Phil Wood bearings - Worth it?
 

For those of you that have swapped out your bearings, was it everything you had dreamed of?

I have Formula hubs right now and I'm looking to switch out the bearings.

DUDE. There's been at least two threads about this in the last couple days, including one with a huge cartridge bearing debate. Sometimes it pays to just look a few pages deeper.

I frankly can't tell the difference, however my Phils still have drag in them...

if the bearings currently in your hubs are toast, then yes
if they are still new, you won't be able to tell the difference,
and you could eff the hubs in the process

With 37 color glossy photographs with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explainin' what each one was to be used as evidence against us.

To summarize my opinion from that thread. Phil Wood bearings are very good quality, but they are just bearings they aren't anything special. I bought some and would recommend them as replacement bearings, but I would not recommend replacing perfectly good bearings with them especially since they might turn out to be pretty much the same bearing as the one you'd be replacing. You likely won't see any improvement unless your bearings are already worn out.

how do tell when your bearings are toast?

When you get play in the wheel that is not the result of broken/loose "cone" adjustment. And to the OP: Please, do a search

Amazing...I just listened to that like 5 minutes ago, for the first time in probably 10 years. Also the motocycle song.

My new silver formulas have catridge bearing with a red seal vs black on my older black set
Says TAIWAN, 464, TPI, 6000LU on it

Could they be NTN's?

Judging by the fact that nowhere on the bearing are the letters "NTN," I'm gonna say "no."

When your old bearings die is the time to switch. You won't see any magic speed increase, but as PW bearings are sealed a lot better than stock Formula bearings you will find that they'll last a long time. At $20 for a set of bearings for both wheels it isn't expensive.

Phil bearings are fine...Great seals...Full of Phil's grease...
The best part of the whole ordering experience from Phil's was that they don't **** you for shipping and handling charges like most companies who ship bike parts...I was a little scared giving them my credit card # since they hadn't specified how much they were going to charge me for shipping but I was pleasantly surprised when I got my statement and they'd only charged me $26CDN for four bearings including shipping...
Formula bearings seem to be kinda hit or miss...Your hubs could have bearings that'll last you for years and years or you could get some that last for months and months...A lot depends on how much you ride, how much you weigh, whether or not you're a big pressure washer user for bike cleaning etc...I wouldn't change them unless you have to though...

no!

so do phil wood bearings fit into other hubs like Gran Compe or IRO Premium...or just formulas?

PW has a whole range of differently sized bearings.

http://www.philwood.com/products/Bearings.pdf

thanks.