Is my hub cracked?

Unicycles and Equipment
1

Okay, I took my 36er’s wheel off the other day to fix a flat. Had everything set up perfect, and now that I’ve had to mess with it I guess I’m ultra paranoid. Spending a lot of time getting my clamp pressure right, hearing phantom (or not) sounds, etc. :roll_eyes:

But that’s not what I’m really worried about.

Was looking at my hub and noticed a line towards the outside where it looks like the flanges may be welded? I’m not sure.

Anyway, there’s a line in the metal that almost looks like a crack, and I wanted to get your guys opinion of it. Looks like it could just be the weld, but I wouldn’t want to break it or something. It’s not deep or anything like that. Really just seems like a line or ‘gouge’ in the paint or something.

I do this with every uni and I hate it. I’d rather ride them than worry about breaking them, but I can’t help it…

Edit: Everything seems straight. No weird sounds or feelings. Could have been there from day one, and I just noticed it today. I haven’t been doing anything crazy, just general road riding, with a baby (1-2") hop to get me started sometimes.

Thanks for any input. This uni is my baby and I’m a bit sick about this…

First pics are of the line, last one is the other side of the hub.

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2

There appears to still be powdercoat in the ‘crack’ now that I look at it. Whether the powder coat cracked or not, I don’t know, just an observation. The other side of the hub has intermittent sections that are smooth, and slightly lined like the side in the picture.

3

It’s hard to tell, maybe you could post some pics with a light shining directly on it.

4

It is a welded flange, they can break…but they don’t break often.

One picture looks like a crack, the others do not, maybe ask a welder to look at the hub under UV.

If it’s cracked, you should be able to flex the flange seperately from the hub body.

If it is broken, UDC will send you a hub, then you can practice your wheel building :smiley:

I broke a bunch of hubs a couple years back…it’s just a thing.

5

Went and tried to push/pull on the flange. Don’t see any flexing or moving at all. I’ll see what I can do with the pics.

Alright, here we go with some pics.

Tried in a brighter room with a flashlight shining directly on the crack, and the camera’s flash on.

Looking at it in the direct light, I really think there’s powder coat in it. This leads me to believe it’s not a crack and just the weld? :thinking:

Just spit-ballin’ here.

Thanks for the help.

Edit: My dad, who can weld (though not a professional) thinks it’s the weld. He thinks it’s where they may have ground the bead down or something like that, and it’s just a small divot from the weld itself, if that makes sense.

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6

I would agree with your dad, it looks fine.

8

yeah, those pics look fine.

if it’s indeed broken, you’ll know sooner of later :roll_eyes:

9

That is not a crack. You are good to go.

(Weld inspection for Below-The-Hook Lifting Devices was one of my duties in a previous life!)

10

Whoo! Thanks guys. I really appreciate that.