I had a look at the UCI Continental calendar, and there are more options for you:
April 18th Scheldeprijs Vlaanderen, rated 1.HC by the UCI (that's the highest ranking a race can get) in BEL
April 21 Liege-Bastogne-Liege, also in BEL is rated 1.Ncup (not sure what that is), is actually the oldest one-day race ever.

Check out the last paragraph or so on phill wood hubs here:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/sealed-bearings.html

So in a nutshell Jobstd says: phil wood are teh suxx0rz.

I have Shimano 105 hubs on one of my road bikes and they've had to be re-packed once in 12 years, so I can agree with what is said here but I wonder if Phil has had any changes to their hubs since the article was written, over 9 years ago? I've always wondered why Phils were so damned expensive as well, is it really just hype? Who here runs Phils?

As of this writing (Nov 98) both Campagnolo and Shimano have stuck with cup-and-cone bearings for their hubs, while most third parties are manufacturing cartridge bearings, probably because cartridges are much easier to manufacture than cup or cone races.

Right now Shimano makes the best inexpensive hubs: they are sealed correctly (double contact or contact/labyrinth), are fairly durable, and are quite serviceable. Hubs such as Phil Wood's are much more expensive, but may be better in some respects.

If you read the entire article, you will find that he knocks cartridge bearings.
Why? because they aren't as easily servicable.

Sealed as well as cup and cone are never necessarily waterproof anyway.

I'd still stick with a cartridge BB it's just so much easier to deal with.

Wheel bearings I could go either way. It really depends on the cartridge bearing seal, teflon, whatever..

Everything is application specific.

Yeah, I like cartridge for a BB because my steelies all have cutaways in the BB shell so they can get pretty gnarly. However, I have one bike that has an old Shimano 600 open bearing cartridge in there with one of those plastic sleeves and it has been incredible for the last few years. Smooth as butter and I ride it year round too. Weird.

I've got one Shimano 600 crank because the non drive side's pedal threads got bruxed...

Anyone got a matching 170? :)

MMM oldschool ultegra

I think op might be biased though as he prefers threaded headsets. And the fact that Brandt didn't even come close to knocking phil woods, in fact I kind of read it as a compliment. any 'teh suxx0rz' sentiment is all op.

I have never had any problem at all with any kind of cartridge bearing. I have had alot of trouble with cup and cone bearings. In my experience cup and cone bearings can be made to run very smoothly, but cartidge bearings always roll smoothly. The difference is that I have to fiddle with the locknuts for ten minutes before I get cup and cone bearings dialed in properly. If a cup and cone bearing gets too tight you can ruin the whole component, on a cartridge bearing hub you just replace the cartridge once it wears out. Plus you can buy higher quality cartridge bearings than you could ever hope to find in loose format.

Senstionalist write ups create controversy and extended discussion.

Don't forget the more you ride the smoother they should get as long as they don't get mashed, pitted, flattened. I have skateboard bearings (ball in sealed cartridge) older than op, that will spin til I get tired of holding the darned thing.

The only skateboarding lingo I remember from back in the day was that 'Swedish bearings' were 'the sh*t'. I always prefered Swedish Berries myself...

I personally enjoy grease drag myself.... bearings don't have to spin forever.. they just gotta be smoooth..

well the perma-spin is a by-product because you don't grease 'em ever.
Bike-wise though it's like that butta smooth Campy Hub off your grand-fathers' bike.

We have reached the age of jumbo jets!

My grandfather's bike was made in China...

if you know anything about "chinese grade bearings" then you'll know they aren't butter smooth.

More like "they just work"

Eventually the cubic bearings get ground down into roughly sperical shapes by the pummice stone bearing races.

One of my grand pappies got a gammy leg from a motorcycle accident when he was young so he never had a bicycle. My other grandfather was born in the 19th century around the time bikes were invented, but he was too rich to bother riding bikes. They both died a long time ago and neither had a cool old bike. One had a rusting and mildewy jaguar in the garage though!

Rofl. That reminds me - drilling square holes with a rotating bit.
http://upper.us.edu/faculty/smith/reuleaux.htm

Looks like the same concept behind rotary engines.

I was just about to say the same thing.. COOOOOOOL

*melts his brain trying to follow the math*

the only bike i remember was a folding raleigh three speed. my grandmother had the matching ladies version.

Neat idea, but real world alert: it's not gonna happen.

Send it out for EDM or waterjet or lasercut, or even better... don't design for square holes!

I'd just use a router and a square file...

finally, a hole I can peg

You'd have a hard time with a router on steel!

When I was a wee laddie in high school we had a machine in the wood shop that was essentially a drill contained within 4 chisel heads arranged around it. You could make square holes with that, but only one size!

Get the laser.....