REVIEWS DEALS BIKESHOPS TRAILS

hub weight vs bearing friction

896 Views 2 Replies 3 Participants Last post by Dougal, Aug 18, 2004

FishMan473

Discussion Starter · Aug 15, 2004

I overhauled my King hubs this morning and once again noticed that these sealed cartridge bearings, even when fresh and clean, don't roll as well ( the wheel doesn't spin as long) as "loose" cup and cone bearings such as those on the LX hubs on my touring bike. I know that this is due to the increased friction found in cartridge bearings.

I'm planning on rebuilding my racing wheels this winter and was thinking that maybe a pair of loose ball bearing XTR hubs might be a racing performance improvement over my cartridge King hubs despite the fact that they are a bit heavier. Any thoughts?

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HTail

· #2 · Aug 16, 2004

Noticed similar

I've got CrossmaxSL's which also have sealed bearing and noticed that sealed bearing in general have a different kind of "roll" than ball bearings. As you noticed that have a slight resistance to them, slightly sluggish, though very smooth. I'll defer to other experts that chime in, but I believe under load, the sealed bearings are more efficient.

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Dougal

· #3 · Aug 18, 2004

HTail said:
I I believe under load, the sealed bearings are more efficient.

I've got the same gut feeling. While cartridge bearings have more seal friction, I think with a decent load applied they'd run more freely than cup and cone.

Of course this is just a feeling, I have no proof to back it up.

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