Originally posted by jmlee
for what it is worth, I just asked my lbs's chief mechanic about this. His view was that they virtually never need replacing.
:confused: Was he just talking about wheel bearings? Or Sunshine Gyromaster?
I ask because I put a Phil BB in my commuter, and after several years it got a little rough (like silk when it was new). Granted, I'm talking about oranges in a discussion about apples.
It sounds like the BB was a very different animal from what Mike describes... I didn't really investigate much, but the left and right bearings appeared to be sealed units that were pressed onto the spindle and into the housing. It wasn't something I felt I had the tools to do right, and didn't want to screw up, considering the cost of the thing and warranty considerations.
And I'll add my plug for Phils (way off topic)... the week I returned the unit for bearing replacement was during Interbike, so everybody was at the show. The service took an extra week (2 weeks from the time I sent it to get it back), so they didn't charge me for it. Mind you, I didn't raise h#ll with them or anything... I didn't expect to get it back that fast in any case. They just didn't charge me. :thumbup: