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Does anybody know where to get Formula hub spares from?
My searching so far has brought back old pages on STW with people saying its nigh on impossible to get spares and that Formula hubs are nothing to do with Formula brakes.
I have a DC52 singlespeed freehub that is making some bad clanking/cracking noises and sometimes can go half a turn before it engages so I think the freehub is knackered.
Try a Trek dealer - looks remarkably like the Bontrager badged one that used to come on Gary Fisher Rigs. From 2004/5/6. They fail pretty quick. I ditched mine in favour of a DT 240 SS, but that was before they jumped in price due to currency issues....
Trek might still have some kicking around?
I had a failed Formula rear hub on my Slate, after hours of pointless web searches I spoke directly to Cannondale. Seems Formula only supply direct to the manufacture and don’t produce spares, ended up buying a Hope wheel.
@wind-bag:
fear something like this as well.
It's even sometimes difficult to judge which Formula hub you exactly have...
I have one bike with Formula hubs - where I know they are Formula but no model number on. Nothing... Formula product information in the web is totally confusing as well.
Hmm, not looking good. Might start looking for a new wheel
This is the difference between American Classic and Formula, quality wheel manufacture tries to break into the original equipment market, but product is too expensive so fails and goes bust... versus, cheap product sold by the bucket load, no need for spares as we are selling direct to Trek/Cannodle/Specialized and have no need to deal with pesky consumers.
@dawson:
your freehub might be completely bust.
Or: only crap and dirt in the inside from mud biking..?
Fix I did with my old Shimano XT freehubs:
These things made quite some problems - and they are like a "cartridge", not possible to take them completely apart.
When I had problems with those: unscrewed the free hub cartidge and put it into a can of gear oil over night.
Then I put it back together (with fresh Shimano bearing grease for the bearings of course).
Possible to do with the Formula freehub?
No idea.
But the old Shimano XT freehubs are still going...(although really don't like the Shimano XT hubs. Maintenance nightmare and bearings loosen up when jumping. Will replace them soon - but not with Formula 👿 ).
On a different thread I posted that the Hunt wheels I replaced my Formulas with possibly weren't a big enough improvement. I am now eating my words, the Hunts are clearly better made and they sell new free hubs!
I still use the Formulas in the winter but the freehub is getting sticky and I was just thinking about getting a new one. Probably not.....
@FOG:
Formula freehub: cartridge thing like Shimano XT or possible to take apart?
Have a bike with Formula hubs as well ... still going good. But sooner or later...
(My old, old XT hubs / wheels I'am replacing now with DT Swiss 370 hubs plus FUN WORKS rims from actionsports.)
Dunno, I haven't dared remove it yet!
@FOG:
Dunno, I haven't dared remove it yet!
thanks!
Biggest problem with my Shimano XT freehubs: the seals are so bad that mud gets into the cartridge. Bad design. Lots of work with above procedure (
) to get them going again....free hub cartidge and put it into a can of gear oil over night.
Silly stuff.
The formula hubs which were part of the wheels which came with my CAADX are comple junk. Rear hub notchy in less than a years worth of mainly dry road riding.
Being an engineer, working in an engineering company I took the pitted cone into our metallurgy lab to take a look under the microscope. Resident professional metallurgist of course was interested in what I was looking at so took a peek.
His professional opinion? Poor quality material combined with excessive loading - I.e it’s made of cheese and was over-tightened.
I’ve since bought replacement quality wheels (stans grail rims on novatec hubs) and have bought a Halfords replacement axle which has cones which are compatible to repair the wheels so they’re good for winter / commuting / turbo trainer use.
Overall conclusion - don’t buy OE formula hub equipped wheels!
Silverfish is the UK distributor afaik, try contacting them
2 k Cannondale bike with Formula CX-20 front / CX-22 ...
Too bad.
But neat and helpful information! Thanks!
I stay away from Formula in the future...
(Difficult to design hubs which go bust by dry road biking in one year only...crap!)
Different Formula Rocketdog
That's why i was rubbish at chemistry, always getting my formulas mixed up
Sounds familiar. The oe wheels on my GT were Grails on Formulas. When the freehub packed up (in very short order), after much googlage, I replaced it with a Specialized branded one from a French website. Those wheels now relegated to emergency duty.
Lots of formula freehubs are available it’s just finding the right one that’s proper pain.
Spesh in the uk do stock a few which often fit other wheels but it’s a bit try and see what works.
Other bike brands also sell some but again often just listed as what fits a certain bike model