Brompton rear wheel spoke cover question

[lazyfatgit]

I've just replaced 2 spokes on my 2008 rear wheel. Unfortunately now that it is reassembled and back on the bike, the spoke cover/hub cover has been discovered lying on the workbench. How essential is this for keeping crud out of the hub?

Should I disassemble and refit this now or leave it in the tool box until the wheel is next off?

 

[jay clock]

Do you mean the plastic pie dish? Not essential and usually i rip these off any bike, but with the Brompton I leave on. I like a clean bike!

 

[smutchin]

The answer may depend which hub you have. On my old Sachs 3-speed hub it's an integral part of the hub assembly (I'm not sure it's even possible to reassemble the wheel without it), but the design may be different on more recent models or the 2-speed Brompton hub.

 

[lazyfatgit]

The answer may depend which hub you have. On my old Sachs 3-speed hub it's an integral part of the hub assembly (I'm not sure it's even possible to reassemble the wheel without it), but the design may be different on more recent models or the 2-speed Brompton hub.

Took the wheel off and fitted it. It's a spacer behind the larger sprocket, so without it there may have been some excess play. Should have payed more attention in the first place instead of rushing to get washed up before dinner.

The wheel has a single wall rim with a 3spd hub. Think It's a Sachs/Sram. All I seem to do is change spokes since 7 got damaged on it's last long haul flight. Should have rebuilt the wheel rather than just replacing the broken ones.