bike wrench

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A place to ask bicycle repair questions, and for bike shop monkeys to share advanced non commercial wrenching resources (no YouTube self promotion). This is only for repair related topics.

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wheel hub question (self.bikewrench)

submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by evasync to c/bikewrench

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Im building a single speed mini velo with 20inch bmx wheels.

Right now Im at the process on building its wheels and I was thinking on getting bmx hubs instead of 'normal size bike wheel hubs' because they are cheaper.

Are there any downsides on doing that? Is there a substantial difference between these two types or it is just a marketing thing?

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

BMX hubs tend to come with 3/8" axles rather than 10mm, which can potentially make it more difficult to find spare parts.

Cheap hubs, whether BMX or not, do sacrifice durability to get a low price. If you want your wheels to last, don't go too cheap. With single speed hubs, if they use sealed cartridge bearings, then they are probably nice enough to last a long time. There are options for high quality loose ball bearing hubs too, but they will typically cost more than an entry level cartridge bearing hub.