I have the stock Shimano wheels that came with my 2002 Giant TCR, which are built with R535 hubs. They’re getting VERY rough, and the front wheel is starting to wobble at high speeds. The wheels have over 2500 miles on them and I haven’t really done anything to maintrain them – they’ve never needed to be trued or anything. I’m thinking that rebuilding my hubs would a)extend the life of the wheels and b)be an interesting project.
I went into one of the larger bike shops in Manhattan yesterday and when I told them what I wanted to do they looked at me like I was on crack. They don’t seem to stock bearings, cones & races, although they do stock sealed bearings for the more expensive wheels. Nor did they have anyplace they could look up which ones they’d need to order – their Shimano mechanical guides don’t go back to 2002 and the new one (which lists an R540 hub) didn’t give a listing of parts needed. Apparently the shop has to take apart the wheel and measure everything with precision calipers before they even order the parts. Every repair guide I’ve read says once you take the bearings out of the hubs there’s very little chance they’ll go back in, so that means my wheel will be sitting in a pile of little parts for a week while I wait for the parts to come in, and that’s HOPING that the measurement wasn’t off by 1/32 of an inch and we got the right bearings.
Now I know these aren’t the best wheels on the planet, but I’ve blown my bike budget for the rest of the year and I’m almost done racing so no way I want to buy new wheels just to train on over the winter. If anything, I want to keep training on these wheels so next season, if I can afford to get good wheels they’ll really make a difference.
Am I crazy for wanting to do this? Am I better off dipping into next years’ bike budget by spending a few hundred bucks on a new or used wheels? If you don’t think I’m crazy, do you have any idea where I can find out what parts I need?
Side note first: If your front wheel wobbles, make sure you check your headset first.
Anyway: A store not being able to provide you w/ ball bearings is a sign that it’s a crappy store imo. The balls are the same size afaik - I think 1/4 inch in the front, and 3/8 in the rear. I agree w/ Dre’s edit I just read - even if your cones are roughed up, repacking and changing the ball bearings in your hub is a worthwile project which shouldn’t take more than an hour for the front wheel. Rear wheel is a bit more complicated b/c you’ll want to take off the cassette to be able to clean the race of the cassette side. If the cone and the races are smooth, you’re good to go. If the cones are shot, you should be able to get new ones at a decent shop. If the races (inside the hub) are shot, then it’ll be time for new wheels eventually, but you’ll still be able to ride them and hardly notice, depending on how bad the condition is.
A good way to keep those bearings in there is to smear some grease into the race (grease gun helps a lot), then stick the appropriate number of ball bearings in there. This way, they won’t drop out as easily. Then, stick axel w/ cone attached to it through hub from that side, and repeat on other side w/ axel in place already. Screw on cone, counter w/ lock nut, and you’re good to go. Have fun!
Rebuilding the hubs isn’t very hard, provided you have cone wrenches and some mechanical aptitude. I repack my hubs every year or so, just open them up, clean everything out and put in fresh grease. Very rarely do I ever replace ball bearings and cones, fresh grease usually does the trick for the most part.
Check out the tech articles on cyclingnews.com, they probably have one on rebuilding hubs. There are various books, etc. out there as well. Go ahead and try it, the worst that can happen is you have to buy the new wheels that you were thinking about anyway.
I’d find a new bike shop too, sounds like that one is fairly incompetent, or at least uncaring, which is almost as bad.
the R535 hubs were never that great; them getting rough was kind of normal. chances are a regrease would have improved things; probably no need to replace the bearings and races.
the ball bearings used in the R535s were pretty standard sizes, certainly a size that Lickton’s (link above) sold. I don’t think very much changed between the 535s and the 540s except the rear lacing pattern. chances are, the bearings are 3/16" front, 1/8" rear.
this past spring, I had some ultegra hubs rebuilt after about 12,000 miles. the front was a little rough so I took’em in to the shop. replaced bearings and cones, trued’em up…cost me $40. of course, that was in ET (east tennessee), not NYC. any shop that can’t do the job on your hubs needs to close up.
Like everyone else has mentioned itis pretty easy to do. I am also in NYC and have found the vast majority of shops here to be terrible. I paid $7.50 for a tube a couple weeks ago in an emergency. The prices they chare are amazing. Good luck withyour wheels.
I’ve got to defend the 535’s. I just got in (still in bike shorts) after riding a set of them with 6656.7 miles on them. I’ve never trued them or rebuilt the hubs. They’ve been great. I might rebuild the hubs this winter just to see how they work.
Here’s an update. (I can already tell I’m going to invest way too much time in this project.)
CHecked out Shimano’s web site and found a link to an exploded diagram of the R535! But the link is broken – no diagram. Did manage to find the phone number of Shimano North America (press 1 for cycling, 2 for fishing, just like OLN!) The tech I spoke to at Shimano was absolutely great, gave me bearing sizes (1/4 on the rear, 3/16 on the front) part numbers for the cones, etc. Couldn’t tell me what size cone wrenches I’d need but they’re $4 a piece for the double sided ones so no big deal. Did you know there’s a Dura Ace bearing grease? I kid you not, although the Shimano guy did admit with a wink that it might be easier to find grease by Park or Pedros. Kudos to Shimano North America for great customer service.
So I got on the phone today and ordered the parts. When they put in the part numbers for the cones, they got a match on cones compatible with the current Sora hub. So yes folks, the R535 is basically a Sora hub. So when Giant says that the bike comes with 105 components, I guess they don’t count the wheels.
Also, it turns out wheels with Ultegra hubs and Mavic rims aren’t as expensive as I thought. So worst case, if I completely blow this project I’ll buy new wheels.
Oh, and thanks to the poster who mentioned that I should check my headset. Indeed I have, and the headset is fine. The axle in both front and rear wheels is developing a fair amount of play, which I felt today when cornering, and that turns into an unsettling vibration when I exceed 22 mph.
Sorry dude, but your LBS sucks ass. Every shop worth its salt should not only stock standard bearings, but have the skills and knowlege to rebuild hubs/headsets/bottom brackets as a matter of fact. There is nothing difficult about it, assuming you have the correct tools (cone wrenches are pretty much mandatory). Not only that, but every bike shop ought to have access to the QBP catalog, which stocks pretty much everything “small and fiddly” on your ride.
I can possibly see some higher end shops questioning rebuilding a Sora-based wheel (why not just replace it), but just rebuilding the hub is a quick and simple job. PM me if you’d like a good bicycle maintenance manual.