One of our 2019 Radcity has bad axle cone nuts on the front. I’ve looked online but haven’t found them yet. Need 16.9 or 17mm overall diameter, 9mm axle threaded opening, 9.5mm to 11.3mm length (or thickness if holding in hand). The front axle is actually too short on these bikes so the 11.3mm length can’t be exceeded and a little less is better. The hub has Modus on it which helps none so far. Thanks for help on this.
Radcity front hub
- Thread starter BKing
- Start date
AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
Planning on keeping the bike for a while? Any interest in learning to build/re-spoke a wheel? If the hunt for the proper parts to get the front hub you have now serviceable, maybe consider a new hub with sealed ball bearings?
Interested in how you make out with the replacement cones/bearings.
Interested in how you make out with the replacement cones/bearings.
Can’t find these cones. The front axle is undersized for a heavy bike that can have a front rack mounted on. These cones are the size for rear wheels on regular bikes but they don’t have the axle size opening normally found on this size cone. Shopping for axle assemblies and hubs is tough work and may not result in anything, I gave up. A new wheel will be the final fix but for now, since nothing was too damaged, I managed to clean up and polish the cones, loose bearings all good and used bicycle bearing grease. I think the cones were set too tight in the factory. To really check the feel you have to pop off the rubber seals first on both sides. Bearing service should be no longer than 1500 miles on these but should be checked by feel when new which I forgot to do because I was too busy dealing with a bad motor, clanking freewheel, bad shifter and bad controller over the period of 18 months or so.
AHicks
Well-Known Member
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- USA
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- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
My '17 'City lets me know the bearings are loose by cocking the wheel to the left when braking hard. Nothing dangerous, just something you see happening out of the corner of your eye at first (what the hell?). Fine otherwise, as there are no other symptoms. At that point I know to schedule some downtime for it. I pull the wheel, break the lock nut loose, unscrew the cone far enough to collect the balls, then CAREFULLY remove the axle from the hub releasing the balls on the other side. This is done over a plastic oil change tub so I catch all of them! Clean, grease, and reassemble. Adjust bearing preload carefully, tighten the lock nut, give everything a careful inspection, then reinstall. Nice rainy day project as you don't want to be in a hurry.
The 'City has maybe 1500 miles on it, and I've had it apart twice, so not too bad in the grand scheme of things.
New hubs will always be sealed bearings from here out. Lacing a wheel was a pain to learn, but now just another task that takes a LOT of patience to get just right. Retired, so I don't mind the time it takes at all.
You're looking at e-bike rated replacement wheels with 36 13g spokes, or the bicycle rated ones with 32 14g spokes?
The 'City has maybe 1500 miles on it, and I've had it apart twice, so not too bad in the grand scheme of things.
New hubs will always be sealed bearings from here out. Lacing a wheel was a pain to learn, but now just another task that takes a LOT of patience to get just right. Retired, so I don't mind the time it takes at all.
You're looking at e-bike rated replacement wheels with 36 13g spokes, or the bicycle rated ones with 32 14g spokes?
fooferdoggie
Well-Known Member
no real thing as e bike wheels. you netter off with good 14 gauge spokes overall. 32 spoke mount is plenty and you cant really get 36 right now.
AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
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- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
So this hub, the one I just laced up for a 26x4" fat tire conversion to 27.5x2.8" project, was just my imagination?
same story on the rim I used?
Halo Sas Rim 27.5" 36H Drillings For Mountain Bike Black | eBay
The anodised versions of our SAS rims can also be used with rim brakes. Naturally, the anodised finish will wear and reveal the silver coloured aluminium. SAS 27.5 Rim. Our SAS rim needs no introduction and has a proven record for re-defining what strength is.
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Mavic EX 830 27.5" MTB Disc Rim | eBay
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I believe there is such a thing as a 36 hole rims setup using 13g spokes. All you need to do to confirm is walk over to your RAD or most any other production e-bike using non proprietary parts.
fooferdoggie
Well-Known Member
well ya there are parts but there is no difference in parts for a ebbed and a regular bike There are some hubs made for ebikes for sure but its not needed. I got a dt Swiss hub made for ebikes but thats a high end hub. 36 hole rims well at least good ones are pretty scarce now. but maybe thats in 700c. never looked at other sizes. 700c 36 hole wheel parts are hard to find. of course there are 36 spoke wheels but if the wheel is well built 32 is plenty.So this hub, the one I just laced up for a 26x4" fat tire conversion to 27.5x2.8" project, was just my imagination?
same story on the rim I used?
Or this one I'm planing on using for the rear?Halo Sas Rim 27.5" 36H Drillings For Mountain Bike Black | eBay
The anodised versions of our SAS rims can also be used with rim brakes. Naturally, the anodised finish will wear and reveal the silver coloured aluminium. SAS 27.5 Rim. Our SAS rim needs no introduction and has a proven record for re-defining what strength is.www.ebay.com
Mavic EX 830 27.5" MTB Disc Rim | eBay
Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Mavic EX 830 27.5" MTB Disc Rim at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!www.ebay.com
I believe there is such a thing as a 36 hole rims setup using 13g spokes. All you need to do to confirm is walk over to your RAD or most any other production e-bike using non proprietary parts.
AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
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- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
I'm not going to argue the point regarding what you "can get away with". That's a pretty subjective path to go down. My point is regarding the fact most OEM e-bike manf's. feel there's good reason to go with 36 13g spokes, or they wouldn't be paying the extra 2 cents per wheel, or whatever that number is, to supply their bike equipped that way.
My main point was to make sure BKing was familiar with the fact that not all wheel assemblies are the same. He can make up his mind regarding what he wants/needs to do from there. -Al
fooferdoggie
Well-Known Member
since we see a huge mount of spoke and wheel issues here I would say their choices are that its cheaper or easier to do. even my bulls with that same 36 hole 13 gauge wheels had a failed rim.
I looked on several sites and found some that supply almost no details but modernbike.com has a filter system that lets you enter what you want. Only two wheels came up and they ignored my 36 hole request so I assume there are none there.
Still waiting to hear back from Rad since the wheel was assembled wrong, hoping to at least get a hub since those seem hard to find too for this bike. Or buy a wheel from Rad if it’s priced reasonably. I agree that everything on these bikes should be heavy duty due to weight of bike, allowed rider weight and the fact that a front rack can be installed which means heavier loads possible just like the rear rack can be loaded. We ride in places a lot that don’t allow bikes on the streets. Sidewalk or wide paved trail only. These trails have nasty bumps that sneak up on you so our bikes take a beating. The people that say Radcity bikes are junk should see what we have done with ours on mountain gravel roads, beaches, bumpy trails and prolonged high speeds.
I am concerned about the 100mm size including the axle because axle length needs to be 108mm minimum.
Still waiting to hear back from Rad since the wheel was assembled wrong, hoping to at least get a hub since those seem hard to find too for this bike. Or buy a wheel from Rad if it’s priced reasonably. I agree that everything on these bikes should be heavy duty due to weight of bike, allowed rider weight and the fact that a front rack can be installed which means heavier loads possible just like the rear rack can be loaded. We ride in places a lot that don’t allow bikes on the streets. Sidewalk or wide paved trail only. These trails have nasty bumps that sneak up on you so our bikes take a beating. The people that say Radcity bikes are junk should see what we have done with ours on mountain gravel roads, beaches, bumpy trails and prolonged high speeds.
I am concerned about the 100mm size including the axle because axle length needs to be 108mm minimum.
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AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
The 100mm front hub with QR (quick release) is a pretty standard size. No variations (other than the number of holes) that I'm familiar with, until you get into the 135mm hubs used on the fatties.
No idea who this seller is, or anything about him, but Halo is recognized as a sturdy wheel, here with reinforced spoke holes, which tells us it's top drawer stuff-
No idea what kind of bearings it uses, but a quick note to the seller should reveal that info.
No idea who this seller is, or anything about him, but Halo is recognized as a sturdy wheel, here with reinforced spoke holes, which tells us it's top drawer stuff-
Halo Combat-2 26" Front Wheel, 36h - Black | eBay
Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Halo Combat-2 26" Front Wheel, 36h - Black at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.com
No idea what kind of bearings it uses, but a quick note to the seller should reveal that info.
AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
The hub I used had to be drilled just the tiniest amount to accommodate the 13g spokes I used. To avoid any hassle when buuying a wheel like this, I think I'd be OK with 14g spokes in front.
My understanding is that it's a bad plan to drill reinforced rims for the bigger nipples. Sapim does make a special nipple for rims set up for 14g that's drilled and tapped for 13g spokes.
