So, post Unicon I’ve decided to have another go at my old Schlumpf. This hub has seen very little use since it broke my elbow years ago (slippage - my own fault).
As you can see from the picture below the interface doesn’t look great. I think it’s more dried on grease/oil rather than corrosion. I only took the wheel apart earlier in the year and gave it a rough clean with damp towels so whatever gunk is on there has been on the entire time. Where it’s thicker, i’ve been able to flick it off with a fingernail but it seems very stubborn.
Firstly, does anyone have advice on anything I can safely use to try to get the interface cleaner before installing new cranks?
Secondly, how much “special grease” should I add and is there anything else that I should do prior to riding it again?
Thirdly, is it possible to get replacement crank bolts? - one of mine is a little stripped out but should still be useable for one more install. This was due to a failed torque wrench on the original install meaning the cranks were overtightened and I think the 6mm couldn’t properly seat due to the shifter rod.
I’d go and get a tin of brake-cleaner from a car accessory/parts shop (or the likes of Halfords if you don’t have anything else locally) and give it a good spray of that to see if that softens it up, then just wipe it off, or a bit of a rub with a small wire brush if it is really stubborn. It is meant for cleaning car brake callipers etc and should hopefully soften up any dried up ‘stuff’ on the crank interface.
With respect to crank bolts, I seem to recall that there is a thread on here (in the last two or three years) which discusses the topic of crank bolts and torquing them up in quite a bit of detail, I haven’t searched for it but it was quite a long thread if I remember correctly.
I think there is also a reasonable amount of discussion on grease and replacement types, but I can’t really remember much about that, I don’t have a Schlumpf so I haven’t dabbled with such things.
Can’t speak on anything Schlumpf specific but for dried grease on bike/uni parts I like wd-40. It does a good job softening up grease and should be pretty safe for paint and whatnot. Then scrub with a wire brush or steel wool. Steel wool does kind of turn to dust as you use it so you might want to be careful not to get it in side the hub if you use it.
Yeah, being very careful. At the moment am cleaning the crank interface using WD40 sprayed lightly onto a microfibre towel which is having some effect. I can live with a little patina everywhere else. Will be adding more grease anyway so if anything somehow gets into the bearings, the new grease should force it back out. If someone has a better recommendation would be willing to look into it as it’s slow going and I’m in no rush…
Your’e probably right with the bolt. Because it’s the “Muni” generation, you can’t fit crank spacers and have to torque the crank to 40-50nm. With the old one I did check the torque spec, what I didn’t check was that dad’s 40+ year old torque wrench actually worked properly every time! Is this something you email Florian for or is there another way to order?
I tend to use a wood stick to scrape off dried oil/gunk. Before use I make sure that there is a reasonably sharp edge using a knife or a grinder. A stick of the correct diameter will fit perfectly in the valleys of the crank interface.
It is possible to buy bolts for the new hub version (14mm, I think). Not sure about the older versions that used a different diameter, if I‘m not mistaken. I would replace a damaged bolt. They suck, unfortunately- way too soft.
I’ve managed to get a lot off the mess off with WD40, kitchen towel, toothbrush and a soft scourer. I think the rest is either staining or remains of dried loctite (really don’t know why i loctited the cranks to the splines - my old build had extensive get-there-itis issues!). What matters is that it feels smooth and a set of test cranks sits nicely on it.
I got 4ml left in my last syringe so getting grease isn’t the problem. It’s more how much to add after leaving to sit for that long. At least 1ml is going in, after that think I will spin by hand for a bit, then add more until it starts leaking out the sides .
I had a bit of a play with the old bolts and they fit better in the socket than they do in my hex key so think I can get another install out of them. Annoyingly the old hardware shop with a full engineering workshop that could make any bolt they didn’t have in stock i used to use has moved half way across the city so that’s much more effort to take a punt on now.
Laced the wheel up today with a Halo T2 29" rim. Pairing with a 29x2" semi slick tyre. Choice was driven by wanting something lighter than a Dominator that was actually available to buy and reasonably priced. Online bike shops just don’t have the rim selection they used to.
Was waiting on a bag of spoke washers, then when they arrived discovered the flanges are so wide that a spoke will not fit with a washer! Will true it over the weekend when i’ve got several hours to sit outside and chill…
After that is the UDC order. Debating between 117/137 Spirits (non disc) or 138 VCX. Shifting would definitely be easier with the VCX as they are zero Q but not sure if that opens up the risk of unintentional shifting. Adding a KH frame and various other spares it’s going to be an expensive order of not very much!
That reminds me that I should replace the oil of my hub… To my understanding it’s actually indeed a replacement: drain the old fluid, then add the fresh oil.
I’d say you’re lucky to have such a shop in your city at all, even if it takess now longer to get there than it used to… If the thread (of the new hub, 22er model) were M15 we could simply use widely available stock bolts and drill a hole in them. They’d do the job more than just fine. But M14 is hard to get, particularly since they need to be rather long for a crank bolt.
Enjoy it . In my experience lacing and trueing a wheel can be anywhere from a nightmare to zen - depending on how things go. Hope it’ll be the latter in this case.
That’s why I went with Spirits. It’s really hard to shift - though, to be fair, I have 150s and rather short feet. Will one day try out the 137mm Spirits that I also ordered. They should make shifting easier but staying in balance will become harder.
It’s been a couple of weeks but the wheel is finally built. Delay has mostly been having the weather, time and mindset to sit outside and get it done. Had to redo half the lacing because I forgot the 3rd cross goes under which wasted half of the first truing session .
While the frame has been picked up second hand (thanks!) I still need to decide on cranks etc.. I don’t even have a spare 27.2 seatpost so the frame is resting loosely on a 25.4 post attached to a Fusion Zero saddle (IMHO the best use for that bringer of pain!). Need to contact UDC UK about things anyway but post Unicon blues definitely slowing me down on things like that…
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. In my experience lacing and trueing a wheel can be anywhere from a nightmare to zen - depending on how things go. Hope it’ll be the latter in this case.
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