# Tandem Hub Fail...



## Team Fubar Rider (Sep 3, 2003)

We had an epic fail on the rear hub of our tandem on Thursday. Let me preface this story by saying that the hub is literally 15+ years old and has seen a lot of use on this tandem, so I'm not upset about it, but it was a crazy break.

My 8 year old son and I were riding local trails at HLMP on the tandem Thursday night. We've been riding over there a fair amount recently, getting kinda "jaunty" on the big purple C'dale tandem, doing things like jumping it(!), doing some high berm "wall rides" and basically riding it like a maniac and we've been loving it. So, we rode out on a trail, did a loop, came back and started to ride up to the "summit". Just before the top there is a rocky, technical left hand corner that isn't a gimme and is difficult for a lot of people on single bikes. We were riding strong and felt like tonight was the night to clean it. We started hammering on it and made it through the roughest stuff. Just as our front tire rolled onto the last rock, *BAM* our freehub blew, or so we thought.

Our forward torque on the pedals caused us to go over. I tried in vain to stop us from falling to the ground, but over we went. The rocks, hill and the momentum caused the tandem to flip over me and as I rolled over, I see the tandem roll across and flip over onto the my son, coming to a rest on top of him. I quickly throw it off of him and he jumps up and walks around for a second. He comes to me, crying a little. I hug him and ask him if he's OK as he assesses his injuries and quits crying. He then says to me "Dad, I love it when we crash cause I feel all jiggly inside!"

Having a spare freehub in my workshop, I tear the hub apart to replace said broken freehub. As I was working on it, the freehub is feeling pretty good, so I'm wondering what happened. After busting out the 10mm allen and taking off the freehub, I find out it wasn't the freehub at all. The "star" male part that the freehub body locks onto sheared off! Obviously no freehub is going to repair this hub!

Not bad for 15+ years of service out of an XT hub.


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## Fleas (Jan 19, 2006)

Team Fubar Rider said:


> ...on the big purple C'dale tandem, doing things like jumping it(!), doing some high berm "wall rides" and basically riding it like a maniac ...


Please get out your video camera and your tripod and catch some of this action for posterity.:thumbsup:

Sounds like you guys are having a ball!

But methinks ours might be getting close to its life expectancy then too (although my wife has not been in mountain bike maniac mode in a very long.... ever. :nono: )

-F


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## Okayfine (Sep 7, 2010)

Congrats on getting 15 years out of an XT hub, and more congrats on having your son as a stoker. I would figure as he gets bigger and stronger you might get less life out of a hub, but that would seem to be a small price to pay. I've done the long walk after hub failure with my wife. It's not always fun (we blew three WI hubs, but only had to walk back once), but the alternative doesn't bear contemplating.

I second video!


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## PMK (Oct 12, 2004)

Glad to hear no serious injuries. Very lucky Dad and Son to have those "moments" to possibly not share in detail with mom.:thumbsup: 

PK


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## Team Fubar Rider (Sep 3, 2003)

PK, unfortunately, we _had_ to tell Momwhat happened. We had to call her to come pick us up as we had no "forward gear". Thankfully we were at the "top" of the mountain, so we only had to give the bike a few scooter moves to get down to the trailhead for a motherly rescue!


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## Crashman1 (May 17, 2011)

Team Fubar Rider said:


> Having a spare freehub in my workshop, I tear the hub apart to replace said broken freehub. As I was working on it, the freehub is feeling pretty good, so I'm wondering what happened. After busting out the 10mm allen and taking off the freehub, I find out it wasn't the freehub at all. The "star" male part that the freehub body locks onto sheared off! Obviously no freehub is going to repair this hub!
> 
> Not bad for 15+ years of service out of an XT hub.


Wow 15+ years old? Does that make it a 7-speed? I just blew out a brand-new 7-speed freehub and would LOVE to buy your still-usable version if it is 7-speed, because it MUST beat the new stuff for quality.


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## Team Fubar Rider (Sep 3, 2003)

No, unfortunately it was the first gen of the 8/9/10 compatible freehub.


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## Crashman1 (May 17, 2011)

Team Fubar Rider said:


> No, unfortunately it was the first gen of the 8/9/10 compatible freehub.


You've been doing this a while, so maybe you have some advice? I switched to 7-speed to reduce dish and it seems like Shimano hasn't produced a semi-reliable 7-speed part since...oh, just before they started making your 8-speed version


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## Team Fubar Rider (Sep 3, 2003)

Man, other than scouring eBay or hitting up your LBS to see if they have some 7 speed freehubs lying around in an old parts bin, odds are you're not going to find a freehub for your 7 speed.

Safe to assume it is a Shimano hub? If so, I have an old, used 7 speed XT hub in my parts bin. You can tear it apart for parts. Shoot me a PM if you want it. Pay for shipping and handling and it's yours.


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## Crashman1 (May 17, 2011)

Team Fubar Rider said:


> Man, other than scouring eBay or hitting up your LBS to see if they have some 7 speed freehubs lying around in an old parts bin, odds are you're not going to find a freehub for your 7 speed.
> 
> Safe to assume it is a Shimano hub? If so, I have an old, used 7 speed XT hub in my parts bin. You can tear it apart for parts. Shoot me a PM if you want it. Pay for shipping and handling and it's yours.


Awesome


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## abikerider (May 8, 2007)

I have a 7 speed freehub body from our road tandem from when I converted it to 9 speed. Not much use on it so it'd probably last a while. You can have it for the cost of shipping.


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## Crashman1 (May 17, 2011)

Great, thanks! I will send you a private message with my information.


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