I've seen other threads on here pertaining to replacing the bearings on IRO/Forumla/Suzue hubs with Phil Spec'd bearings, but I couldn't find any help with Surly hubs. So maybe someone might benefit from this thread.

One of the cartridge bearings on my rear hub got trashed last week. Crunching noises. Upon removing it I found about three balls cracked in pieces.

I tried my arse off to give my business to someone here in NYC (I've been here for three weeks and am still searching for someplace to be my LBS), but no one would help. The best I could get was, "we can order than next week and then it will come in a week later".

So I emailed Brent at Phil Wood with my problem and asked if he had anything that would work. He emailed me the same day saying yes. I ordered them the next day and got them two days later. The bearings were in my hands before the local shop would have even placed the order. Brent even called me to let me know when they were shipping out.

I highly recommend going through Phil Wood for all your cartridge bearing needs (apparently though, if you get them once you probably won't need them again).

I installed them today and that wheel is spinnin' smooth as butta.

So for replacing bearings on a Surly hub with Phil Spec'd bearings, get the PW901 for $10 each. (best price I could find as well)

And? How do the hubs now spin?

Butta

Great tip, lightgraphs, and unbelieveably timely. I just took delivery today of the QBP surly/MA3 combo. Can I ask how long yours lasted before this catastrophic failure occured? Do the Phil's come with any kind of warranty?

I think my catastrophic failure could have been prevented. What happened was, I was riding along and somehow, by riding on bumpy road or something the axel nuts on the rear hub loosened (by loosen I mean it seperated itself from the locking nut-it loosened itself TOWARD the hub not away). I didn't know this and kept pedaling. With the wheel still spinning and a loose nut it eventually tightened itself onto the bearings. When it made contact with the cartridge I was going pretty fast and came a stop pretty fast as well. I was essentially tightening the nut that holds the bearings in place with all my leg power. Not good.

So just don't do that and you should be fine. I've heard of guys lasting years on their surly bearings. Depends how much you ride.

I don't know of and Phil warantee or anything. Pretty cheap price for sweet bearings. I'd probably just buy more before I filed a warantee claim.

Hope this helps.

I don't think wrecked bearings are under warranty from Phils. (Unless of course it's due to a defect in the manufacturing) Bearings aren't meant to last forever and I just replaced my set (Phils) after having it for 3 years. (riding in the rain and snow, salt everyday.)

On my SS mountain bike they last about 1.5 years (approx. 3K off-road miles) in harsh, abusive conditions. On the road fixed they've been going a few years with no signs of problems.

BTW, make sure you follow Surly's recommendations of checking the tightness. This is usually where the premature failurse occur.

also - you will need the code off the bearing cartridge to get the correct replacement set:
"Enduro 7901-RSMAX" is replaced by PW901.
Shoot PhilWood a question if your bearings have a different code on them to make sure you get the right set.

OK, another Surly-hub-bearing question:

The bearings in my front hub are being compressed laterally when I tighten my nuts, because there's no stopper on the axle, which is causing drag. My rear hub is wonderful, and I can crank down as tight as humanly possible, though I haven't had it apart to look at it. (and don't feel like it, either)

Anyone else have this with their Surly hub?

This is what happened to me to start this whole thread, but it happened on the rear. Just to clear up though, this has happened with other hubs as well. This isn't a surly problem.

What I did was tighten my cones (the nuts that go in the cartridges) finger tight, then tighten the "locking" nut onto it, finger tight. Then tighten them against eachother. Loosen the inside while simultaneously tightening the outside nut. This will keep them together and prevent that inside one from tightening itself.

If in doing this you looses the inside too much so that you now have "play" in the axel. Repeat steps until "play" is minimized and you still roll smooth.

After a day of riding on the new bearings I'd like to adjust my answer to the previous question.

Previously I answered: "Butta"


I would now like to say.

SMOOTH as a MuthaF*****!

SWEET as H-E-double hockey sticks!

HOLY CRAP!!!

It was nice before, but now it's top notch.

I deffinately feel a difference. This is one of the most successful purchases I've made in the history of my cycling obsession.

Even more successful than Hokey Spokes?

nothing Is More Successful Than Hokey Spokes!