Toasted a wheel bearing on my Cranbrook.

bluegoatwoods said:

Silverbear....you're breaking my heart.......

I just ordered a Wheelmaster heavy duty wheel today. Are you saying that even those aren't up to the task?

Here's what makes it even harder; I wanted to order the Worksman with 11 ga spokes. But there were none in stock and there was no info on how long it would be.

This is getting worse and worse......

But wait....gotta pull myself together here....even if those Wheelmasters don't do the trick I'll have plenty of parts..I can cobble something together....

But it might be a long winter...

Click to expand...

Its for sure that SB And others here are much more of an expert on wheels and hubs than I am, but I just wanted to say that the last wheelmaster wheel I bought has the Shimano 110E Hub and as it has been mentioned many times it seems that the Shimano hubs hold up really well for most people, im one that argues that a cheaper bike can be a good one and hold up well if all is good and done right, but just to clear things up on that Im also one that will completely agree that the older bike parts such as an old Bendix hub will for sure be much better and more reliable than a cheap chinese part, I have a Huffy that has the stock rear wheel still on it, it has 1000 miles on it now and shows no signs of any wear at all, it is a black wheel with the large spokes..... maybe the black wheels have a different hub than the chrome ones which seem to be the most common, I dont know why mine has held up so good but I think it has to do with the maintenance I did on it before the bike was ever even rode, who knows....... heck it may crap out the next time I ride it but the bearings are still as tight as they were the day I greased it and started using it 1000 miles ago and I have never had a wrench on it since.

SB and others are correct that the older American made parts are much better and will outlast the chinese stuff. But if bearings are not tensioned correctly and a hub is not properly greased it will fail no matter how old or new or brand.

Best wishes to all and keep the rubber side down.......

Map

The Shimano CB-110 seems like a good hub, but the wheel master rear wheels I had used Chinese hubs of the same diameter. I'm no great expert either, but am always on the edge financially... yet have these great ambitions that are so poorly funded. It sure would be nice to just order the best of everything my heart desires. On the other hand there's a great satisfaction in making do, finding ways around a problem with things you already have and re-purposing things. And when you can find things free at the dump or find a good buy it helps. And come to think of it if you can make a Chinese made bike serve your needs, more power to you.

I have also had Wheelmaster hubs hold up OK. Following Map's suggestions will be a good start and half expecting there to be a problem will make you keep an eye on your hub... looking for a bit of wobble that wasn't there before and attending to it. That alone will probably keep you out of trouble. One of mine that failed was also being subjected to extra stress in that the bike had a sidecar with a fixed mount to the bike frame... so it didn't allow the bike to lean into turns. That puts a lot of lateral stress on the wheel. The final answer for me was to build the wheel with 11 gauge spokes, a Bendix hub and an older Scwhinn rim. So far so good. Also consider that I am not a small fellow at 225 pounds. For the money the Wheelmaster heavy duty wheels are a bargain. The chrome doesn't hold up to Minnesota weather very well, but in a drier climate should be OK and they do take paint pretty well.

I have not found a cheap source of stout spokes. When I build a wheel, that's the expensive part. I found mine at Husky Bikes on line. Take care you guys.
SB

I give my Cranbrook wheel a good shake before I take it out for anything more than a putt around the neighborhood. So far, so good (after I had an issue and replaced the bearings, used Red 'n Tacky grease, and spent a good amount of time adjusting the cones).

If I were relying on this bike for my only means of transportation, this wheel would probably be kinda sketchy. However, since this is my 'fun vehicle', I'll just run it until it won't run no more.......

Bendix, that is what i had as a kid on my old western flyer Abused the **** out of that bike, and it never let me down. Never did 30mph on it though.

reusing the huffy rim (for now)
Shimano CB-e110 on order

now the question is spoke length?

that's the plan, just sitting here at work (bored)thinking. huskybikes.com doesn't look to bad on spoke prices.