Originally Posted by stapfam

Cup and ball bearings are easy to service and replace. Don't have the tools to replace the sealed bearings on my Hope hubs on a saturday afternoon when I am riding Sunday. Thats why I have two sets of wheels for the tandem at $750 a time.

And yet to replace an XT hub through wear in years. Haven't had to replace the Hope hubs either but 4 sealed bearings at about $20 a time is a lot more than $5 for a set of loose balls on the XT.