This bike is the best thing that ever happened to me. Last time I had bike before this was 40 years ago, in college. I cannot believe how fast this bike goes, even with me on it.

I am wondering if you can tell me if the way I am going about mainenance sounds right. I just found out I am behind a few things, I think, not sure.


My 2009 Madone 5.2 WSD arrived in excellent condition from a few states away after a great deal on ebay ($700). Since then, I have recorded 2,200 miles on Strava, which probably captured about 2/3rds of the miles. so call it 3,000. I recently replaced the cables, cassette, and chain. I have fresh set of brake pads to put on, the ones I am running now still have a little live. I have new tires. I keep the chain lubed. I just ordered paraffin which I am going to mix with teflon powder. I just watched a video of a guy who seems credible, who says, paraffin and teflon will provide a 9,000 miles lifespan of a chain and 27,000 miles on the cassette and cranks.


I just saw that the "hubs" and bottom bracket should "repacked" every 500-1000 miles. I am confused about that. I understand the hub on the rear wheel. I had no idea it needs such frequent attention. My impression is the bearings in the front wheel pretty much can be left alone. The wheels are aluminum Bontrager Race Lite. Regarding the bearing in in the bottom bracket, I thought they are sealed. Does the bottom bracket need to come apart every 500 miles?


The only problem I see is I think the left side crank is too far on the shaft, creating some unnecessary friction. I know it is bad to have side to side motion in the crank, but I am going to see if I can loosen it slightly. I have to get one of those special shimano tools for undoing preload cap.

Repacking hubs and BB every 500-1000 is nuts. Maybe do it when you first got the bike (you have no idea how well the previous owner maintained the bike). After that, once a year would be good if your bike sees a lot of rain - every couple of years otherwise. Chances are your BB is a cartridge, which is essentially maintenance-free - I pull my Chorus BB every few (3-4) years just to ensure that there's a little grease on the threads. I probably had ~40,000 miles on it before the flange cracked, but the cartridge itself was still fine. Cartridge BB maintenance comprises "replace it when it starts feeling rough"

For me, hub and headset twice a year (British weather= wet in the summer and wet and salty during the winter). Hollowtect cranks, remove twice a year to check axle, clean and refit. Same with jockey wheels. The only parts on my bikes that get 'regular' attention are the chain, cassette, chainrings and mechs...involving a bucket, water, sponge, kitchen detergent and Finish Line Cross Country Wet Lubricant.

None of this sounds normal to me. Obviously I can't physically examine your bike, but I recommend that you take it to your local bike shop. If you have a Trek dealer in your area, you might take it there. I say that just to avoid any brand bias that a local shop could have. A Trek dealer won't be able to simply talk trash about your bike, just because of the brand.

There's no need to change the BB & headset bearings more than every few years.
I've got a 2014 Domane with ~35,000 miles on it.
I take good care of it, but it is ridden in the rain at times.
I'm on my 2nd set of BB bearings, first set lasted 22,500 miles.
I'm still on my first set of headset bearings, I've taken them out, cleaned & re-greased twice.


I do make sure that I use a blower to clear out any water from the headset & BB area after washing or a rain ride.

You are overdoing it. All you needed to change was the chain. BB lasts like 40k miles. Hubs too. Cassette and cables like 15k miles.

Using a compressor?

Hubs and BB run them until you have a issue or recognize a problem, unless you ride in extreme conditions, which most do not.

If you just feel froggy about servicing hubs and BB bearings, then once a year after the riding season slows down. These items are usually sealed well and unless you notice seeping and an obvious issue or grit like grinding, they are usually fine in my experience. But to each their own on this matter obviously.

It all depends in your riding conditions. If it's very dusty and/or you ride in the rain then you need to service it sooner.

I finally replaced the bottom bracket bearings after 4 years and the headset were fine and just greased. I've yet to service the wheel bearings. I have 26,000 miles on the chainrings and cassette, but I do change the chain when it measures .5 on the Park tool. Brake pads are replaced when the cleanout grooves are almost gone. Tires... They usually get cutup before they wearout. Cables... I don't ride in the rain and have Sram eTap so only brake cables.

You need to find your own intervals to do maint.

The repacking advice goes back to a day when we had user serviceable bearings, and no seals. In the old days you disassembled your headset, bb and hubs, cleaned them and repacked them.

Today, most people just run their sealed cartridge bearings till they drop then replace the cartridge bearings. Sealed bearing headset might need replaced once in your lifetime. BB once every 15-20 thousand miles. Hub bearings, I don’t know because I don’t have any sealed hubs with over 30,000 miles.

Bike bearings just don’t need maintenance lik they used to. Easies, and if you pay a shop for maintenance,certainly the long run cheapest, is run them till they drop and replace

Replacing/repacking any of the bearing systems (headset, BB, hubs) should be either once a year or as-needed depending on mileage and riding conditions. If your bearing system has no play and is rolling smoothly, then it likely does not need any service. If it feels "crunchy," has some noticeable resistance to movement, or has any play that lets your steerer/spindle/axle move around, then it needs to be serviced. I'm pretty sure Park Tool has some instructions on how to properly inspect all of your bearings, but that's the gist of it.

I like to drop the fork every year just for a good look-see. Have several years on the OEM headset and the bearings seem fine. I also pull the caliber brakes for a good cleaning. I replaced internal cables ONCE and won't do it again unless I have trouble. (At least the FD cable took me a couple days to get in.) I do pull cranks now and then for deep cleaning. I also have WM screw together BB30 and removing the cups is simple (haven't touched the bearings). I have in the past removed seals from cartridge bearings, but I think it's not worth it if you can get the bearing out easily and replace. That's what I've done on hubs.

scott s.
.

Keep an eye on the rims, as they tend to crack at the spoke nipples on those wheels.

This.

On two bikes, I've replaced the lower headset bearings. One just felt rough and the other literally fell apart - I pull the bikes apart every year and check everything. Upper bearing was fine in both cases. For BBs, I've had to replace my BB30 bearings a few times over the years. That is not uncommon as the design kind of leads to bearings wearing faster. Also, one set was ceramic, and it only lasted about 6 months before it started feeling rough.

As for jockey wheels, I've had the plastic crack before the bearings go. Replacing with aluminum ones solved the problem.

Regarding wheels, the only set I've had issue with is a DA7600 track wheelset, which still uses loose bearings and cones. It's also a 30-year-old design. Mavic freehubs sometimes start squeeling, but that just means they need to be lubed.

I ride in the rain every few weeks. I had no idea that rain is an issue for bicycles.

I really appreciate that warning, since I had no idea of that issue.

All the comments in this thread are more helpful than you might think. They contribute to connecting dots that makes everything make more sense than would be possible without your contributions. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

We see this kind of problem all the time with Treks. We had a guy come in just Tuesday with a Trek with the same problem, his wasn't fixable. Specialized never has this happen. I can sell you one.

Steel rusts, carbon fiber does not.

The YouTube guy saying you can get 9,000 miles out of a chain, now I’d like to see that! I wax my chains and do an OK job with it but my chain life is the same as when I used wet lube. To me the main advantage of waxing is drivetrain cleanliness.

Using the PTFE powder with canning wax does seem like it would be worth trying. If you go ahead with it, let us know how it turns out. When you make the conversion to waxing your chain you might want to start with a new chain since you’ll need to strip the factory lube the first time. You could do a deep clean on your used chain but it will take extra steps of sloshing in mineral spirits 2 to 4 cycles, then following up in denatured alcohol at least 2 steps according to the Molten Speed Wax method (which does work).

I've heard stuff like that before

Are those jockey wheels steel?

that's not rust, it's dirt.

It's just a picture on the interweb.

This one better?

Somehow I'm not surprised. I've overheard stuff like that before too. I thought it was pretty clear what you were talking about, but since the OP is new I thought I'd spell it out. Well, maybe because he's new, maybe because I'm an ass. Like everything in life, it's probably a little of both.