Ronno6

Yesterday I received my Velo Orange Grand Cru rear touring hub.
What a nice, beefy unit!
Nicely machined and finished.
Talk about STRONG!
It has 4 sealed cartridge bearing units, 2 in the hub, 2 in the freeewheel body.
Oversized aluminum axle and end caps.
AND, a GREAT FEATURE-it disassembles without tools!
O-rings on the end of the axle provide enough friction to hold the end caps on, but permit easy removal.
So..........drive side spoke replacement just got easier!
Today, the front VO hub and my Dyads should arrive.

GeoKrpan

Sounds like a great hub, love it.

LeeG

Is there any chance the end caps can corrode in place?

seeker333

^Not likely since the end caps and shell are Al. It's more likely that the freewheel mechanism, bearings, spindle or shell would fail before corrosion.

I considered getting this hub a year ago, but decided I didn't want to be a beta-tester. The VOGC hub is an inexpensive alternative to a PW FSC hub, and both solve the "Shimano problem" of having replaceable bearings and races (cartridge bearings), making the hubs reusable indefinitely as long as you can find bearings and the freewheel, shell or spindle doesn't break.

Bearings are difficult to remove on some cartridge hubs, requiring special tools to remove and reinstall. The bearings are often an odd size that has to be ordered, and the 3-4 bearings may cost more than a whole new Deore, LX or XT hub - but at least they save you the trouble of rebuilding the wheel. With respect to bearings, PW and VO are the only hubs you can actually repair yourself in a tour setting. You may still be SOL if the freewheel breaks on a PWFSC or the VOGC.

https://www.philwood.com/philpdfs/FSCinstructions.pdf

I think the "drive side spoke replacement" benefit of these hubs is exaggerated, given that spokes in a well-built wheel don't really break very often.

Dylansbob 

Just don't lose the skewer!

PlanoFuji

Do these hubs come in freewheel versions? When I glanced at their web site I only saw freehub versions (take modern cassettes)... I may have to check and see, that would be a better alternative than the quando freewheel hubs that are the only other modern replacements I have found! Thanks!

Ronno6

They certainly do, and are considerably less expensive.
https://store.velo-orange.com/index.p...hub-130mm.html
They,too spin very nicely.

GeoKrpan

Here's what I want to know. You can get Shimano or Campy versions. Do they use the same hub, only the cassette body splines being different?

Ronno6

I would have to believe that to be the case.

seeker333

You should ask VO to be sure.

Total cassette width varies a little by "speeds", and Campy is normally 2-3mm wider than Shimano. The right hub flange would have to be located inwards further to accommodate a wider cassette since the right dropout is a fixed limit.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/cribsheet-spacing.shtml

It may be that the VOGC hub will accept Campy 8-9s but not 10-11s, for example. If they simply made the hub for Shimano, then later made a Campy freewheel shell to fit then I'd expect problems on 10 and 11s.

Edit: after I wrote the above I googled and found this, so you can fit 8-9-10s Campy, but not 11s.

GeoKrpan

10 & 11 speed is irrelevant to me and to some extent so is 9 speed. I just went through building a bike with some nearly unused Campy Scirocco 20 wheels from the mid 90s. These wheels are so sweet that I went through all the trouble to accommodate them. It's the first time I've used Campy anything. Of course, it's no better than Shimano but I sure love them.

rainingbikes

Hey,

You've had that hub now for over a year. Have you been riding it?? How much riding?? Do you like it?? Any concerns?? Also comments from anyone else riding the Velo Orange Grand Cru rear touring hub would be excellent.

Ronno6

The VO Grand Cru Hubs are on my touring bike, and touring has not been on my agenda for some time.
We relocated from mid May to Mid September last year, so I had not been riding at all in the mean time.
I have only begun riding at all in the last week.
Hopefully some loaded touring will be in the cards this year, and I will let you know!

Thanks for asking!

MRT2

I had a back wheel built around this hub last fall for my Salsa Casseroll after the stock wheel failed. To be honest, not enough miles on it yet to form an opinion. I hope to do some light touring this summer, though mostly my goal with this hub was to build a robust 36 spoke wheel that would stay true and handle day tours, club rides, and some credit card touring.

swen0171 

Hi,

Found this thread looking for anyone else having trouble with these hubs. I have been riding this hub for three years (one full year through the winter in Indiana, two years with light use in winter), 13 mile commute plus extra rides. So, real miles but not crazy miles. Last fall I developed a difficult to track creaking/crunchy sound. I tightened everything up and still there. I pulled the hub and replaced the two bearings in the body (didn't realize the other bearings could be replaced as this is my first cartridge bearing hub, 'cuz i'm old). Still there so I take the bike in for a full tear down/tune up. They say the other two bearings are nasty and replace. Creaking/crunching sound still there. Checked everything, finally swapped out rear wheel for an old wheel and sound is gone! Now I'm worried something is structurally wrong with the hubs? I'll take them back for a rebuild by the shop, but any ideas?

rainingbikes

Hmmmmmmm. I was waiting for some more neg experiences to roll in.

I wonder if there are people out there who really push these hubs to their limits and never get off the bike to weigh in.

Salamandrine 

Creaking sounds are often the spokes rubbing against each other at the crossing. After a while they will tend to wear a groove where they rub. Try squeezing a couple spokes together near the cross. Sounds can also emanate from the nipples or the heads in the spoke holes. Does it sound like something between a frog croak and a cricket chirp?

By quick guesstimation sounds like you got maybe 10,000 miles on these wheels? Honestly that's about what I usually get AFA useful life out of a wheel anyway. At that time it's typically time for a rebuild: new rims, new spokes.

Of course it's possible that something is happening with your hubs. I got a set last time VO had a sale, but I haven't built them yet. Seems like they are pretty simple with little to go wrong. I guess you could take it apart and apply anti seize compound between any parts you might suspect, and see if that does anything. Also inspect carefully for cracks. If you don't find any, then IMO you don't have anything to worry about structurally.

Philly Tandem

Certain DT/Swiss hubs can be disassembled without tools, and have the same sort of o-ring setup as the VeloOrange rear hub.

himespau 

Hopefully you find it's not the hubs. Those are quite pretty.

MRT2

Still satisfied with mine. Thinking about building a front wheel with the Velo Orange Grand Cru front hub, though to be honest, there is nothing wrong with my current front wheel so the only reason to do it would be so the front wheel would match the back.

Salamandrine 

There's something to be said for matching hubs. I hope i like my VO touring hubs, as I really do like the design and aesthetics. They do cheap out a bit on the front one though and use a standard threaded axle rather than a phil style fat hollow axle, just FYI.

The creak problem described above sounds more like a spoke or nipple issue than a hub issue to me, but it's impossible to diagnose over the interwebs. I'd be curious as to whether i does it in the stand or just on the road with a rider loading the wheels.

swen0171 

Sorry for the delay in getting back.

Just got the wheel back from the shop where they really went through it, whatever that means. No sound for about a mile and then it slowly comes back. After five miles totally there, creaking away again. It sounds crunchy and not unlike crushing a paper bag but with a different tone. The quick change from no sound to sound leads me toward a failed nipple or something that gets loose. When I swapped the wheel I didn't swap out the larger (big apple) tire. I guess I'll swap out the tire and wheel this time just to be sure it's not something to do with the racks, etc. But I guess I should bring it back to the builder and see if it's time for new spokes/rim. I do have about 10,000 miles on the wheels, maybe a bit less, but I'm used to getting more miles than that out of a wheel. But I usually re-purpose vintage MTB stuff for commuting and ride quality 80s-90s stuff, first "new" set of wheels in years.

swen0171 

I can't get it to make the sound in a stand, but if I just put my weight on the right pedal it starts up. I was originally worried about the hub because it got really dirty and corroded after the first winter, all four bearings were totally shot. I didn't realize how flimsy the seal was or I would have checked it earlier. I was assuming I did some damage to the hub, but the spoke/nipple explanation sounds right to me now. The wheel was built by a really good local guy but he's all the way across town. Guess it's time to head over there.

Salamandrine 

The fact that it's only making the sound when your weight is on it tends to indicate that it's a spoke/nipple issue -- but of course there are exceptions to everything. It could also be other things like spoke hole eyelets creaking. Have your guy check it out. Like I said, 10,000 miles is about a standard life wheel life for road wheels before a rebuild IME. Double butted spokes will go a bit longer.

swen0171 

I finally figured it out! Tire, the tire of all things! A Big Apple with 5000 miles, it looked pretty good still but the inside had totally broken down. We pulled it off and it was like a wet noodle. Weird. Anyway, I'm used to riding Schwalbe Marathon's until the tread is gone.

Thanks for the responses!