rcd

I'm wondering how many miles/kms a person should expect to get on a touring bike (Cannondale T-800 -- God's gift to touring!) before he should ask at the bike shop for an internal check on things such as BEARINGS in the wheels, bottom bracket, headset, etc? I get my bike "tuned up" every spring (wheels trued, brakes/derailleur adjusted and lubed, etc), but there must be a time BEFORE THERE IS A PROBLEM when having the wheel bearings repacked/replaced/or-at-least-checked-internally is recommended. The same must be true for BB and anything else with bearings.
I don't want to ask for this service, say, every third year, if everything is running fine and repacking bearings doesn't normally need attention until I've ridden my bike three times that far! I'd rather spend money preventatively than have a breakdown on my way across some other country, but I'd rather not ask for maintenance work that is unnecessary. And while I had fun doing this kind of work myself many years ago on other bikes (often at the bike's expense!), I'd rather use my time riding these days!
What do you folks think? rcd

urbanknight

Short answer: If you take your bike to the shop for a tune-up every Spring, the shop mechanic will most likely tell you if they think something else needs to be adderessed.

Long answer: It all depends on mileage and how hard you ride, of course, and I do my own maintenance so I have to be aware of things myself. You seem most interested in bearings, and I can tell you that I only had to repack hubs if I bought them used and they were very old. Aside from that, they got well over 10,000 miles without needing maintenance. I never serviced bottom brackets, but I think most of them are cartridge bearings now anyway (as are some hubs). Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think you can repack cartridge bearings. I can't be more specific with the cone bearings but since mine never wore out, I only ever repacked the ones I had bought used and noticed a grinding feeling when spinning in my hand.

Chains, gears, and cables wear out differently depending on how hard you ride, how heavy you are, how often you shift, etc. When your cables are shot, the shop will tell you because they won't be able to adjust your shifters properly... or you will develop a shifting problem mid season and have the shop look at it to inform you it's time. It can't hurt to be preventative with those, but there's no rule of thumb as to how long they will last. Look for discoloration is all I can say.

Ask them specifically to check the chain when you bring it in for the tune-up. They have a tool ($10-15 if you want to get it yourself, or use a metal ruler) that measures it to determine if it needs to be changed. I think it's a good idea to change the chainrings, cassette, and pulleys when I change the chain, but some people argue they can last through 2 chains (I just think that worn cogs make the chain wear faster).

Tires and brake pads have wear indicators. When the grooves disappear, you need new ones. Finally, keep your chain lubed and clean, at least on a monthly basis. Easy to do yourself. Hope that helps!

rcd

Great info! Thanks very much. I was mistakenly under the impression that bearing inspection and maintenance was something done on a regular basis. And I was needlessly worrying that if I didn't tell the mechanic roughly how many kms I'd put on my bike since they were last "done," he'd have no way of knowing that it was time to do such maintenance, other than after the wear got to a point that there was undue friction or grinding. I thought it best to avoid it getting to that point, and didn't understand whether I should expect 5000 kms or 50,000 kms from a set of wheel bearings! Thanks again for your advice. rcd