Tune Mag 170; dead bearings

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OwenJames
Posts: 166
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 3:16 pm

by OwenJames

Hey

I rode my Tune mag 170 rear wheel in a race today. The race was abandoned half way through due to extreme conditions, and as a result my bike got wet. It was not submerged in water or anything, but definitely rode it in the rain.

My rear wheel started making a weird noise toward the end of the ride, and when I checked the bearings, they were super gritty, with some points of high pitched squeeling noises when I turn the axle with my fingers.

Dead bearings, basically.

I have only had this hub since August this year, and this is the first time I have ridden it in the rain, so I am a bit annoyed about it dieing like this.

Anyway, a few questions;

1. Has anyone else experienced such a fast bearing death with Tune hubs?

2. How can I open up the hub to inspect the internals? Can anyone link to, or provide service instructions?

3. What bearings do you reckon I should replace the dead ones with?

Thanks!

by Weenie


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btompkins0112
Posts: 2635
Joined: Fri Feb 11, 2011 3:04 am
Location: Mississippi

by btompkins0112

Yeah, Tune hubs are for the sunny days. Get some DT hubs built for the bad weather.

I would check with Fairwheel bikes to get info on replacement bearings, etc.

OwenJames
Posts: 166
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 3:16 pm

by OwenJames

Thanks for the response.

Hmm, well I would have hoped they would have been able to handle one wet ride, without ending up like they have done. Nothing is mentioned at all about these things being restricted to dry weather riding.

Can anyone else shed any more light on if this is actually a 'thing' with Tune hubs, and what I can do about fixing them?

I have actually just contacted Fairwheel over Facebook about this, so cheers for that suggestion.

Razor
Posts: 294
Joined: Fri Nov 10, 2006 6:23 pm

by Razor

I have the disassembly instructions for the Mag 180, not sure if it is the same for the 170.
Last edited by Frankie - B on Sun Oct 27, 2013 5:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: deleted the quote

OwenJames
Posts: 166
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 3:16 pm

by OwenJames

Oh, thanks. Would you be able to let me have a look at them?

From what I can see, I need to remove the end cap from either the drive side or non-drive side axle end...

SDP
Posts: 688
Joined: Tue May 04, 2004 1:23 pm
Location: uk
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by SDP

riddem my 180s in the wet a few times....absolutely fine !

wouldnt ride em a lot in the rain but were they adjusted ok ??

metanoize
Posts: 186
Joined: Thu Jul 02, 2009 5:53 am

by metanoize

@btompkins0112 do you speak from experience? Been riding my 170 in the rain for 2yrs now. still very smooth!

Razor
Posts: 294
Joined: Fri Nov 10, 2006 6:23 pm

by Razor

OwenJames wrote:Oh, thanks. Would you be able to let me have a look at them?

From what I can see, I need to remove the end cap from either the drive side or non-drive side axle end...


PM me your email address, I'll send them to you.

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mr_tim
Posts: 957
Joined: Sun May 31, 2009 8:47 pm
Location: durp durp durp

by mr_tim

The seals aren't that heavy duty - the bearings themselves & also the shielding offered by the hub outer shell.

Try opening them up & cleaning the faces & running some light oil across the face of the bearings / seals etc & then drying off excess. I have the same issues with the front mig hub in poor weather but haven't actually needed to change bearings yet, even though the issue crops up once in a while once exposed to bad weather.

BTW there are tons of decent hubs out there, yes the 240s are well sealed but so are others & what you gain in weather protection you trade off on build strength ...

dvincere
Posts: 198
Joined: Fri Jun 01, 2012 6:40 pm

by dvincere

I've raced my Tune Mag 170's in some serious rainy conditions and they've been fine. I wouldn't say that this failure was to be expected...

OwenJames
Posts: 166
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 3:16 pm

by OwenJames

Yeah, I was surprised that this has happened. I dont think it is a usual happening.

Mr_tim - how do you open up the hub to get at the bearings?

UpFromOne
Posts: 1181
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2009 5:23 am
Location: Olympic Nat'l Park, WA

by UpFromOne

The 170 series is alot easier than the 180 (which had a proprietary double bearing).
I use a long M5 bolt, push through the ND side cap hole (as with a skewer), and use the end to push off the drive side cap.
Then the 17mm axle just pounds out with a rubber mallet and the Tune axle tool.
If you can grip the freehub body, that can pull off before pushing out the axle to make it a little easier.
The Tune axle tool fits the axle very precisely, but it isn't necessary if you are very careful.

Disassembly really isn't as difficult as some make it out to be. Once you see the parts and how they fit
you won't have any problems next time.

mnmasotto
Posts: 581
Joined: Mon Jun 06, 2011 7:16 pm
Location: Irvine, CA

by mnmasotto

I have more than two thousand miles on my tune hubs. I bought them on Jason's recommendation. He said they were great ALL Weather hubs!!! I have ridden in the rain many times. No problems.

OwenJames
Posts: 166
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 3:16 pm

by OwenJames

UpFromOne. Thanks a lot. How hard is it to get the end cap off? Do you have to hit it off?

by Weenie


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OwenJames
Posts: 166
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 3:16 pm

by OwenJames

Mnmasotto. Yeah, I figured this too.

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