Originally Posted by
Panthers007
Some of us don't like the sealed hubs. I, for one, find having loose ball-bearings in the hubs - like Shimano Ultegra - makes them easy to service. And these tend to be smoother than the sealed models. At least that's one opinion. But if you don't like working on bicycles, the sealed hubs are probably made for you.
It's best to refer to the sealed hubs you're talking about as cartridge bearing hubs. As I mentioned earlier, the better cup and cone hubs are sealed also. I had some old Suzue hubs that had "sealed bearings" labels on them, and they were cup and cone hubs with rubber dust seals. I've got Suntour hubs from the same era, with "sealed bearings" labels on them, and they're cartridge bearing hubs.