More information about the Alchemy UL rear hub.

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WMW
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by WMW

Thanks for your input Eric.

I also think with 11spd it makes little sense to go for the Campy cassettes, which are quite expensive. It would surely upset some people's sensibilities to run a non Campy cassette with a Campy drivetrain, but I think most will appreciate the practicality.

It's a shame Shimano didn't make the spacing exactly the same to start with...
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WMW
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by WMW

Zigmeister wrote:To service and lube the pawls which should be a five minute job on any wheel, requires the hub shell with bearing to be pulled with tools to accomplish?!?!


Yes, the DS bearing must be pulled before you can use the 7/16 hex to remove the extension and take of the freehub. So maybe a 10 minute job. But you will need some tools.

What hub do you have that requires frequent pawl service? IME a ratchet mechanism like this will not need service more often than the bearings.
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Zigmeister
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by Zigmeister

Ok, this is nothing unusual, just two hexes, off it comes. Just like my Chosen hubs. No problem there. The post made it sound like you needed a bearing pull setup to get the free hub off. I take mine off at least every 1,000 mile approx. and just wipe, regrease and a drop of synthetic motor oil...back together. 10 minute job tops.

This make more sense. Thanks for the info, had me wondering seriously.

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WMW
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by WMW

This isn't like a Chosen hub. The 5mm wrenches just remove the axle and cap. You *do* need to pull the DS bearing to get the freehub off. The bearing blocks the notches in the extension for the 7/16 hex, which must be removed first.

I see getting into the freehub as more of a once per year thing, which includes several rides in the rain for me. It would be nice if it was easier, but the tools you need are pretty minimal.
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ergott
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by ergott

Seriously, I don't service the pawls until there are bearing issues. I use a high quality, waterproof grease in there and never needed to do anything to the pawls in my wheels.

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mythical
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by mythical

Is there really a need to service the cassette body bearing and bushing when they only ever engage during coasting? And is 10 minutes really an issue should the need to service the cassette body bearing and bushing arise? I think not!

If two 5mm hex keys suffice in servicing the bearings on which this hub turns, then it's not a design fail in my book. In fact, I call that an easily maintainable hub. :smartass:

As a fellow bike component developer, I find Jeremy's ORC UL hub design praiseworthy effort and it'll be hard to top this in coming years. Already other brands, e.g. Easton with their Echo hubs, have caught onto the wider bearing spacing advantages, but still it's not as simple/minimal or as well-implemented bearing configuration of the Alchemy ORC UL. Well done, Jeremy! :thumbup:
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KLabs
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by KLabs

WMW wrote:This isn't like a Chosen hub. The 5mm wrenches just remove the axle and cap.
You *do* need to pull the DS bearing to get the freehub off. The bearing blocks the notches in the extension for the 7/16 hex, which must be removed first.
I see getting into the freehub as more of a once per year thing, which includes several rides in the rain for me. It would be nice if it was easier, but the tools you need are pretty minimal.

Hi WMW, does that mean that a Bearing Puller is absolutely necessary to remove the Freehub to clean and service the Pawls, Inner Bearing Bushing, etc?
If so, what Bearing Puller does Alchemy recommend?
To have to go to an LBS to remove, clean, and service the Freehub and Pawls, would seem like an inconvenience to me ... especially, if this needs to be done after every ride in the rain or every 1,000kms to grease the Inner Bearing Bushing?

thanks KL :)

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by JN2Wheels

Zigmeister wrote:Ok, this is nothing unusual, just two hexes, off it comes. Just like my Chosen hubs. No problem there. The post made it sound like you needed a bearing pull setup to get the free hub off.


Also,

mythical wrote:If two 5mm hex keys suffice in servicing the bearings on which this hub turns, then it's not a design fail in my book. In fact, I call that an easily maintainable hub. :smartass:


I'm not sure if you guys are intentionally misreading, or just messing around, but MWM and ergott have made this very clear. The DS bearing must be pulled in order to access the 7/16" socket which unscrews the DS bearing cup. The cup must come off before the freewheel can slide off to service the pawls and bushings.

With the right tools and a little experience, it is not a killer task, no doubt. But personally, I'm not a fan of pulling and repressing bearings. If the freehub can go for a year or more between services, then I'm fine with the task and will just press in a new bearing.

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WMW
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by WMW

The extractor is $14 from Wheels Manufacturing: http://wheelsmfg.com/6001-ext.html

And you'll need a 7/16 hex.
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Zigmeister
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by Zigmeister

Thanks for that link...will pick one up.

I agree...but 4000+ miles between a pawl regrease/cleaning isn't ideal if 1yr is an interval some are using. That is about my average annual mileage. Not sure what Alchemy recommends on their hubs for service intervals on either cleaning, or bearing replacement.

I like to pull the free hub off at least 2x year and clean it. Both hubs, and my 188 Zipp in particularly being worse, always show dirty grease and a need for a basic cleaning and re-grease/lube when I do this. Nothing horrible looking, but still, the clear grease is black after 1000 miles always. The Zipp 188 dust cover is garbage. But my chosen hub has a better cover, but still same issue.

Could it run longer without? Surely, but then again, it will probably lead to shorter bearing/pawl/hub life.

Never pulled a bearing personally, or rebuilt any hubs. I usually sell/replace the wheels. But in this case, since I' having these wheels built up specifically with the UL Rear hub, I plan on keeping these for a long time as my daily training wheels, so I plan on having these for years. Having the bearing puller, doing it 2x a year, doesn't seem like a big task at all.

If someone has a video around using this tool/tutorial using this tool, would be appreciated!

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