schwinn hub replacement

i haven’t gotten to taking it apart yet, but does anyone know if the schwinn cottered or cotterless hub is replacable with something like a suzue hub? any help is appreciated.

also i’m still looking for better 20" unicycles, $$$ is waiting

thanks
jim

i forgot to mention that i can trade mtb/road/bmx/old school bmx stuff for unicycles in trade. i have or can get just about anything you need. will welcome 24’s in trade, but i really need a 20. let me know if interested!!!1

Re: schwinn hub replacement

Yes, you can do it as I have, many times. The Suzue hub lasted far longer than
the Schwinn hub, but did eventually break. You can only do this if the Schwinn
is recent enough to have the metric bearings. The change happened many years
ago although I am not exactly sure when. It is a good idea to have a puller to
remove the frame and bearings. I tried the Suzue and the NK hub and found the
Suzue to be the tougher of the two. Also it is less expensive.

I broke almost every part of my Schwinn before I gave up on it. I broke the
cranks, hub, seat post, frame, and the seat. It is possible you are ready to
trade up.

Idaho Joe

RE: schwinn hub replacement

> i haven’t gotten to taking it apart yet, but does anyone know if the
> schwinn cottered or cotterless hub is replacable with something like a
> suzue hub? any help is appreciated.

Count your spokes. The old Schwinn hubs had 28 spokes. which is pretty wimpy
for a unicycle. If you are upgrading, you’ll want to lose the old rim
anyway, which means new spokes (always replace spokes and nipples with a new
wheel job), new rim, etc.

I am currently restoring an old Schwinn 24" wheel. But it’s a restore job,
so I’m keeping all the old parts. I don’t know if I’m going to take it all
apart and clean it properly, or just replace the several broken spokes.

Stay on top,
John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
jfoss@unicycling.com

“Vehicularly-Injured Sperm-Count seat: better known by it’s abbreviated
name, Viscount.” David Stone, on saddle preference

yeah the old rims are pretty wimpy. i’ve built a new wheel with a suzue 48 spoke hub and a bfr rim. maybe a little overkill but it should last forever. the thing is now i think i should find a new frame to install it on, which means i should have just bought a complete miyata or sem. who knows, at least i’m having fun with it!!

Re: schwinn hub replacement

I have a random 24" schwin i’m tring to upgrade to a semihalfwaydecent
muni. i dont do much muni riding, but i’d like to be able to keep up
with my little bros pashly when he goes out. problem is, its a 28
spoke. adn it seems to ahve wierd old bearings. but i dont know how
to tell, and what to do if it is one of the old vintage schwins. i’m
not gonna ride hard enough to break the frame, maybe the cranks, but
those are cheap, and i have plenty lying around, i jsut need to figure
out what hub to get for it??

All,

I have a vaguely related question. I have a Schwinn that I bought in 1985. I ordered a wheel set from Unicycle.Com after making (fairly) sure it was compatible. However, I have no idea how to switch out the old wheel in favor of the new. The interface and frame are kinda weird compared to the United I am used to.

What special tools am I going to need?

Can a ‘typical’ Bike Shop do this kind of a swap-out on an old cycle?

Here are links to pics of the original Schwinn and the wheel set, in case that helps:

http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/album51/aak
http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/album51/aal

Ugh. I noticed John Foss said the “old” schwinns have 28 spokes. I looked at my pic and I think mine does too. I wonder if my wheel set is even compatible? Uh oh? :slight_smile: If not, I’ll just hang the wheel set on the wall as a decoration, maybe in the bathroom or above the Guinea Pig.

Thanks,

Lewis

RE: schwinn hub replacement

> Can a ‘typical’ Bike Shop do this kind of a swap-out on an old cycle?

Yes.

The bearings are held into the frame with snap rings. You can get them off
with a pair of screwdrivers or similar “wrong” tools, but it’s a pain. I
haven’t done it in many years. A second person, with a pair of pliers, makes
the process a lot easier. Putting them back on is a piece of cake by
comparison.

> Ugh. I noticed John Foss said the “old” schwinns have 28 spokes. I
> looked at my pic and I think mine does too.

You have an old (but cotterless) Schwinn. The newer ones didn’t come out
until 1986.

> I wonder if my wheel set is even compatible? Uh oh?

Uh oh is right. Sometimes people are too quick to ask questions here,
without thinking or looking obvious things up. You are getting rid of the
old wheel. All that needs to be compatible is the size of the bearings,
which I’m pretty sure have not changed over the years. Old wheel, bye-bye.
New wheel hello!

JF

Re: RE: schwinn hub replacement

One person with the “right” tool, a pair of snap-ring pliers, makes the process even easier. Go figure. Snap ring pliers are pretty cheap tools and can be bought with interchangable tips for different hole sizes and reversible cams for inside/outside rings.

Re: Re: RE: schwinn hub replacement

Harper,

My problem is that I am tool-challenged. I couldn’t change my own underwear if it involved manipulating a screw.

I guess I’m going to have to pay someone else to do it for me.

:frowning:

Lewis

Re: schwinn hub replacement

Lewis, don’t put yourself down like that. A unicycle is a very simple
mechanism with very few moving parts. Therefore you can TOTALLY understand
it (even a Schwinn!) This is very different from most things you might want
to fix such as modern cars or home appliances. Even modern bicycles are more
complex and pretty much require specialized tools. But you can work on your
unicycle with really basic and cheap tools. If you give it a try, you’ll
learn something even if you end up sometimes hiring people to help you.

Go down to a friendly bike store and buy the right hex wrenches, an
adjustable wrench, a spoke wrench and the pump, tire irons & patch kit you
need to patch a flat, and have at it. You could also throw in a pedal wrench
and whatever you need to remove/tighten your cranks. It’s not that much
really.

—Nathan

“Animation” <Animation.5qq4z@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote in message
news:Animation.5qq4z@timelimit.unicyclist.com
>
> Harper,
>
> harper wrote:
> > *
> > One person with the “right” tool, a pair of snap-ring pliers, makes
> > the process even easier. Go figure. Snap ring pliers are pretty cheap
> > tools and can be bought with interchangable tips for different hole
> > sizes and reversible cams for inside/outside rings. *
>
> My problem is that I am tool-challenged. I couldn’t change my own
> underwear if it involved manipulating a screw.
>
> I guess I’m going to have to pay someone else to do it for me.
>
> :frowning:
>
> Lewis

Re: schwinn hub replacement

John,
What is the name of the “right” tool? I have had little success with the
screwdriver method.

Thanks,
Jeff T.
On Tue, 4 Jun 2002 12:35:10 -0700 John Foss <john_foss@asinet.com>
writes:
> The bearings are held into the frame with snap rings. You can get
> them off
> with a pair of screwdrivers or similar “wrong” tools, but it’s a
> pain. I


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RE: schwinn hub replacement

> What is the name of the “right” tool? I have had little success with the
> screwdriver method.

Uh, I dunno. I’m sure there is a “right” tool for getting those dang things
off though. It’s a snap ring, so look for some king of snap ring tool.

The two screwdriver method is tedious and annoying. Just like having to have
two wrenches to change the seat height on one of those things… :slight_smile:

JF

Re: Re: RE: schwinn hub replacement

i’m starting to get the feeling that non-members of this forum are not able to see all the responses,or they are just lazy and do not read the whole tread.Harpers answer to what they are called has been posted all day.

just to update you guys

i threw my old 20" schwinn frame into the corner and got a new sem frame and it is awesome!!! i’ve mainly ridden my 24 and giraffe over the years and i guess i forgot how much easier it is to throw around a 20. the wheel i built up is awesome. suzue 48 with the bfr rim and some beefy spokes. great set up if anyone is in the market!!

yeah! its working over here too.

Re: schwinn hub replacement

Jagur,
The deal is, posts from unicyclist.com forums (fora) appear in random
order in my inbox. Often posts don’t arrive until a few hours later. I
would worry more about all the off topic arguing than one repeated
question. At least I didn’t ask “where’s the best place to buy a
unicycle?”

Jeff T.

On Tue, 4 Jun 2002 22:21:21 -0500 jagur
<jagur.5r94b@timelimit.unicyclist.com> writes:
> i’m starting to get the feeling that non-members of this forum are
> not
> able to see all the responses,or they are just lazy and do not read
> the
> whole tread.Harpers answer to what they are called has been posted
> all
> day.


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Re: Re: schwinn hub replacement

Nathan (etc),

I would love to be able to do all of the above. I am sure I am capable, somewhere, somehow, within me. However, I’m just calling it like I see it. Currently, I don’t know what a hex wrench is, or an adjustable wrench is, or a spoke wrench, or a tire iron, or a pedal wrench. I’ve seen a “patch kit” box but I have no idea what it looks like inside the box.

I can obviously guess what a pedal wrench is for, and maybe the spoke wrench too, but I personally have no knowledge of what they look like, where I can and cannot buy them, etc. I don’t even know if there is a generic tool that is cross-compatible or if it is possible to go into a store, buy a “pedal wrench” and still have come out with the wrong tool.

Harper also mentions snap ring pliers. To me, “interchangable tips for different hole sizes and reversible cams for inside/outside rings” has something to do with the adult bionic toy industry, for all I know.

I know I have the ability to learn to use the equipment, but I don’t really know how I could learn to actually go through the process without instruction. I respond well to instruction in person, because I can see, and then I can do. I can only respond to text-based instruction when the most excruciating detail is put into the step-by-step process, with no assumptions to what I do and don’t know.

So, I want to do it. Did I understand from the previous posts that the only tool I will need for the job is the snap ring pliers? Or was all the stuff you (Nathan) mentioned also needed? Or was that more of a reference list for the minimum tools I will need for all-around general operations I might expect to have to do in the future?

URLs to the right tools would be appreciated, preferably at http://www.unicycle.com/ or http://www.homedepot.com/ perhaps. :slight_smile: John Drummond sent me a list of a couple of helpful tools, but darn if I didn’t read it on my home PC at midnight (so I can’t read it from this PC now). One of the steps he mentioned might be needed was filing something so the frame would fit. glances nervously about I’m pretty sure I know what a file looks like. I recall using a tiny one for shaving flash off of roleplaying miniatures. :roll_eyes:

Perhaps somebody should make an on-line unicycle body shop, wherein video fragments of various tasks, along with well-done text descriptions of each process, could be viewed by all. That’d be invaluable. It’d also be a serious chore.

I have the cam-corder if you have the talent. :slight_smile:

Thanks for the advice,

Lewis

Re: schwinn hub replacement

in article Animation.5s1la@timelimit.unicyclist.com, Animation at
Animation.5s1la@timelimit.unicyclist.com wrote on 6/5/02 8:34 AM:

> Perhaps somebody should make an on-line unicycle body shop, wherein
> video fragments of various tasks, along with well-done text descriptions
> of each process, could be viewed by all. That’d be invaluable. It’d also
> be a serious chore.

While that would be nice, there are a couple other options in the meantime.

First, find a local bike shop with good customer service. Explain what
you’re trying to do to them, ask them to recommend the right tool and show
you how to use it. I’ve done this with my local bike shop and can do most of
the maintenance on my recumbent bike myself now - and it’s far more complex
than my uni.

Second, as above, but have the bike shop do it for you the first time while
you watch. You may need to make an appointment to be sure that you & the
mechanic are available at the same time. (I’ve done this too).

Third, Sheldon Brown’s web site is filled with tons of useful articles. It’s
a bike site, but there’s still plenty of relevant material (especially
dealing with tires, rims, spokes).

Finally, I think you’ve got a good idea. Perhaps we could all contribute a
little bit at a time to a group web page and build up a good repository
showing basic maintenance tasks for a variety of brands/designs.

-Carl

Or, perhaps Lewis can bring his camcorder to NAUCC/UNICON and he could record many, many people performing countless mechanical and repair operations on unicycles. The Lewis Beard workshop in which he records you changing a bearing, fixing a flat, tensioning spokes, truing a wheel, adjusting a main cap clamp…