It was time to replace the chain on my Surly Long Haul Trucker. I replace the chain every 2000 miles based on personal chain wear data. The distance between chain changes is probably different for everybody based on riding and lubrication habits. For me this distance has extended the life of my cassette.

Since the cassette had 6000 miles on it I decided to inspect it carefully. From the side the cogs had nice square tops and the spaces in between the cogs were not worn. From the top, however, I thought that the cogs were worn thin. When shifting gears the chain slides up the sides of the cogs, causing wear after some time. In my opinion it was time to change the cassette to avoid potential cog breakage. That would be cogs snapping off due to the wear.

After removing the wheel I spun the axle with my fingers and to my surprise I found that the hub bearings felt rough and had significant drag. I was surprised because I had myself convinced that just spinning the wheel on the bike, observing the spin duration and smoothness, was good enough to test the bearings. The problem with that is the rim, tire, and tube have enough mass that the wheel will spin and look fine even with bad bearings. The best test is to remove the wheel from the bike and to turn the axle with your fingers so that you can feel any roughness or drag. The axle should turn freely and there should be no side play. Mine felt like they were grinding. It was time for new wheels and hubs.

I have been criticized for my lack of interest in periodically taking the hubs apart, cleaning them, and re-greasing. I have never done that. My approach is still defensible. I have 17,000 miles on my worn hubs. In addition, the rim walls are worn thin by the rim brakes after all this time. Rim failure due to this wear is possible and after a long period of use the wheels and hubs should be replaced anyway.

Servicing hubs regularly seems like a big waste of energy since they last a long time. The challenge is to find someone who was able to extend the life of their wheels and hubs to, say, 30,000 miles by taking them apart every few thousand miles. With rim brakes there is a very good chance of rim failure before reaching 30,000 miles.

Now my Surly LHT has new wheels and hubs. I purchased wheels with Shimano Deore hubs, which are the same Shimano product line that came as original equipment on my LHT. The initial ride with my new wheels was unremarkable. I could not feel any difference in performance. The real difference is that I will not need to worry about hub failure for some time to come.

This episode has me thinking that after 17,000 miles, maybe I should take my bottom bracket apart to inspect it in detail. Stay tuned.