deacon mark

I have some velocity road wheels I built myself with velocity hubs. Nothing special but the roll well and I wonder about maintenance? In fact my other road bike has Ritchey WCS wheels that are cartridge hubs, I have 6000 miles on one set and 4000 on the other in about 2 years and if I spin the wheels they seem to spin forever. I don 't ride in the rain so can I assume these will last a long time or should I do anything right now. I am of the school that if it not broke do not fix. I do otherwise maintain my bike well. I here of those packing or greasing hubs at intervals but I just assume you replace the whole cartridge? When you have to replace is it easy? I can build wheels just never done hub maintance.

juggleaddict

I've heard of people repacking CBs but it's arguable if it extends the life enough to warrant trying that kind of maintenance. I would just buy some new CBs and get a shop to put them in. All you really need is a big bolt with a washer on each end to get the new ones in, but a shop shouldn't charge much, and the bearings are cheap.

I just got some velocity cartridge hubs for a build and from what I have read most people run 10 - 20 K miles before they need to be replaced, even then you should get some warning that they need replacing from how the hubs feel. It's not going to hurt the body of the hub at all, so at that point it's just a matter of whether you think it's worth it to repack them. I'm assuming you'll have to flush out the grease that's in there with a solvent to replace it, but I haven't done it.

GrandaddyBiker

Bicycle repair and maintenance is very simple. I am amazed that people try to make out like it is complicated. Bicycle repair is nowhere near being on the same level as rebuilding radial aircraft engines or overhauling automatic transmissions and I have done both. So LBS mechanics don’t really impress me a lot, they are just guys doing a job that anyone with some mechanical aptitude can be taught to do.

If you have the skill to build a wheel, then there is almost no repair on a bicycle that you cannot make yourself without anyone’s help. Some exceptions would be if you had a frame repair that required welding, or if the bike shop had a tool that you did not want to buy, like a BB tap, or some tool you would likely use only once in a life time. All of the information you need is available to you at web sites like Parks and free to checkout bike manuals at your local library.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe in supporting LBS. People that don’t have your skills should take their bikes to people that have the knowledge and tools to do the job right. Not long ago I took one of my bikes to the shop for repair I could have done myself but the repair was under warranty and the parts were free. After I got home I redid the repair myself because I didn’t like the way they did it but I still got the parts for free.

HillRider

Anything is simple if you know how to do it and nothing is until you've learned. Of course bike repair doesn't deal with the complexities (or weight or cost) of aircraft engines or automatic transmissions but it's not trivial and there are a lot of arcane and specific things that a good bike mechanic has to know.

deacon mark

My thought exactly! I do all my own repair I repair guitars for a living and they are much more complicated. I just never have done anything with hub maintenance so I ask. I have learned huge amounts on this forum and ask questions. I guess a lot hub maintenance can be with some wheels. A lot depends on conditions. I notice those who need chains replaced in 2000 miles but I get 5000 with only 1/32 streach even then. I personally find I know more than some who work at the LBS for sure they ask me questions.

cyccommute 

Cartridge bearings are use and replace items. The only maintenance needs are to replace them when they don't roll as smoothly. Prying off the seals and flushing them and regreasing them isn't necessary nor even worthwhile.

juggleaddict

a few reasons why I use a shop:

-I'm a student, thus move a lot, thus don't want to buy tools so I don't have to carry them
-If I need a job done that uses a specific tool that costs multiple times what the labor for a shop to do it costs
-Some repairs can be frustrating and take too much time (especially considering my workload in a masters program)
-I don't have the space or work stand to do the job properly without considerable frustration
-I may not have a developed skill, such as wheel building to give me the confidence to make spoke adjustments without screwing something up.
-If I try to make a repair and I break something then I am responsible, if a shop breaks something they are

That being said, 95% of the things you need done to a bike are easy with an allen key and an open wrench set. Obviously taking your bike to a shop for anything that's self explanatory and quick is silly. (adjusting brakes for instance)

But things like: recabling, bottom bracket or headset installation, wheel building/truing, those are things that are cheap and convenient to use a shop for. . . . oh and hub CB replacements.

Edit: cheap and convenient. . . for me

To each their own of course.

davidad

Radial bearings will last longer if serviced, but replacing them is normally not dificult. I have a Phil BB that is a bear to replace the bearings. I use a home made press when I have to replace them, but it is easier to pop out the seals, clean and regrease them. The advantage of the shimano square BB's is that they are cheap and last a long time, even though they are not serviceable.