Fat bike hubs switch-a-roo.

serviceguy

serviceguy

Well-Known Member
I built a new set of ‘summer’ wheels for my mukluk and I’m eager tu test the bike in the new 29+ setup (hoping for a better result than the fugitive in a 27.5+). The old wheelset uses a 197 fatback hub while the new one is built on Hope fatsno. I am running xt 11 speed 11-46t on both. Looks like the cassette on the new wheel is shifted to the right as compared to the old setup. I did install the ring that came with the hub between the cassette and the freehub, but again on my fugitive I can switch between Hope (with the ring) and DT Swiss hubs without touching the rear derailleur settings. I’m not even sure removing the ring will do, seems like the cassette is a full gear off the mark! Any pointers? Everything seems torqued down correctly, there’s no play on the cassette and massive clearance between the smallest cog and the frame. Maybe I mounted the older cassette wrong ? What is supposed to be the variance between the position of a cassette on different hubs, normally ?
 
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May have come with a 7 speed spacer, or it might be a "road length" freehub (one extra sprocket fits on the body).

Is the cassette tight without the spacer?
 
Not all hubs/wheels are the same. If it's in the derailleurs range and the cassette has no movement and is properly torqued, you are good to go. Swapping wheels on the same bike doesn't always mean the rotor/cassette will be in the same place. Just like swapping between my road and cross bike on the Kickr.
 
Karate Monkey said:
May have come with a 7 speed spacer, or it might be a "road length" freehub (one extra sprocket fits on the body).

Is the cassette tight without the spacer?
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Same spacer as on my 157m hub, it worked for that swap I was Hoping it would work for this too...:)
I wouldn't expect Hope to send a fat bike with a road freehub but who knows. I'll check with my other Hope hubs.
I'll double check, I may have screwed up assembly the cassette without realizing it.

Magic said:
Not all hubs/wheels are the same. If it's in the derailleurs range and the cassette has no movement and is properly torqued, you are good to go. Swapping wheels on the same bike doesn't always mean the rotor/cassette will be in the same place. Just like swapping between my road and cross bike on the Kickr.
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It is within the derailleur range but seems a little bit much in terms of 'standard' fitting.
 
Yeah, there aren't really standards, and even the same parts from the same company don't guarantee a fit. Find out with one is away from the centerline furthest, then shim the other cassette out to match. Ditto with the brake rotors.

OR

Just adjust both when you need to swap.
 
Karate Monkey said:
Yeah, there aren't really standards, and even the same parts from the same company don't guarantee a fit. Find out with one is away from the centerline furthest, then shim the other cassette out to match. Ditto with the brake rotors.

OR

Just adjust both when you need to swap.
Click to expand...

Looks like the rotors are more consistent, I usually get away with the standard alignment procedure (loosen, pull lever, tighten).
 
Update and closing of the thread (I think). I put the fat wheels back on the Mukluk and now the shifter wouldn't go into the 3 highest gears? Why The Face? So I unbolted the cable clamp on the derailleur, move the derailleur by hand until it hit the limit screw, fixed the cable again (exactly in the same position as it was originally and now it shifts like butter and it goes in all gears...I'm guessing the cable and/or housing may need replacing soon.

BTW, I think I did NOT install the cassette on the new wheelset properly, I can clearly see the difference in how much the drive side endcap sticks out of the retaining ring as compared to the one on the 26" wheel (same Shimano XT CS-M8000 cassette on both wheels).
 
Karate Monkey said:
May have come with a 7 speed spacer, or it might be a "road length" freehub (one extra sprocket fits on the body).

Is the cassette tight without the spacer?
Click to expand...
This. But not exactly. I took the fat bike in to clean up the drivetrain and install the newly waxed chain, so I decided to get a final answer to this issue...

The Hope hub comes indeed with a road freehub that requires a spacer behind the cassette, which I did install and brought the whole cassette closer to the frame than with the older hub (Fatback Alaskan edition). But without the spacer the cassette wobbles quite a bit, so that is a no go.

Now, all Hope hubs with Shimano HG freehub require the spacer when used with XT or XTR 11 speed cassette, and so did the 12x157 hub I originally used on my Fugitive, but when I switched from Hope to DT Swiss 350 I didn't even need to touch the derailleur settings, it shifted perfectly...so I start to think the issue maybe with the old Fatback hub requiring a spacer itself for the cassette to be correctly aligned and fully interchangeable with another wheel set...I may have been riding this wrong since the beginning...

Oh well, it needs a little bit of attention anyway, when I took the cassette out I found 2 spokes on the drive side badly mangled and bend, I suspect at least one of them maybe on its way to snap-o-land...maybe I should get a set of 350 to match the rims, maybe when I switch to the 'summer' wheel set, 29+ goodness.
 
...aaand a new issue comes along! One of the tires on the new 29+ setup slowly leaks in 3 specific spots. The tires are still fully inflated after 3 days but this one has 3 spots where tiny sealant bubbles show up and a little sealant seems to drip. I cleaned the beads and marked the location where this happens, it’s always in the same 3 spots. Tires a wtb ranger 3.0” and rim wtb Kim tough i45 TCS. Rims did not appear to have any damage. I inflated the tires to about 15 psi just to seat the beads.
 
is it the same spot on the tire or the rim mark the spots, rotate tire on rim, try again, see if they stay at the same spot).

although if it holds air and weeps a drop or two of sealant i wouldnt be concerned about it myself.
 
w_b said:
new bike is the correct answer for this instance.
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You maybe on to something there...at least no fire!
shrpshtr325 said:
is it the same spot on the tire or the rim mark the spots, rotate tire on rim, try again, see if they stay at the same spot).

although if it holds air and weeps a drop or two of sealant i wouldnt be concerned about it myself.
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Not really concerned, really just trying to find an x-cuze to get rid of those horrible, horrible tires...but yeah, I'll try that. Wait, but then the logo will not be aligned with the valve, could that cause some other problem? Will @Magic universe feel unbalance then? So many questions, so little time to answer them, OMG, OMG, OMG!
 
serviceguy said:
You maybe on to something there...at least no fire!

Not really concerned, really just trying to find an x-cuze to get rid of those horrible, horrible tires...but yeah, I'll try that. Wait, but then the logo will not be aligned with the valve, could that cause some other problem? Will @Magic universe feel unbalance then? So many questions, so little time to answer them, OMG, OMG, OMG!
Click to expand...
Use epoxy as tire sealant.
 
serviceguy said:
You maybe on to something there...at least no fire!

Not really concerned, really just trying to find an x-cuze to get rid of those horrible, horrible tires...but yeah, I'll try that. Wait, but then the logo will not be aligned with the valve, could that cause some other problem? Will @Magic universe feel unbalance then? So many questions, so little time to answer them, OMG, OMG, OMG!
Click to expand...


if it not loosing air just leave it the f- alone, why fix it if it aint broke?
 
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