how are the axles?
2012-06-17 23:58:28
7
Are hubs salvageable/sellable after a car collision?
Years ago, I was hit head-on just a couple months after getting a custom fixed wheelset made for a Bianchi Pista. I've since moved onto a geared road bike and no longer have use for some of the parts and was looking to sell them.
My front wheel was completely snapped and broken. Is the hub from that wheel salvageable for resell purposes? I was just planning on cutting the spokes with a bolt cutter and threading them back through the hub. Would that be potentially damaging? The rear wheel seems to have remained true, with no damaged spokes (it was built really well). Would I be better off selling the front hub with the fully built rear wheel? Or dismantling the rear wheel and trying to sell the rim separately?
Thanks for your insight. I've been holding onto the wheels as something like a personal badge of honor, but I feel it's time to release them to the biking wild.
2012-06-17 13:36:45
Axles don't seem bent or otherwise out of shape, as far as I know. Just wasn't sure if there was something that was materially compromised by impact, if the hub otherwise seems to still be doing what it's made to do.
2012-06-18 02:47:54
If the rear wheel is true, don't dismantle it! Fixie rear wheels are worth something by themselves. What kind of hub/rim build is it, something nice?
For the front, you won't lose anything by cutting the hub out of the spokes. There isn't much of a market for front hubs, unless it's something really nice. It's possible that some of the holes the spokes thread through can break out or crack under a severe impact. You should look at the holes very closely, or have a mechanic do it, before doing anything with it. If it's ok you could put in on craigslist and try and find the one person in Pgh who might want it, or maybe just give it to Free Ride. Or make art out of it.
2012-06-18 03:02:46
Check and make sure the flanges that the holes are in are not bent as well as check the holes themselves as edmonds suggested.
2012-06-18 10:51:33
Awesome, thank you all for your insight--it's greatly appreciated!
2012-06-18 18:29:21
I wouldn't use the bolt cutters, the sudden change in tension left some weird indentations on one of my hubs when I did that.
2012-06-19 20:23:23