# Shimano 2200 hubs vs. 5500 hubs



## bwalton (Mar 18, 2010)

Its time to replace my OEM wheel set on my 2007 Specialized Sirrus Sport. The bike does not roll as well as it did when it was new despite the fact that both of the OEM hubs have been repack with white lithium grease and the rear wheel has had two drive-side spokes break. My initial thought was to re-lace the rear OEM wheel with 14 Ga. DT-Swiss spokes after the first spoke fractured but the increased rolling resistance has changed my mind. Also the rear hub may have a bent axel because sometimes the wheel has side play and sometime it adjusted perfectly with no side play. I am now thinking about purchasing a new wheel set from the BWW with Mavic CP22 rims laced to either Shimano 2200 or 5500 hubs. According to Shimano’s specifications the 5500 hubs have “super polished” races (i.e. cups and cones) whereas the 2200 come with standard races (i.e. standard polished cups and cones). Do the 5500’s roll better then the 2200’s? And can a rider feel the difference between these two hubs?


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## Peanya (Jun 12, 2008)

Better bearings roll smoother, but you'll notice it more when coasting, in the speed you slow down. 
Personally, if trying to stay on a budget, I'd get the Neuvation M28X set, because for $200 you're getting easily replaceable cartridge bearings that are abec5. They'll last a long time, plus they're way lighter. Other than that, go a little more and get the ultegra hubs that are very highly regarded.


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

*Bearing check*



bwalton said:


> Its time to replace my OEM wheel set on my 2007 Specialized Sirrus Sport. The bike does not roll as well as it did when it was new despite the fact that both of the OEM hubs have been repack with white lithium grease and the rear wheel has had two drive-side spokes break.


You can easily check your bearings to see if there is a problem. Remove the wheel from the frame, and remove the quick release levers from the hub. With a light touch of your fingers, slowly rotate the axles. If you feel either grittiness or binding, then the hubs either are shot or need maintenance. If you clean and repack the hub bearing grease and you still have binding or grittiness, then the hubs are in poor shape.

Recognize that fresh grease, and heavier grades of grease can offer more resistance, but bearing adjustment is a lot more of a factor in how well a wheel rolls. I would be quite surprised if you could actually tell that your wheels are not rolling as well as when they were new UNLESS you can feel problems with the test described above.


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## bwalton (Mar 18, 2010)

The axel on my rear OEM hub spins very smoothly when I turn it with my finger and thumb. After I disassembled the rear hub and degreased the parts I ran a ball point pen around the races (cups and cones) and visually inspected the ball bearings. All the bearings and races were smooth without any traces of pitting. I did not however roll the axel on a flat surface to check if it was bent. I suppose I can rebuild the rear hub this weekend again, check the axel and repack it with a “bicycle specific grease” like Phil Wood's water proof grease and see if that helps. What I mean by the bike does not roll as easily as it did when it was new is that the bike feels harder to pedal even though 1) I am lighter and in much better shape than I was when the bike was purchased three years ago and 2) the OEM BB was recently replaced with a new Shimano UN-54. Also the bike seems to scrub off speed sooner than my riding buddies bikes when coating.


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## Jerry-rigged (Jul 24, 2009)

a few questions - 

1 - What tires and PSI are you running?

2 - Are you sure your brakes are not draging? (sounds stupid, but I have found my brakes draging 5-10 miles into rides before... I had thought I was just "off" that day...  )

3 - you said you broke a few spokes - Did you get them fixed, and the wheel re-trued/rounded? If not, check #2 again. (and get the wheel fixed)


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## bwalton (Mar 18, 2010)

1)	I am running 700 x 28 Specialized All Conditions Sport tires at 100 psi that are about six months old.
2)	Rubbing brake pads were the first thing I checked when the bike started to feel sluggish.
3)	I replaced both broken spoke with 14 Ga. DT Swiss Champion spokes and brass nipples. Brought all the drive side spokes up to 120 Kgf and non-drive side spoke up to 75-80 Kgf.. Dished, laterally trued and radially trued the wheel to less then 1 mm of deviation. Lastly I stress relieved the spokes and rechecked the trueness of the wheel before I remounted the tire and installed it on the bike. The OEM wheel set is built up with Specialized 32h proprietary hubs, laced to Alex R500 semi-aero rims with 32 14 Ga. generic stainless steel spokes in each wheel


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## Peanya (Jun 12, 2008)

Might sound silly, but have you lubed your chain recently? I notice dramatic differences when I freshly lube my chain.


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## bwalton (Mar 18, 2010)

Yes the chain is lubed and less then one month old.


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## bwalton (Mar 18, 2010)

Another possibility that I have not considered is that the rear rim is flexing out laterally just enough to rub against one of the brake pads. I am 6’-3” tall and weigh just under 200 pounds and have a stomping type pedal stroke style that exasperates lateral rim flex. This weekend I will increase the brake pad-rim spacing and see if the bike rides with less drag/rolling resistance. 

After the first rear spoke broke, the wheel started to creak under heavy load (i.e. pedaling up a steep hill), which means that the OEM spokes are rubbing against themselves at their crossings, rubbing against the holes in the hub or the nipples are galling in the rim. So either the OEM spokes are at the end of their fatigue cycle/life and stretching beyond their elastic limit under load or the rim is not stiff enough laterally to resist the transverse push pull of the spokes and body weight side loads when I stop down on the pedal. The OEM rim (Alex R500) has a semi-aero section, which has a lot of radial strength and decent lateral stiffness. Comparing the Alex R500 to a Mavic Open Sport or Pro that has a rectangular section, the Open has more lateral strength than radial strength. Unfortunately lateral wheel stiffness is primarily a function of the angle of the opposing spokes (i.e. hub flange spacing and dish) more than the rims section. A wide mountain bike 29er (700C) rim is laterally stiffer than a thinner profile 700C road wheel given that both rims are laced to identical hubs with equal amount of dish.

Anyway, the rear OEM wheel is causing the drag and I’m not sure if it is worth $32.00 and 2 hours of my time to re-lace with new DT-Swiss of Wheel Smith spokes or just bite the bullet a purchase a wheel set from the BWW for $150.00 (e.g. Mavic CPX22 rims laced to Shimano 2200 hubs with (32) 14 Ga. S.S. straight gauged spokes with brass nipples). Another and more expensive option would be to build my own wheels with Mavic Open Sports, Shimano Sora Hubs laced together with 36 DT Swiss double butted spokes in each wheel. This second option will cost at least $200.00.


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