waddo

Just like to thank the people who offered ideas and saved me from buying a new wheel. I took it to a good bike shop and they discovered the hub was rusty as hell as were all the bits inside (I no longer leave it uncovered outside the house!) This was actually a guess someone made. Only cost 2000 yen so thanks to everyone.

staehpj1

Glad you got it sorted out. Sounds likely that it maybe wasn't packed properly or with good waterproof grease to start with. That or it went a very long time without maintenance. Being inside will help a lot, but you really should think about doing some kind of regular maintenance including lubrication of chain and derailleurs and checking of the hubs and cleaning and repacking of the bearings at the first sign of any roughness if not sooner. How often depends on how much you ride, what conditions you ride in, and how well sealed the bearings are, but a lot of folks just do it once a year for a bike kept inside.

I tend to check hub bearings by feel. I turn the axle with my fingers with the wheel off of the bike. I try to remember to do that any time I have the wheels off the bike. You can feel if there is grease there and whether there is any grit. If it has been a long time, especially before a long tour, I might repack them even if they feel okay. I like to use boat trailer grease, but bike specific grease is available too. Boat trailer grease is formulated to be used in wheels that are often neglected and expected to be submerged in water, even saltwater. I avoid grease that is more performance oriented like the thin white lithium based stuff that is less durable. If you do use the white lithium stuff expect to repack often.

Happy Feet

I second this sentiment. It's amazing the difference keeping a bike indoors makes and just doing very basic maintenance like cleaning dirt off and relubing once in a while. I am not a fusser when it comes to mechanical stuff but all my outdoor gear lasts a long time because I store it clean and dry.