Question to you all wheelbuilders: is a rear hub with cartridge bearings supposed to have this much friction?
The rotation is very smooth and silent, there is no unevenness or play. But turning it by hand takes a surprising amount of torque, it isn't exactly fidget-spinner level effortless.
Background: my daily commuter has a rear hub that still uses cup-and-cone bearings. It's either overtightened, or wobbly (not great with rim brakes). Since I need to fix my rear wheel anyway, I thought a hub with cartridge bearings could give the best bang-for-buck performance increase by stopping the wobble and reduce maintenance.
So I bought this rear hub on AliExpress for about USD 30 equivalent. I'm planning to rebuild the wheel this weekend.
Sanity check: rear hub rotational friction?
byu/rogue_engin33r inbikewrench
by rogue_engin33r
1 Comment
Its normal. The grease seals have some friction and the grease in new bearings getting pushed out of the path of the balls takes some effort too. They’ll ease up with time, but once the wheels together you’ll barely notice even what’s there now.