Bending hubs/cassettes.

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I've been searching around and cannot find a solid answer on this, so I'd thought I'd ask.

My problem is currently I have cheap no-name hubs and a shimano cassette on my bike. Most of my riding is on trails, and a lot of is climbing up steep hills so I'm always putting a lot of force to the back wheel.

After about 120-200mi of riding my cassette has a noticable wobble when the wheel free spins, or when I pedal. As if where it mounts is now bent slightly. This causes some slipped shifts, mis shifts, etc. After another 500 miles or so the cassette itself just locks up and will no longer free spin.

My question is, will a "hi performance" hub solve this problem, or atleast help? I've asked several bike shops locally and none of them seem to understand, as if it doesn't happen to anyone else who's bought a good bike with cheap wheels/hubs. They all seem to think other hubs would be cooler as they are sealed, or have better bearings, etc, but none of them seem to think the cassette mounting area is going to be beefed up more.

Anyone have an opinion, or some hubs I should be looking at?

Originally posted by Desolas
I've been searching around and cannot find a solid answer on this, so I'd thought I'd ask.

My problem is currently I have cheap no-name hubs and a shimano cassette on my bike. Most of my riding is on trails, and a lot of is climbing up steep hills so I'm always putting a lot of force to the back wheel.

After about 120-200mi of riding my cassette has a noticable wobble when the wheel free spins, or when I pedal. As if where it mounts is now bent slightly. This causes some slipped shifts, mis shifts, etc. After another 500 miles or so the cassette itself just locks up and will no longer free spin.

My question is, will a "hi performance" hub solve this problem, or atleast help? I've asked several bike shops locally and none of them seem to understand, as if it doesn't happen to anyone else who's bought a good bike with cheap wheels/hubs. They all seem to think other hubs would be cooler as they are sealed, or have better bearings, etc, but none of them seem to think the cassette mounting area is going to be beefed up more.

Anyone have an opinion, or some hubs I should be looking at?


Not knowing what parts you are using i.e. Deore hubs with an LX (HG50) cassette it is hard to say, but you get what you pay for. If you have anything less than Deore hubs and an HG50 Cassette I wouldn't be surprised if there has always been a wobble. The more you spend the better the machining and precision of the hub and cassette. This is not that much of a wear issue except one must always keep the lockring on their cassette tight, your may be loose. When I say tight I mean pretty damn tight. If you were to take the cassette off and the cassette body on the hub, where the cassette slides on, if the splines look like your dog has been chewing on them, then your lockring has been loose. So maybe a little bit of wobbliness can come from that. Otherwise it's inexpensive components.

If you decide to buy new wheels invest your money in a set of hubs. Shimano is a standard, not light but bulletproof. SRAM makes a good hubset. Chris KIng and American Classic if you can afford it. There are others but they are either expensive or not any better than I've mentioned.

Cassette wise get a shimano Lx or better hub. And get a new chain if you buy a new cassette. And make sure it is the right length.

Thanks for the reply. Like I said, they are cheap no-name hubs, I think they originally came on a bike made by Dynacraft or something like that. I bought a frame, good running gear, but cheaped out on the hubs since I had a perfectly "good" set of wheels from a old bike.

The lockring has not been loose, but thanks for pointing that out, the hub is actually physically bent somewhat .. with it off the wheel and rolling across a counter you can see wobble to it. Cheap part. I think I will give the Chris King hubs a try, I'd rather spend more now and just be done with it rather than spending more time later swapping in another hub.

Why buy a new chain when you buy a new cassette?

Originally posted by Desolas
Thanks for the reply. Like I said, they are cheap no-name hubs, I think they originally came on a bike made by Dynacraft or something like that. I bought a frame, good running gear, but cheaped out on the hubs since I had a perfectly "good" set of wheels from a old bike.

The lockring has not been loose, but thanks for pointing that out, the hub is actually physically bent somewhat .. with it off the wheel and rolling across a counter you can see wobble to it. Cheap part. I think I will give the Chris King hubs a try, I'd rather spend more now and just be done with it rather than spending more time later swapping in another hub.

Why buy a new chain when you buy a new cassette?

I see what you mean now by bent hubs.

Technically you are suppose to replace the chain, chain rings, and cassette at the same time. This is fine for pro sponsored racers who don't pay for parts and labor. For us mere mortals, and speaking as a former mechanic, it is my experience that this doesn't apply to the average rider. Average riders often buy bikes they don't ride-bikes become garage decor. You sound as though you ride regularly and are pretty avid about the sport. Deep breath. So, I am guessing your cassette teeth are worn, this would stretch and wear the chain, as would the chain rings if they are scalloped or have broken teeth. Note: Some Shimano chain rings the teeth are of different heights and if its bio pace the rings are ovalized. I find that cassettes often damage chains more than rings, you'll have to look at your drivetrain. But I personally buy SRAM pc 58 or 59 depending on 8spd or 9 respectively it's about a $15 chain online and I replace it regularly. The idea is to keep the drive train clean, and replace the chain before it stretches and damages the teeth on the cassette and rings. This has worked for me.

Thanks for the input. That makes sense, for some reason stetching did not occur to me. The cassette does have visable wear so it only makes sense to replace the chain as well to have matched parts. I took everything into consideration but the chain. Had you not mentioned it I would have probably been back whining about random shifting problems in a year.