 rear sitting here actually... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurtisRider Posted January 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2013 Well 1 bearing arrived, and once pressed in the bearing became incredibly tight, I didnt realise 0.1mm would make that much diference! So poverty hub project is no more until I'm next in contact with a lathe... then I may as well finish it In the mean time I picked up a Whyte 15mm hub in 'as new condition' off ebay for £12 posted and scabbed some 15mm OD 9mm ID alu rod from uni ready for converting it to 9mm through Hub turned out to be not quite as good conditon as the seller claimed... Dented flanges from some sort of impact and a bent flange as a result I guess I could run it as is as its not bent massively, but it worries me that it'll crack as there are stress marks on the flange where the bend is...or should I just man up and lace it up? If i go new, does anybody have sny suggestions? Tempted by the Superstar Evo, but after I replace the bearings I am heading towards Hope Pro2 territory and they need drilling to work with the 9mm axle.... which one do I go for? Or are there other alternatives? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyseemonkeydo Posted January 27, 2013 Report Share Posted January 27, 2013 I've now converted my front Commencal hub to a 10mm bolt through (modified 10mm rear Superstar QR) and the Inspired to a 9mm bolt through so thanks for putting me on to them Mr Oliver! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurtisRider Posted January 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2013 Good stuff! Noticed any difference? I ended up getting a nearly new Specialized 9mm hub for £1.20 off ebay so the poverty hub project was stuffed into the toolbox Rebas feel more positive in the ruts now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss-Higgy Posted January 27, 2013 Report Share Posted January 27, 2013 please excuse my dimness, but you have created a hub that bolts in like the trial tech hubs? If so could you explain it a little more, and would it work with a hope front hub? Really hate QR's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyseemonkeydo Posted January 28, 2013 Report Share Posted January 28, 2013 Good stuff! Noticed any difference? It's noticeably stiffer when you grab the forks with the bike upside down which should result in things being more planted on the trail but haven't really tested it properly yet. please excuse my dimness, but you have created a hub that bolts in like the trial tech hubs? If so could you explain it a little more, and would it work with a hope front hub? Really hate QR's No, these basically replace a spindly 5mm QR skewer with a stiffer 9 or 10mm hollow axled QR. The wheel still operates with a QR lever (rather than bolts) but it should be stiffer and stronger. QR's like these: Rather than these: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haydon_peter Posted January 28, 2013 Report Share Posted January 28, 2013 I've now converted my front Commencal hub to a 10mm bolt through (modified 10mm rear Superstar QR) and the Inspired to a 9mm bolt through so thanks for putting me on to them Mr Oliver! If you haven't already, change the rear to a 10mm Superstar QR as well, it makes the Meta 5 much stiffer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyseemonkeydo Posted January 28, 2013 Report Share Posted January 28, 2013 Hey chief, already gone to a 12mm Maxle on the rear which as you say made a big difference . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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