Possible To Rebuild Worn Uniglide Freehub?

[woodbine]

Last year I replaced my old, worn 6 speed Uniglide freehub with a new old stock one. I still have the old hub.

I've seen a few videos on Youtube by RJ The BiKe Guy, and in one he opens up a freehub and reassembles it and adds tenacious oil.

Bearing in mind that the UG hubs are getting rare and expensive, is it feasible to rebuild my old unit? Is it just a case of stripping down, cleaning, new BBs (1/8", I think) then re-assembly and oil? Or are there likely to be parts (races, cones, etc) that will also be worn and unavailable new?

Anyone ever rebuilt one themselves, or are they normally considered throw away, sealed units?

 

[legrandefromage]

Swap it for a hyperglide freehub body!

In fact, PM me your address and I'll send you my spare 6spd Uniglide cassette and freehub

 

[jsmith]

Kudos to the RJ guy for his patience restoring those old bikes, but he has ALL THE TOOLS!

Yeah, you can replace the bearings, nothing special there but the cones races? mhhh.....

I too am coming from old Uniglide and wasn't aware there is a difference vs newer Hyperglide. Got a new wheel, which has hyperglide hub obviously, and thought I could just move my uniglide cogs over, which I did and it works but hyperglide cogs are more specialized and should provide a smooth shifting.

 

[woodbine]

Swap it for a hyperglide freehub body!

In fact, PM me your address and I'll send you my spare 6spd Uniglide cassette and freehub

Thanks LGF. If there's any life left in your UG bits, I would be happy buy them for spares. If you want to PM me, we can arrange something.

 

[woodbine]

Kudos to the RJ guy for his patience restoring those old bikes, but he has ALL THE TOOLS!

Yeah, you can replace the bearings, nothing special there but the cones races? mhhh.....

I too am coming from old Uniglide and wasn't aware there is a difference vs newer Hyperglide. Got a new wheel, which has hyperglide hub obviously, and thought I could just move my uniglide cogs over, which I did and it works but hyperglide cogs are more specialized and should provide a smooth shifting.

Yes, RJ is one of the top Youtubers for bike repairs - especially for those with machines of our vintage. Another good one is BikemanforU -

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyAGxV ... 5Ik2AIf7dQ

I was wondering which parts actually wear inside a freehub, but I don't think that many will have rebuilt one. Or even opened one up. If it's the bearings that actually wear, then, as you say, it wouldn't be a problem to rebuild. Even sticking pawls should be salvageable. Will open up my old hub and see if I can find wear in non-replaceable parts.

It's taken me a while to get my head around exactly what's compatible with my set-up. If it hadn't been for my local bike shop having a new-old-stock Uni freehub gathering dust and available for a very good price, I would probably have gone HG by now.

On the subject of Hyperglide and with future conversion in mind, is it worth buying and putting away 7 speed hubs and cassettes? I need a cassette with 14-32T, and these seem to be harder to get then ones with different teeth numbers. Are these beginning to dry up, or shouldn't I worry for now? Also the hubs, are they likely to get in short supply?