Reviving an old thread --- yes, I used the search function.

My Surly bearings went bad prematurely, and I figured it was my fault after I read a bunch of stuff about adjusting, blah blah blah. So I got some new bearings and installed them. They spun even worse, so I figured I had messed it up again. So I got some new bearings and with a little help from a smarter person than me and the Park Tools Blue Book Of Wisdom, we installed the bearings and --- again --- grinding. But we noticed when we put the bearings in on one side, they sorta shifted and wobbled at first, as if the opening was slightly elliptical.

We knocked those bearings back out and they seemed to spin smooth. Weird. For now, we put some back in there and it's sorta ok, but there's still something amiss.

Here's my question: is it possible that where the cartridge sits in the hub is slightly out of round, and that's causing uneven forces inside the cartridge, hence the grinding? If so, I'm guessing the option is to replace the hub, because I doubt anyone sells out-of-round cartridges. Or is something else wrong here?

(Note that one side of the hub spins like a dream and the bearings went in with no difficulty. The apparently out of round side was a freaking nightmare to just get them seated.)