Brompton hub

[chris folder]

Hi anyone serviced there Brompton hub? Added and grease or lube to it since you have owned your bike? I been woundering what my hub looks like inside? Could it need some grease

 

[TheDoctor]

Sturmey (ie rear) hubs are greased for life IIRC.
My front one may have been greased when it got serviced, but I'm not sure.
It feels nice and smooth...

 

[Brommyboy]

The hub does need servicing, and is not greased for life! However, it can be lubricated with a thickish oil, just a few drops or so, run down into the axle, after removing the indicator rod (gear adjuster). This is the advice I obtained from Brompton technical services:
The Sturmey Archer hub only requires grease on the bearings and pinions (that are located on the planet cage/pinion assembly), the rest of the internals require a thick oil (such as wet conditions chain lubricant).
There are various sources available to show the correct manner for dismantling and re-assembling a 3-speed SA hub.

 

[oldwheels]

My front hub bearings were found to be virtually dry after only a few hundred miles. No load sounded fine but there was a ticking noise when riding. Got it just in time I think so worth checking out. This is one of the really easy jobs.I also did the steering column bearings which were a bit more of a fiddle but not difficult. Oil the rear hub gear as suggested.

 

[rogerzilla]

SA recommend annual servicing. You will need to DIY as virtually no shops can handle them. You need a 16mm cone spanner, the SA ball ring spanner and two types of grease - the special brown SA grease for the internals and normal lithium grease for the ball races.

The old oil-lubricated hubs never needed opening up: they were therefore easier to live with, just needing a few drops of oil a month, although they leak a bit.

 

[TheDoctor]

Oo-er!! I've not touched my hub since I got the bike in 2009. Perhaps I should dribble some oil into it...

 

[rogerzilla]

I do my SRC3 on the commuter every two years. The internals are always clean but the ball races are dirty. The large ball race (the one that allows the driver and shell to rotate at different speeds) is a combined plastic cage and dust seal and is quite a poor design. in older hubs, it has a good labyrinth seal like the axle bearings.

 

[XC26]

I service my XRD3s, SRF3s, S2Cs and S2s as soon as I spoke them into a wheel. I use marine grease on the bearings and either SA's special hub gear grease or car gearbox oil (but usually both) on the rest of the internals. I've since made my own grease for the internals, using a mixture of standard car grease and car gear oil. It seems to be sloppy enough to allow the delicate springy parts to move freely. One must take care not to overdo it so as oil finds its way onto any brake surfaces in drum brake hubs. Coaster brake hubs won't object to oil.