Woah! I just got off work, and look at the response! Thanks for everyone's input, all this has been great.
Originally Posted by
valygrl
I'm in the "i can't stand the noise" camp - I have the Chris King hubs on my mountain bike and my friend has them on her road bike. The noise is irritating - think about it and listen to it before you decide.
You know, I hadn't even thought of that. The things sound like a swarm of bees coming up behind you. I can see that being less than desirable on the machine that I'd be
living on. Thanks.
Originally Posted by
truman
My aversion to CK and PW hubs has more to do with elevating the theftworthiness of my bike. Nobody's gonna steal a whole bike to eBay an XT hubset, but a lot of folks would take that risk for a set they could move easily for $500.
I was worried about this too. All but one of my bikes are old and many were found in dumpsters. My LHT is the most expensive bike I own, and I worried quite a bit about it getting stolen on some nights touring. It only has XT. I might not be able to sleep with PWs on the thing.
Originally Posted by
jbpence
...i understand your point, however, I just never take my eyes off my bike. ANY BIKE.
especially while touring. the OP is talking about a tour bike. who wants to get stranded in rural East Jabib??
would I lock a touring bike, with loaded panniers in public and take off for a few hours? I think not.
...
no bike is safe, and I refuse to live in fear that my possessions might get jacked. IMO, living in fear can help manifest what you fear the most.
My touring tends to be more on the fringe end of things. I never do hotels, and end up in rotten parts of cities more often than I'd like. Since I like taking my time on tour, I stay in Cities and ride my bike around places, going to museums and coffee shops and the like. Being able to leave my bike locked places for a couple hours at a time is absolutely necessary. I don't like the idea of living months of my life within 40 feet of my bike.
I hope this comes across as respectfully as I want it to, but how is riding a bike you never take your eyes off of not living in fear of it getting jacked? If I toured on a rusty rockhopper, I'd never worry about someone taking the trouble of going through a u-lock just to get it. Whether I was near it or no.
But I do agree that it's pointless to be worrying about your bike 24/7. It's almost not worth riding PWs or CKs simply because I'd have to take the time to REALLY lock my bike just going in a convenience store. That can happen 10 or more times a day. That's a lot of fumbling with my keys!
Originally Posted by
Peterpan1
My number one choice are the Phil... They offer hubs for freewheel users which is a tiny subset of tourists, but another sign they are thinking about us kind of thing.
You know, I've been thinking more about freewheels recently. Just took one apart at the shop today and repacked it. Everything you can possibly do to it can be done with a freewheel remover and a pin spanner. More specialized than a couple allen wrenches I guess, but still not bad.
The freewheel I took apart had 70 tiny ball bearings in it. Whoo! All in all, a complete, 100% overhaul of the freewheel took 20 minutes at most. I thought that was pretty cool...
Originally Posted by
Ziemas
Do you really plan on replacing your bearings on the side of the road?
Yes.
Well, I don't PLAN on it, but I like knowing that I can. A lot of times "the side of the road" is where I'm living at the moment.
Originally Posted by
alaska joe
I have Chris King classic hubs. I used them on a cross country tour of the US this summer. 3,700+ miles. No problems other than the rear hub developed a bit of slop after 3,000 miles and I spent 5 minutes adjusting it. I was carrying the special CK hub adjustment tool just for this reason (I don't know how you'd do it without the tool).
Cool! Fun stuff. I did the same this summer, but on XTs. 4600 miles and they're still smooth with 0 play. This example is actually why I am having such a hard time deciding. A good friend of mine just finished more than 3000 miles on an 80's Fuji with no name hubs and no name cup-and-cone bottom bracket(and on a bmx freewheel). Actually he ended up overhauling his BB on a sidewalk in Philadelphia, but a good mechanic can make anything work.
Thanks again for everyone's feedback! A couple things were brought up that I hadn't even thought of, like the noise. Bleh. Also, I think I would probably really worry about them getting stolen! I want to look into the offerings of other companies now, too. Like DT. Sounds great.
I like the idea of the CKs and the PWs so much, but for the money, and for sheer practicality's sake, I'm having a hard time choosing them over good old XTs. I think eventually I probably just need to pick up a pair of PWs and ride them and fix them and play with them so I'm comfortable with the idea of high-end hubs. Right now they're just a bit of a lofty idea to me, and I haven't worked on them much.
You guys are awesome. If anyone else has input, I'm loving all of it.