Originally Posted by Ira in Chi
Four years ago, a messenger buddy was complaining to me about how his DA track hubs went to sh*t much faster than he expected, despite the specially machined races and high grade bearings. He was telling me this as we rode through a salty, slushy Chicago night, snow and grime coating our bikes. Gratuitus as his abuse of equiptment may have been, I remember the lesson and do not ride my DA equipped bike in the snow, or rain for that matter. I've always wondered though, how much weather can those things take? They are incredibly smooth, low-resistance, fairly inexpensive hubs, but how long do they last under regular street use? I wanna hear some testimonials!
Here's the diagram that from Shimano's website, looks like there's not really a seal....
http://bike.shimano.com/product_imag..._7710-R_EV.pdf
i've had the same dura ace wheel for a little over 6 years now. last year, i had to replace the bearings because they had all developed a nice wear trench around the outside. i put some of the basic, low-grade bearings in there and they roll just fine. the next time i replace the bearings, i'll put the higher grade bearings in.
they actually come with little seal rings that you can slip into the cones to keep crap out of there, but they create a ton of drag when you first put them in. so much, that i decided it was better to just leave them as they are. i'm sure after a while, they'd loosen up.
the guy who pronounced it "durache" was probably joking around. it's a common joke. sort of like pronouncing cannondale as ca-NON-dalay.