Originally Posted by
Lasse
I'm sure XTR is made for being used, but if LX has a steel axle and therefore space for bigger ball bearings than the XTR, there might be an advantage for LX hubs in this regard. It's the same problem with Hollowtech bottom brackets which don't last as long as cheap square taper ones which have more space for bigger ball bearings.
Your 4 hubs that have no issues don't tell us anything about the durability of XTR hubs in general. To estimate the actual durability we can only look at the design specifications and maybe some user statistics (as in returns etc)...
Speaking of statistics, what statistics can you cite that says that LX hubs (or square taper bottom brackets) last longer than their higher priced cousins? How much longer, if they last longer? Most of the failures of
XT hubs I've read about aren't related to bearings anyway. XTR hubs gets an almost perfect rating (4.76 out of 5) in MTBR.com. If you can pound the crap out of them on a mountain bike, touring is going to be a walk in the park.
Outboard bottom bracket bearings aren't any smaller than internal bearings nor, in my experience...again..., have they been any less durable. Quite frankly, I've never owned a sealed cassette style bottom bracket bearing of any kind that I've worn out. I've replaced lots of them with higher quality units or different technology but I've never had one actually quit working on me.