mid to late last year i was cleaning my bike and i noticed the front wheel wasn’t really spinning out properly. after spinning the wheel down and then watching it roll out i noticed it was very “jaggered” in its movement as it spun down to a hault. i then turned the wheel with my hand on only to find out there was a lot of resistance in the freeplay. basically the wheel was as rough as fuck and felt like it had major issues.

the cones were also loose which is probably where the issue originated. so i ended up pulling them all apart and notices straight up the cones were 80% pitted on one side. FARK! – i spoke to a good bike mechanic about it all and questioned if i could possibly just pick up a set of cones for the wheel. he then explained i need to fully pull apart the wheel and check if the hub had any pitting as well. if so the wheel was caput at best.

today – some 5-6 months later was really the first time i have had enough space in a day to truly look at the wheels. sure enough the hub did have pitting [al-be-it only about 2-3mm long] but still, it was a realisation that the wheel is now caput. the mechanic also explained it is a common problem with shimano wheels that are running non-sealed bearings. from memory [i think] he spoke of saint downhill front wheels having the exact same issue. he had also explained many mechanics had explained the issue to shimano and there had been no formal response.

so i am now totally gutted with the results but i guess i have learned a few things from it.
1. shimano does have its faults – almost everything else of shimano i can’t complain about
2. have your wheels checked, serviced regularly to keep them in perfect working order. cone tightness and re-greasing is essential
3. all wheels should have sealed bearings – front and read

for the record this front wheel has travelled probably around 5,000kms. I am still running the rear with no issues as it does have sealed bearings and am now running the trusty mavic aksium on the front [and have been for 5 months]