From Car to Bike Mechanic

In my youth, bicycles were for children and it was cars which drove my obsession. In the late 1980s, I took this to its nth degree by building and maintaining my own rally car. A weekend did not go by when I was not up to my elbows in grease replacing or upgrading some mechanical part.

Since getting my first company car, some 15 years ago, the opportunities to spend evenings under the bonnet have thankfully long gone, however, my new found interest in cycling has rekindled the mechanic in me and after replacing break callipers, reindexing gears and recently being shown how to replace a cassette and chain, I felt ready to take on a Shimano rear hub rebuild after one of my Mavic wheels developed an alarming crunching sound.

Cross section of the Shimano Rear Hub

Before tackling the project, I sought the advice of my fellow club Pedallers. This varied from, 'can't be done, you're best ditching the wheel', to 'no problem, I've done it many times'. A quick look on YouTube gave definitive video proof that it was possible, and my local cycle shop provided me the bearings, grease and cone spanner to undertake the task .. I was ready to re-emerse myself into the role of mechanic!

Rear Freewheel and Bearings

The instructions received worked a treat, and with the aid of my new tools and a telescopic magnet, I had split the hub and removed the bearings. Within, the cassette / drive side bearings were heavily corroded and concerned that their housing was overly worn and pitted, I acquired a replacement freewheel from Soanes Cycles, luckily - as they did not have one in stock - they were able to source this from a 'spare' wheel with Shimano hub, removing the parts I needed while I waited. It's so great to have a friendly local bike shop to hand when needed.

Re-constucted, my rear hub was now spinning freely and without a crunch to be heard. One lesson learned for next time, however, is to count the bearings. High on this success, I was going to set about  reconditioning my front hub, which while not making a noise, did feel a little grainy. Needing 8 bearings per side, and having 8 new and 8 left over from the good side of the rear hub, I thought, 'perfect, just the right number' ... but check out my above picture, how many bearings do you count?

Yes .. nine! 15 minutes later, the hub was stripped again and an additional bearing added to each side ... funny thing was, it sounded great on the test ride. The mechanic is back!