Consecutive bicycle work commute number 1690:

A few weeks ago I went on my annual motorcycle trip. Seeing as I wasn't going to be riding my road bike during that week, I dropped the wheels off at my LBS to have the bearings replaced. The front bearing was making an occasional grinding noise that was obnoxious enough to draw stares from anyone in the vicinity. When it happened I would have to slow to a stop, then when I would take off again it would be OK for a little while. The rear bearings weren't making any noise, but I figured they had the same mileage on them as the front so they were probably due to be replaced as well.

While I was on my trip the LBS mechanic called. He said that my rear rim had cracks at nearly every spoke nipple, so that wheel wasn't worth repairing. Based on the braking surface wear, he estimated that the front wheel was probably about 60% worn out. He quoted me a brand new wheel set at $600, or if I didn't mind mismatching wheels I could buy just the rear wheel for $350 and he could replace the front wheel bearings. I went that route.

It's really nice not having those front bearings howling. And the new rear wheel doesn't make the creaking noise that I had apparently gotten used to, and I suspect was caused by the spokes moving in the cracked rims.

This morning I broke my front derailleur cable. I went to shift into the big ring and heard a loud "POP" that startled me. So until I get that fixed my road bike is effectively an 11 speed. I have a spare cable at home, but I don't have any replacement bar tape on hand so I needed to order that.