Sunday, August 22, 2010

Bull Bearings / The Quality Quadrant
















I seem to be having a series of bull bearing crisis's. First my Easton wheel start creaking and I discover the freehub is about as well sealed as an American oil leak. Second, my propriety FSA hiddenset on the Ridley starts seeping rust juice (despite being fitted with new bearings less than 6 months ago) though I think I might have rescued those in time (?). And now I discover that the bearings are loose in my front Easton also. What are these- Mavic?!? I certainly need to revise my what wheels page off the back of this, but good quality bearings seem to be somewhat of a novelty these days. I've got Hope mtb hubs that are still going strong after 10 years that must have seen 100x as much abuse as my Easton road wheels, yet they've never even been serviced. They didn't cost any more either- they're just well sealed. I don't mind looking after my bike, but is fit and forget too much to ask when you consider how much we pay for all this sh*t? And how come the web isn't full of people making more noises about this? It seems people are resigned to their bike kit just wearing out rather than being designed to last. I must say from here in I don't see myself taking any more risks and deviating from the Chris King / Hope / Royce / DT Swiss quality quadrant too much.

2 comments :

  1. I agree with you. I've also noticed quite a bit of quality fade, and I'm disappointed that more people aren't complaining. I think companies and consumers are too fixated on weight and aren't putting enough attention on durability.

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  2. Yes ofcourse you are right. i also see these problem. definitely companies are not focusing on quality. they are quantity oriented. it will cause at the huge stage in future. thanks for sharing.

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