I purchase a the Basic 2006 Giant Anthem, wheels spun great (Mavic 317 with Formula Disc hubs). Aftersome time 1000 miles ?? wheels did not spin so great. To took apart, greesed and re-assembled (without dust seals) they spin GREAT ! When I put the seals on they create a lot of drag. Any way to correct this? Here is a HUB with a similar looking dust seal. http://www.ukbikestore.co.uk/produc...ano-m555-deore-front-hub-disc-32h-silver.html This is front and back wheel.
Get some silicone grease on those seals, with a pinch of teflon lube. You should put a Squirt on your seals every couple of months.
Both of these are correct statements. Its great that your servicing your hubs, but you need to lube the seals a bit with some tyoe of oil or grease. Im a slick honey fan, I always have some around. I have also used Triflow, Bosheild, Krytox, mobil1, poly lube, pretty much anything you can coat the inside of the dust seal with will work. If I am going fast, I will be using just the same poly lube I used inside the hub, If I get to take my sime, I will use the slick honey on the seals. Lee is absolutly right here, it doesnt matter what hub it is, your going to feel a difference between having and not having the dust seals installed
or you could remove all bearing seals, dust seals, remove ALL lube, fill them with tri flow and get 1 ride out of your bearings but it will be FAST. Thats what we do on racing karts...no seals, no grease, just bare balls with triflow and replace often. Same goes for chain...sticky lubes add drag. I dont recommend any of this but if you want low drag, thats your option and the difference is AMAZING from grease, seals, dust seals...to nothing. also be sure you didnt tighten the nuts too tight which will create drag.
MTBDad is correct, and seriously when the seals are dry you really can "feel" the drag when riding, especially on a long climb. Some of the ideas here are great, simply grease (slick honey IS great) the seal lips. I always drip TriFlow into the joint between my hub and end-cap and it takes care of it. Note, the winning seal in the car has well greased lips.. able to smile while the other can't.
Drag If I spin the wheel, it spins freely for quite a while, I'd guess 20 - 40 turns, but with the seals on it spins and stops in about 8 turns ?? just a guess but very noticable difference. I dont "FEEL" any drag while riding, but it's very real. maybe it's just a mental thing. Hmmm whats the calculation to transfer that effort into weight ? is it like pulling an extra 10lbs of bike up the hill?
There is a point of diminishing return.. hence the drag is exponential. If a wheel only spun 5 turns with X force applied each time, and you lubed the seal and made it spin 10, that is a HUGE difference... Compare this to it spinning 20 times and then getting 40 turns after lubing. Minor difference. I can feel the drag mostly when climbing steep and slow. Yes it is fair to equate to Xtra weight = Xtra energy needed. Downhill, the drag is mostly irrelevant. The hub shown in your link does have that big honking seal with lots of drag if dry. New hubs with cartridge bearings are mostly drag free.
sorry to resurrect an old thread......but recently my drive-train started to act up.......I was getting massive chain-suck and there was a horrible buzzing sound when I was going down-hill and using the smallest sprocket on the cassette..... I do my own wrenching.......after some frustration (I examined the derailleur, the cables, the chain) I narrowed the problem down to my Mavic Crosstrail Hub......basically my free-hub was getting "dragged" in the direction of the wheel rotation (like a fixie bike)......but it only happened when there was no tension on the derailler.... anyhow....I took the hub apart the bushing looked good and nothing really "looked" dirty but when I removed the dust-seal off I noticed it was full of dust plus it was bone dry......so I cleaned it off, cleaned the hub and hub body & pawls, applied a bit of mineral oil to the seal and hub and voila......problem solved.... I have never "serviced" my hub before (always took it to a shop) but i was quite pleased at how it turned out.....I was already thinking I had a bad hub....
