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Bendix 70 coaster hub 2300 mile test

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nortonguy

Finally riding a big boys bike
In 2022 a very low mileage Bendix 70 Coaster hub was taken out of a mangled Schwinn Breeze women's bicycle, laced into a 27" road-bike rim and used in a Schwinn LeTour converted to single-speed for 2300 miles of hard riding. The rider of this bike with clothing and messenger bag full of tools, spares and water averaged about 220 pounds. The larger diameter wheel rim and heavy rider put a bigger than standard load on this coaster brake hub. Very much of the riding was done at over 15mph, and lots of steep hills were climbed and descended getting the brake sizzling hot, hot enough to smoke and steam.

After this treatment this wheel was taken off the LeTour and disassembled for inspection and cleaning and lubing for the new riding season. Upon inspection the brake looked......better than new.

There was surprisingly little wear on the brake shoes and inside braking surface of the hub, the bearing balls all looked great with no pitting, and the bearing race surfaces which had looked freshly machined now looked more polished and burnished to provide a more smooth surface for the bearing balls to run on. So the hub was cleaned up with kerosene, packed with fresh grease and is now back on the bike ready for the next few thousand miles.

Some people may have reservations about the quality of the Mexican made Bendix 70 Coaster hub, but after this testing, and after comparing it's machining and parts to an older USA-made NOS Bendix red-band hub, there are no reservations about it's performance, reliability or it's manufacturing quality.

This hubs are plentiful and cheap on the used market and a great bargain for anyone wanting a coaster hub for heavy use. If this Bendix 70 held up for a few thousand miles in a 27" rim with a heavy rider and heavy braking loads, it would last forever in normal use installed in the average fat-tired beach cruiser type of bicycle. Only casualty after the few thousand miles was the chain, which was shown to be stretched beyond specs with a Park brand chain checking tool, so it will be replaced.

Before photo;



bendix 70 coffe table.jpg


After photos of wearing parts;



Bendix used f.jpg




Bendix used b.jpg



Bendix used c.jpg




Bendix used d.jpg


Bendix used e.jpg


40 mile ride december.jpg
 
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I'm not surprised by what you found. The Bendix coasters are very good. I think that they are better than ND, but not as good as Morrow. What kind of grease was used. We have experimented a lot with different greases and opinions vary. I prefer blue marine grease
 
I'm not surprised by what you found. The Bendix coasters are very good. I think that they are better than ND, but not as good as Morrow. What kind of grease was used. We have experimented a lot with different greases and opinions vary. I prefer blue marine grease

The grease has been Master Pro, Super Lithium, EP Moly. It is a lighter feeling grease than the standard automotive wheel bearing grease I have laying around, which I thought would give less drag. I have done some 18-19mph laps of a local TT course with this bike, I am the limiting factor as I am an old white-haired man in my 60s.
 
THe Bendix 70 is a good brake......The only troubles I have ever seen with one of them is due to lack of maintenance......The bearings will fail on them if they are not cleaned and lubed as needed............
 
THe Bendix 70 is a good brake......The only troubles I have ever seen with one of them is due to lack of maintenance......The bearings will fail on them if they are not cleaned and lubed as needed............

But that is not a Bendix-70 specific problem, as the bearings on any machine ever made will fail if they are not maintained properly. Most coaster braked bicycles never have any maintenance done to their rear hub for the entire life of the bicycle, but Bendix recommends cleaning, lubing and adjusting the rear hub once each year under heavy use, with light use it says two or more years can pass between maintenance. I would say that my Bendix 70 saw heavy use over the 12 months it ran up the 2300 miles so I wanted to check it out and see what happened to it. I was amazed at how well it came through the year.

I wanted to put this test up because I have seen some ignorant remarks about how the Mexican Bendix coaster hubs were junk and not worth using, and to me this shows that negative remarks about this model Bendix are just that, ignorant.
 
If looking to minimize wear, and use for higher mileage, one might consider loose bearings for the smaller adjusting cone, instead of the caged bearings?
 
If looking to minimize wear, and use for higher mileage, one might consider loose bearings for the smaller adjusting cone, instead of the caged bearings?
In my opinion, it is better to stay with the caged bearings for ease of maintenance. The overhaul once a year, is an arbitrary minimum. For coasters that get heavy repetitive use, as the author stated, he got it hot enough to smoke. Everytime it gets that hot warrants an overhaul.
 
If looking to minimize wear, and use for higher mileage, one might consider loose bearings for the smaller adjusting cone, instead of the caged bearings?

Engineers did not design bearing cages to save manufacturers money, they keep the balls from rubbing against each other at twice their rotational speed and wearing out as quickly, also if you count that extra friction of each one rolling against the direction of it's neighbor, it is more heat and drag too. The highest performance roller and ball bearings in racing engines have always had cages to keep the rolling elements from wearing against each other.
 
I was thinking more at wear of the small cone, which is replaceable, but not as easily replaced as ball bearings, (i.e., if the cones are not made anymore).

Not sure of the significance of the ball bearings wearing against each other, as compared to the weight “bearing” forces, (those in between the cup and cone).
 
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