Anyone out there in the Biking in Heels readership have experience with doing an oil-bath on a Nexus IGH?
I think that Gilbert is due for some maintenance on his rear hub, which has in total about 3 years of year round riding on it. It feels a bit like there's gravel in the freewheel. I thought that this was a service that Harris Cyclery would offer since they see more IGH's than the average shop, but it seems that they don't.
I don't want to get into hubstripping. I'm sure I _could_ do it, but I don't think I have the patience or finesse for it. Just reading the hubstripping site gives me hives. However, others on bike forums and other sites indicate that just removing the guts from the housing, dipping it in the magic oil and then reassembling it is not that complicated. I would have to buy the package of magic oil and maybe the special cup (handy for storing the oil I suppose). I'm trying to convince Harris that this is something they should offer, but I don't know if they have the market for it.
Interestingly, the guy I spoke to in service said that I was the second person who had called him (I forget if he said this week or today) asking about this kind of service. Maybe there's a market for it after all :)
Has anyone done this themselves? I'm fairly handy, but not looking for a intense mechanical challenge.
Advice would be most welcome!
In an update, Jim from Harris emailed me back to say that after checking out the links I sent him, he thinks they might start offering the service, will check it out with the higher ups, so I'll keep my fingers crossed.
My suggestion:
ReplyDeleteCall up the guys at http://www.rideyourbike.com/internalgears.shtml
and tell them your total situation. They're in Seattle, but they may know of someone locally or tell you a decent way to do it. I think they know of what they speak. They'd probably advise Harris if necessary.
I've been lucky myself. After three years, my Nexus hub works like new. Sometimes it IS nice to be in Texas...
Sorry I can't help, but that gritty feeling you're describing - I've felt it even in some brand new Shimano hubs, which is why I prefer SA. It would be great if Jim started offering this as a service though, keep us informed.
ReplyDeleteI would think Broadway Bicycle School has done this before. But they may stop at S/A hubs. You should check them out.
ReplyDeleteif you come up short, I've done a lot of hubstripping with S/A hubs, and I now have a Nexus on my new cargo bike. So I'd be happy to help you figure it out, or even do the messy work if you like. I'm sure Somervillan and the BRW crew would be interested in helping.
I know several of the mechanics at BBS have bikes with IGHs, so you could probably at least find someone to give you advice there.
ReplyDelete