Servicing hubs
 

Hi,

I was truing up my wheels last night, and I held on to the axle of my rear wheel and spun it a bit, and it felt a little 'crunchy', like as in not as smooth as it was when it was new. The hub is about 6 months old, and it's been seeing daily commuting duty on my fixie. The bearings are sealed. Can anyone give my guidance on how I might be able to service the hubs to make them smooth again? Is this something I can do with sealed bearings? And also, should I even be worrying about this? Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

If they are loose ball bearings that are sealed, you should take them apart and examine the balls and races. Check that they are properly adjusted before you do that.

If they are cartridge bearings, they cannot be serviced, only replaced. They should not go bad in 6 months, though.

Try loosening the bearing adjustment just a little.... if they are adjusted too tight they will feel rough (& may be permanently damaged if they've been too tight for very long).