This past week I had re-greased the hub bearings in all 4 of my kids and my bikes along with an extra set of wheels I had. 10 wheels total needed cup and cone bearings to be repacked with fresh grease. A few of the wheels were surprisingly rough or a bit crunchy. Only hub that seems to have some slight damage due to this was by daughters inexpensive Fuji. That hub had plenty of grease in it, but it was very dirty, which surprised me since she doesn't ride it all that often. That hub really does not have a good seal....err...actually, it doesn't have a seal, just a very simple cone covering the bearings and cup. But the cup and cone only had a few marks and one bearing needed replacing.
The Formula hub on my new mtn bike did not feel put together correctly. The manufacturer over tightened the cones on that hub and took a bit of adjustment to get it right.
What really surprises me is how little grease Shimano puts in their hubs. I had expected the no name brand on the Fuji bike to have no grease, or the Formula's that I repacked the bearings to have little grease in them. I was not expecting to see so little to nearly no grease in the wheels with the 2 Turney's, 1 rear Acera and my 2 new Deore hubs on the new wheels I had put together this past Octoberish. My front Deore hubs bearings were barely slick and the rear was just a few dabs more with grease.
The wheels definitely felt better riding after putting a decent amount of grease in them. My advice to all that is reading this, check your hubs! If it feels like the wheels are rough, repack those bearings! You will enjoy the ride so much better afterwards.
