Can anyone provide me with some input about Miche Primato hubs? I’m not just interested about quality and people’s experiences, but specifically about the italian threading. I have heard that it is usual to use normal english threaded cogs on italian threaded hubs, as long as the lockring is italian. Is this safe, especially for skids, and use in the long run?
General hub advice:
I have the stock Bianchi pista hubs, high flange, sealed, 28h front and 28h rear. Any opinions on keeping these to lace with new rims (deep v’s)? I don’t really think the 28h front and rear is an issue, but any opinions on this anyway? Also, does anyone have anything to say about radially lacing the front?
I have found Miche Primato hubs (pair) online for about AUS$100. Is it worthwhile to upgrade to Miche or keep the Bianchi hubs, I have this (pretty unjustified) fear the Bianchi hubs are crap and going to break, and I will have to bear costs of rebuilding another wheel soon after.
Also, regards to chainline - I am getting a Miche crankset and BB, will chainline be an issue with Bianchi hubs?
I’m pretty inexperienced about wheels, so any advice you have would be appreciated.
Hey Phillip,
I have a couple of sets of wheels built on high-flange miche primato hubs. I like 'em but they’re not that fashionable among the afficionados here.
Observations:
Theyre a very sturdy hub, they spin up nicely but the stock cartridge bearings are spec’d for track use - the seals, such as they are, aren’t that great at keeping weather out. My ‘street’ set died after a few months of winter bayside commuting (admittedly not the best conditions for them - lots of water, sand and salt on Beach Rd and the bayside trail). If you’re strictly a city dweller they’ll last longer but if you plan on using them in wet weather the stock bearings will need replacing sooner rather than later. The bearings are a standard size so your replacement choices are plenty. I spent about $50 on some Phil Wood double-seals (there are much, much cheaper alternatives). They’ve been silky smooth for 2 years and will continue to be so for years to come. Note also that if you do replace the bearings at some stage, the clearance in the hub body behind the bearing is a bit tight - it needs a fairly fine bearing puller to extract the old bearings, not every LBS will have one small enough (I know that O’Mara’s in Cheltenham do but they’re probably off your beat).
Threads - dunno what you mean by “italian threaded hubs” - I’ve used a variety of (reasonable quality) english-threaded sprockets and lock rings, including miche (with the cog carrier), dura-ace and surly, none of which have given me any problems. Safe for skids? Can’t see why not but I don’t skid.
Online for $100 a pair? Please tell me where.
Your bianchis will probably be fine for banging about the street (I think they’re a rebadged Formula hub anyway?). If they’re Formulas the bearings will probably be more suitable for street use and abuse than the primatos anyway so ride them until they die, then upgrade or replace the bearings. 28h? Depends what you weigh - If you’re a stick insect you should be OK with 28s. I prefer 32 or 36 spokes, laced 3x. I’m not especially hard on wheels but I am a fat bastard.
Chainline - I haven’t used primato cranks but I’ve used several other cranksets with my primato wheels with no discernable chainline issues.
The sprocket (or freewheel, for geared hubs) is usually ISO 1.375" x 24tpi, no issues unless it’s old and French (1.366"x25.4). There are some slight differences between Italian (1.378"x24), English (1.37"x24) & ISO (1.375"x24, a compromise between Ita/Eng), but it’ll only be a problem if you keep switching from one to the other.
Lockrings are different though:
English/ISO is 1.29" x 24tpi
Campy/Phil is 1.32" x 24tpi
French is 33mm x 1mm
I’ve got a pair of Miche’s on a track wheelset and they’re great. They are better quality than Formula and being Italian, they have a little bit of that design flair that we all love. For some reason the Miche hubs have never been very popular compared to Campag or Dura Ace.
However down at the track you see a lot of custom wheelsets built with Miche hubs- often with quality carbon rims etc, so they must have a good rep. in track circles.
As I only use the wheels inside, I can’t comment on the durability of the bearings, suffice to say that they are sealed.
yeah the miche’s are sealed, they have been on my work bike for four months and have not had any trouble with them, they still feel smooth and tight, no grinds or anything, but 4 months is not a very long time, so we will see.
I’ve decided to go with a whole Miche setup, ive already got Miche cranks, chain, and BB on the way, so i guess ill just get the Miche hubs, cog and lockring too since they are so cheap.
thanks for the links. yep, the bearings in the miches are sealed but there are seals and there are seals - bear in mind what I said earlier about longevity outdoors.