Andy_K 

I hope this doesn't come across as something that belongs on the sales forum. It definitely skews that way, but I'm genuinely asking for advice and not trying to solicit a sale.

I discovered last night that a bike I recently bought has a 6-speed Shimano Uniglide cassette with a corresponding Shimano hub laced to 27" Aray rims. I don't generally keep 27" wheels, and I've decided recently that the hassle of shipping wheels makes it not worth it to me to try to give or sell them to anyone who can't pick them up in person. I know someone will be interested in at least the cassette, so I was thinking I'd sell it, but it seems like without the cassette the hubs/wheels become very nearly useless. Is that true? Would anyone want these hubs even with the cassette? They're in pretty good shape and spin smoothly, but recent eBay sales seem to suggest that there is more interest in the cassettes than the hubs. Would a local bike co-op be likely to want the complete wheels with or without the cassette? (I try not to give them things that they'd consider useless.)

Basically, I don't want these things, and I'm trying to figure out in what combination they'd be most useful to someone else.

shoota 

I might get skewered (see what I did there?), but I've been delacing 27" rims from hubs I want to keep. The combo of hubs and the cassette might be more interesting to people.

rccardr 

Much depends on the model & condition of hub and the cog sizes on the cassette.
Lots of folks still using UG equipment and they tend to be ones who build their own wheels.
Having said that, might be better to offer them as a pay it forward.

Andy_K 

With few exceptions, I think that's entirely reasonable. In my case, I even think it's possible the local co-op might rather have the rims alone than the rims with these hubs.


I should have mentioned that these are the "early" Uniglide hubs discussed here: https://www.sheldonbrown.com/k7.html#uniglide-old

But I suppose I could keep the hubs and cassette together and let the next steward decide what they want to do with the hubs.

Andy_K 

Recent eBay sales suggest the cassette alone could recoup my $50 investment in the bike. I wonder if I could make room in the Box O' Crap for the hubs?

The cassette is 13-28, which I was a bit excited about when I thought it was a freewheel. Then I went to remove it, and I'm looking at it thinking, "There's no way I can get a removal tool in there." Then it dawned on me what it was. This is my first experience with Uniglide. I was really surprised how easily it came apart. The bike is rusty and has a build-up of garage grime in various places, but apart from the headset all the bearings were smooth and nothing was stuck. It seems this was that rare beast that was well-used but properly maintained before falling into an extended period of garage residency.

noobinsf 

13-28 is actually pretty desirable. I may be interested, in fact. I know folks also take a file to a modern hyperglide cassette to use the UG hubs, so it's not necessarily a dead end to have to keep the UG freehub body.

Classtime 

13-28 is very useable. Did I miss the picture of this bike?

Andy_K 

I buried it in the Stella bike thread,



I basically bought it for the crankset. I'm thinking my three-year old grandson might grow into it by the time I get around to cleaning up the frame.

There was also this oddity on the (25.9mm!) seatpost.



I'm not sure that minimum insertion line is trustworthy. Judging from the saddle height of the bike when I bought it, the previous owner decided to play it safe.

bikemig 

Great way to presell a uniglide cassette and build up buyer interest, .

There are all sorts of ways to get that wheel to work even once you've sold off the 13-28 uniglide cassette; you've likely seen this before,
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/k7.html

Andy_K 

Anyway, I don't think I'd be able to get my $50 back from the cheapskates that hang out on this forum. I'm sure I could find someone here to take this off my hands though.

Yeah, I re-read it today, in fact. I was thinking I'd take a stab at transplanting an HG freehub body onto the hub, but Sheldon says it isn't possible with these particular hubs. Beyond that, there seems to be a bit of a gap between what Sheldon would have done to keep old bike parts useful and what a reasonable person would be willing to do.

Andy_K 

This is the hub in question.

nlerner

You know, I have that same hub laced to an arc en ciel tubular rim. It’s been hanging in the basement for 20 years. Geez, I have too much stuff.

RiddleOfSteel

Uniglide: either dirt cheap can't-give-it-away-ever status or pearls on eBay. Another vote for keeping the hub and cassette together. Hubs look like they'll clean up well, so if the rims are tired looking--especially the spokes or nipples--all the more incentive to disassemble. I have a 14-28 8-speed Uniglide cassette (the ONE YEAR Shimano did this, gahhhhhh) that uses a 7/8-speed spec'd first position cog to lock everything down. Finding a 13T is a not too difficult, but you know, it's only "one better." I want two better. 12T? Unicorn. Or eBay darling. Great.

Trakhak

Perhaps a previous owner (or the shop where the bike was bought) found that the seat post would not insert fully into the seat tube. The seat tube might need to be reamed/honed.

That, or the seat post is the wrong diameter. Either way, the seat post was likely hacksawed to the length necessary to fit the rider. It certainly wasn't manufactured with the min. insertion line so close to the end of the post.

bark_eater 

There's enough thread on the freehub body to run 5 cogs, but I cant remember if these are re-spaceable to 120mm.

Andy_K 

I think someone cut it down to save weight. Even after the cut it's almost 24 cm long, and it weighs 300 grams. Clearly the previous owner didn't need a long seat post. The cut is very clean, so whoever did it knew what they were doing.

ThermionicScott 

Is that a pista stem? Seems to angle downward more than your typical quill stem.

52telecaster

Iove those hubs. I build cassettes for them by modifying hyperglide cogs. Just got to have the last cog.

Andy_K 

​​​​​​It does look that way, doesn't it?

I don't know. It's a Pivo stem, but I don't know anything about them