http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: Dead shimano hub gear repair en Wed, 13 May 2026 04:23:59 +0000 http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=14548#post-255836 Mon, 24 Jul 2017 22:59:49 +0000 I were right about that saddle 255836@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@kaputnik</p> <p>If you must use dessert as a lubricant try tiramisu. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=14548#post-255833 Mon, 24 Jul 2017 22:03:12 +0000 kaputnik 255833@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@IWRATS and for desert? (Grease?) </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=14548#post-255805 Mon, 24 Jul 2017 15:54:48 +0000 I were right about that saddle 255805@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@kaputnik</p> <p>I used to use Purple extreme bike lube, but then I just started filling the bottle up with 10W-40 semi-synthetic engine oil, of which I have a litre sitting in the shed. It's one seventh of the price and I can't see any difference in performance. The engine oil might actually be better.</p> <p>No way is a bike hub a more challenging environment than any part of a motor car, though external gears and chains are obviously more exposed to weather. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=14548#post-255804 Mon, 24 Jul 2017 15:48:07 +0000 kaputnik 255804@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I think the answer is that Shimano charge about the same for a litre of their proprietary lubricant as they do for the entire hub and it seems to basically be the same as ATF. I don't know myself, hence resurrecting the zombiethread, but much googling has suggested it's pretty standard practice. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=14548#post-255803 Mon, 24 Jul 2017 15:32:05 +0000 neddie 255803@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Sorry, I'm lost. Why would you put ATF fluid in a hub?</p> <p>Why not just refill with exactly the same grease/oil/fluid/whatever <em>that the manufacturer used in first place</em>?</p> <p>That way it is working "as designed" </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=14548#post-255797 Mon, 24 Jul 2017 14:43:44 +0000 Harts Cyclery 255797@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Was it me? If so, I'd like to think you'd give me a holler in the first instance. If not, then here are my thoughts.</p> <p>The ATF method is a recognised way of servicing Alfine and Nexus hubs. It is important to thoroughly grease the LH bearing to prevent oil egress, especially disc hubs. I have serviced dozens of hubs this way and never had a complaint. And have serviced many more than once. ATF is a very high-quality lubricant and is more than capable of dealing with the rather low temperature, benign conditions of a hub gear, compared to power steering systems and automatic gear boxes.</p> <p>If the hub was making a noise post-servicing, it would have been a good idea to return immediately for investigation. The noise would likely have had more to do with reassembly rather than the type of lubrication used. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=14548#post-255781 Mon, 24 Jul 2017 11:56:22 +0000 kaputnik 255781@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I happened to pick up an (apparently) working Nexus 7 as an interesting objet to play with at the Bike Station. For a fiver it seemed like offering well more than £5 of fun taking it apart and looking inside and even seeing if I could make it work.</p> <p>I know we have a specific grease there (<a href="http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=16048">here</a>) but wondered if any of our resident greaseologists had any further thoughts on how to lubricate such a hub without proprietary lubricants. It's £13 for a tube of the stuff so maybe best to just buy some and see!</p> <p>Seems a lot of online fora recommend automatic gearbox fluid but also making sure to heavily grease the seals to keep the fluid from all leaking out. An example set of instructions is <a href="http://thegoldenwrench.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/servicing-of-internally-geared-hub.html">here</a>, which involves a total degreasing of the hub before immersing in ATF oil and then heavily greasing. It would appear that the logic is that "here in Minnesota" it's too cold for Japanese grease and so oil is better for the hub. I imagine that the climate of Edinburgh is somewhat closer to Sakai city. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=14548#post-183949 Sun, 22 Mar 2015 19:40:13 +0000 gembo 183949@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>In the excellent mechanic's workshop there would often be a number of spare bits of broken nexus 8 hubs when he was fixing my hub gears. The party line was of course that there was nothing wrong with the product but the Alfine range came in very quickly to replace the nexus 8 </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=14548#post-183935 Sun, 22 Mar 2015 17:57:07 +0000 I were right about that saddle 183935@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@Its_Me_Knees</p> <p>Tis often thus, bikes being mass produced by people on Chinese/Malaysian/Taiwanese wages and repaired by artisans on UK wages.</p> <p>Thing is of course you've no idea what's in this hub casing - oil and rust or grease and steel? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=14548#post-183934 Sun, 22 Mar 2015 17:15:59 +0000 Its_Me_Knees 183934@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>In a surprising manifestation of the n+1 affliction, it looks like it could be cheaper to buy a second-hand example of my affected bike, than to buy a new hub and have it fitted... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=14548#post-183933 Sun, 22 Mar 2015 15:20:34 +0000 I were right about that saddle 183933@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Ah. <a href="https://www.velorbis.com/?wpdmact=process&amp;did=Ni5ob3RsaW5r">General document</a> specifies <a href="http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-internal-gear-hub-grease/rp-prod33670">Shimano Nexus</a> grease and strongly suggests not taking the planet gears apart. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=14548#post-183931 Sun, 22 Mar 2015 15:05:29 +0000 I were right about that saddle 183931@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><a href="http://si.shimano.com/#models/2765">Shimano tech docs for Nexus 7</a> don't appear to cover work on the internals, which I suspect is a broad hint that you're on your own if you do go there. Very hard for a mechanic to assess the risk of attempting repair - I can understand a workshop manager being very wary of opening a unit with an unknown history. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=14548#post-183928 Sun, 22 Mar 2015 14:13:09 +0000 gembo 183928@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>The oil bath is a sort of service rather than a repair.</p> <p>A very excellent mechanic used to repair my nexus 8, a much worse hub gear than the nexus 7. Due to the thin lithium grease inside the 8 whcih could not cope with water ingress. Alfine 8 and Alfine 11 better than nexus 8. Actual hub double sealed. The nexus 7 better than the 8 as It used thick grease rather than the lithium stuff and the thick grease copes better with water ingress.</p> <p>This very excellent mechanic was subsequently not allowed to repair the nexus 8 by his employer and this oil bath malarkey became the only route. That is when I switched to sturmey 3 spd </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=14548#post-183905 Sat, 21 Mar 2015 23:49:14 +0000 Greenroofer 183905@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I think we need to be a bit careful here before naming anyone...</p> <p>My understanding is that the oil bath service is the <strong>correct</strong> method for servicing an 8-speed Alfine Hub, so it may well be valid for Nexus too. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Shimano-Internal-Hub-Maintenance-Oil/dp/B00O58QCQY">Here</a>, for example, is the oil on Amazon, and <a href="http://si.shimano.com/php/download.php?file=pdf/ev/EV-SG-S500-2637C.pdf">here</a> it is at the bottom of the parts list for an Alfine Hub (</p> <p>The instructions on the bottle show to dunk the hub for a period and then leave it to drain before re-installing it. Presumably this is to wash out any contamination from the hub, but also reflects that fact that the hub isn't designed to run in an oil bath, so it will leak oil if put back too 'wet'.</p> <p>There's lots of stuff online about using other oil (or transmission fluid), and the volume of this drowns out the official Shimano guidance.</p> <p>The 11-speed Alfine hub is different. It has a permanent oil-bath (like a Rohloff), and this can be maintained on the bike using (another) Shimano kit via an oil port on the hub shell.</p> <p><a href="https://hubstripping.wordpress.com/nexus-inter-8-shimano/">hubstripping</a> is worth a read if you enjoy the intricate engineering of an IGH. So much more satisfying than a derailleur in my view. It's like watch-making. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=14548#post-183895 Sat, 21 Mar 2015 21:07:05 +0000 neddie 183895@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>If they'll take one shortcut, they'll surely take another. I for one would like to know who to avoid. Please name 'em </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=14548#post-183892 Sat, 21 Mar 2015 20:42:55 +0000 Its_Me_Knees 183892@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@SRD Best not to... Any bike servicers who read this forum (and this thread) will recognise if the 'transmission oil' trick is a shortcut they use...and will hopefully not use it any more. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=14548#post-183818 Fri, 20 Mar 2015 14:48:44 +0000 SRD 183818@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>oof. are you going to name and shame? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=14548#post-183817 Fri, 20 Mar 2015 14:39:18 +0000 Its_Me_Knees 183817@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>&lt;Murder enquiry commences...&gt; :-( </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=14548#post-183815 Fri, 20 Mar 2015 14:34:05 +0000 I were right about that saddle 183815@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@Its_Me_knees</p> <p>Oh dear. Shimano hub gears are not oil-tight. They are greased because otherwise the oil...falls out through the grease seal. That is why your hub has died - it has been assassinated. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=14548#post-183746 Thu, 19 Mar 2015 21:34:42 +0000 Its_Me_Knees 183746@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@IWRATS: Yep....not looking good, is it? I've had the bike around 5 years now, but it only accounts for half my commuted miles. It was serviced locally about 18 months ago but I wasn't v impressed when they gleefully told me that they'd used car transmission oil rather than the (expensive) Shimano stuff prior to reassembling. It also gained a ratchety sound that it previously never had and I'm left thinking the service did more to shorten the life of the hub than lengthen it...</p> <p>@Kaputnik: noted. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=14548#post-183672 Thu, 19 Mar 2015 10:45:58 +0000 kaputnik 183672@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>First stop Bicycleworks. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=14548#post-183659 Thu, 19 Mar 2015 09:28:53 +0000 I were right about that saddle 183659@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@Its_Me_Knees</p> <p>Oh dear. <a href="http://sheldonbrown.com/nexus7.shtml">Sheldon Brown seems to be reading the last rights;</a> "The internal mechanism of these hubs is complicated, and the usual repair is to replace it in its entirety."</p> <p>It also looks like they've changed the dimensions over time, so that could well mean building a new hub into a new wheel. You can get a hub plus furniture for about £140...plus wheel build plus fitting.... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=14548#post-183653 Thu, 19 Mar 2015 00:39:58 +0000 Its_Me_Knees 183653@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Can anyone suggest where in/around Edinburgh I might get my Shimano Nexus 7 speed hub repaired? It died going to work this morning (something went ping...or was it crack...or scrunch...) and there is now no drive in any gear. All externals (cable, shifter etc) are connected and OK, it's deffo an internals issue. </p>