A word of caution regarding MBS tri-spoke mountainboard hubs

[Sad, little man]

So, in trying to take them apart, I just ruined most of a set of four MBS tri-spoke nylon mountainboard hubs because of their poor design and quality. I was considering trying to claim the warranty, but I did considerable damage to them just pulling them apart. For $50 I'll buy new ones, and plus I didn't want to hassle with trying to get my tires back from the company since there was no way to get them off the hubs when they were stuck together.

What's the problem? Well, it's two fold, and it's completely preventable in a few ways. First, the fasteners MBS supplies that hold the hubs together are junk. Granted, they're stainless, but they're a low grade stainless (A2). I don't think it's unsafe because they aren't really stressed too much, but they create another problem.

To understand it, you need to understand how the hubs go together. They use three hex-cap bolts that run through each of the spokes and thread into a nut on the other side. This basically sandwiches both halves of the hub together when assembled. The most crucial thing here is that the nut on one side of the hub fits into a hex shaped hole in the hub itself (which is all nylon). This keeps it from spinning as you tighten down each bolt.

Combine cheap fasteners with soft nylon holding the nut from spinning, and you get one huge problem when you try to take the hubs back apart.

On almost half of the fasteners on my hubs, as I started to loosen the three bolts to take apart the hubs, the bolt threads seized up. On the few that I actually got to come the whole way out (without using a drill), I noted that the bolt threads had substantial damage and burring. It seems the cheap bolt threads got deformed just by tightening the bolts down to assemble the hubs (I just used a small hex key to put them together, nothing excessive, but I did make sure they were tight!)

Basically what you end up with are messed up bolt threads that bind up as you try to loosen them. Then, the nut begins to spin around in the hex shaped hole that is supposed to hold it in place. The nylon is too soft to hold the nuts from spinning when you put excessive torque on the nuts (the kind of torque that results from trying to loosen up bolts that are seized up because the threads were damaged during assembly).

The solution? I found that Lowe's carries hex cap screws and nylon lock nuts of the exact same size as the factory stuff. They aren't stainless, but the bolts are a higher grade (12.9). I believe the nuts are better too. They feel much better going together and coming apart. No messed up threads. I'll also be using anti-seize on the threads when I put together my new hubs as well. I may even go so far as to wrap one strip of electrical tape around the nuts before I slip them into the hubs so they fit better and never spin. Because once the nuts spin inside the hubs, you're done. The only way to get the hubs apart at that point is to damage them.

Am I posting this because I'm angry and I want to complain how I ruined a $50 set of hubs? No, it's only $50 (but I am still angry.) Just trying to spread the knowledge of where the weaknesses lie and what to do about it before it's too late and someone else has a set of hubs that won't come apart.

(BTW, I take no responsibility for what may happen to you or anyone else using any of these tips or any non-factory hardware.)

[BluegrassSurfer]

It is unfortunate that you had problems with your MBS Tri-Spoke hubs. I can understand your frustration with a defect in a new set of hubs. But I am very surprised you didn't contact MBS directly about the problem first before posting here at Silverfish.

I have been dealing with MBS since April 2006. I have received a few defective parts over the years. This is inevitable regardless of the company -- humans are flawed. To date, whenever there has been any question about potential product defects or quality, MBS has been quick to replace the part in question free of charge.

I have been riding Tri-Spoke hubs on my street rigged mountainboards for 3.5 years now. They are the toughest hubs with the widest rims available for pneumatic tires. They are the only hubs that will accomodate wide (8-3.00-4) street slicks, does take some skill to get them mounted correctly. I did receive one defective set of Tri-spokes early on which they replaced immediately.

However, I have never had any other product quality problems with Tri-spokes (10 sets = 40 hubs) in 3.5 years. The only problem I have had was a hub coming apart while riding -- because I ride them hard and the screws need "minor" tightening from time-to-time and I never checked them. (I check them regularly now.) When tightening, use touch (not much past thumb and forefinger tight with an allen wrench). The ny-lock nuts used with Tri-spokes screws should keep the hubs together nicely without too much snugging down.

hang loose brah and give MBS a call or e-mail message at their site. Give them the opportunity to help you out.

http://www.mbs.com/contact/

or

877-MBS-4100 / orderprocessing@mbs.com

If they don't make good, then come back here and complain.

Bottom line, I love my MBS Tri-spokes. Just wish they'd make the rim a little wider and lighter -- but I might be the only customer for those hubs.

[BluegrassSurfer]

BTW when removing tires from Tri-spoke hubs, always let the air out of your tubes before you try to loosen the nuts on the hub screws.

It is unfortunate that you had problems with your MBS Tri-Spoke hubs. I can understand your frustration with a defect in a new set of hubs. But I am very surprised you didn't contact MBS directly about the problem first before posting here at Silverfish.

I have been dealing with MBS since April 2006. I have received a few defective parts over the years. This is inevitable regardless of the company -- humans are flawed. To date, whenever there has been any question about potential product defects or quality, MBS has been quick to replace the part in question free of charge.

I have been riding Tri-Spoke hubs on my street rigged mountainboards for 3.5 years now. They are the toughest hubs with the widest rims available for pneumatic tires. They are the only hubs that will accomodate wide (8-3.00-4) street slicks, does take some skill to get them mounted correctly. I did receive one defective set of Tri-spokes early on which they replaced immediately.

However, I have never had any other product quality problems with Tri-spokes (10 sets = 40 hubs) in 3.5 years. The only problem I have had was a hub coming apart while riding -- because I ride them hard and the screws need "minor" tightening from time-to-time and I never checked them. (I check them regularly now.) When tightening, use touch (not much past thumb and forefinger tight with an allen wrench). The ny-lock nuts used with Tri-spokes screws should keep the hubs together nicely without too much snugging down.

hang loose brah and give MBS a call or e-mail message at their site. Give them the opportunity to help you out.

http://www.mbs.com/contact/

or

877-MBS-4100 / orderprocessing@mbs.com

If they don't make good, then come back here and complain.

Bottom line, I love my MBS Tri-spokes. Just wish they'd make the rim a little wider and lighter -- but I might be the only customer for those hubs.

[Sad, little man]

Eh, honestly the $50 is not a huge deal to me. If no one else has had trouble with them, I obviously over-tightened them. Oh well, now I know, and now I'm using higher grade fasteners. Plus I have one or two spare hubs that I was able to salvage.

[BluegrassSurfer]

Eh, honestly the $50 is not a huge deal to me. If no one else has had trouble with them, I obviously over-tightened them. Oh well, now I know, and now I'm using higher grade fasteners. Plus I have one or two spare hubs that I was able to salvage.

I hear you. But MBS takes their product seriously. It pisses me off when I get something defective regardless of how little it costs.

Seriously, give MBS a shout. I am confident they will take your concerns seriously. You never know, they may give you a set of hubs at no cost or give you a nice discount. Use the contact info I gave you and tell Patrick that BluegrassSurfer sent you. As all companies, they have occasional problems with the products their manufacturers make for them -- your problem may be one of the defects that they have seen before.

Regarding the fasteners, even when my hub separated coming down a steep grade, the screws were still in perfect condition afterwards -- my fault for not checking screw tightness -- and the hub is still good. The quality of the fasteners is much more than you need. No point in spending more money