Best time of year to service bearings?
 

Maybe a silly question to all of you, but in searching on repacking bearings I see the recommendation is for once a year but I'm wondering if it's better to do this in the spring or fall. I live in the pacific northwest, so it's wet 9 months of the year, but never really hot or cold. Would it be better to service this stuff before the wet season or after? I may even do wheel hubs twice a year.

Thanks in advance.

IF I were to do it only once per year, I'd pick the start of the dry season.
IF I rode in constant wet, I'd simply do it more often. Probably early Spring, again just after the rainy season started and about 1/2 way between then and early Spring.
Just buy bags of 100 bearings and replace with new each time. It makes the job very quick, since you save inspection time. That way you're more likely to do it, instead of put it off.

When I was a working stiff, I used to do all of my bike overhauls between Christmas and New Year because that's whe I had time off and usually couldn't ride much because of the weather.

My good bikes don't get ridden in the rain much any more as I have a specific beater/rain bike so the rainy/dry season isn't an issue for them. I do them at 5K to 6K mile intervals, whenever that occurs, since every day is a vacation now. :)

The beater gets attention a couple of times a year as time and enthusiasm permit.

If your bike(s) get ridden in all conditions, the start of the dry season is probably the time to do the overhauls as they will last a bit longer that way.

Thanks for the advice. I just overhauled my first hub and found it easier to do than I had imagined. I suspect I will do the hubs more regularly since they'll be the most affected. I haven't attempted the bottom bracket, yet, but the old bike is old enough that I may just replace whatever is in there with a sealed BB and service it in the spring.

BF mechanics are the best! thanks again.

Every 2,500 miles.

I always check my bearings before I go to sleep and on Halloween around 10 ish.

IF you have a good cup type BB, no sense replacing with a cartridge until needed. They take the same size bearings (1/4") as the rear hub, thus better justifying the "bags O' bearings".
18 rear hub and 22 for the BBracket.
I probably do the BB about 1/2-1/3 as often as the rear hub. Partially because of laziness and the other because of my weight. I don't really "torque" the BB hard, but the rear hub always carries my big.....

When I lived in Seattle, February and September, and after every heavy duty mud ride, like Reiter road.