But the race team has provision to work on a bike - tourists prefer not to carry grease guns or grease and all the tools needed for overhauls.
And, I disagree about Campy and similar hubs being so well sealed. When I got into cycling, the local club riders used to make external seals for their campy hubs to decrease the time between overhauls. I used to need to overhaul at least once a year if not more often. And when I had my shop, I saw more of the same. I've also done the grease gun grease purge thing to get the contamination out of hubs. If they were so well sealed to begin with, then why is this necessary?
Mike Kone in Boulder CO
> Mike wrote: "I think that Steven raises some interesting points - but I want to
\r?\n> emphasize one that I disagree on that is important. He says that dirt
\r?\n> contamination is not usually the reason for a repack, but on a touring bike or
\r?\n> other machine that is exposed to the elements contamination is a huge issue.
\r?\n> The way a MaxiCar hub is sealed offers much greater protection then a
\r?\n> conventional hub. And that is the point - better protection. The other hubs
\r?\n> which offer better protection than a typical Campy/FB style hub is a Phil Wood,
\r?\n> but unlike Campy or MaxiCar, the bearings on Phil's don't take the lateral load
\r?\n> and the bearings are less user servicable.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> So with MaxiCar you get superior sealing and the bearing of the right design.
\r?\n> For racing applications where a the bike is going to be worked on after each
\r?\n> event, Campy type hubs are really quite wonderful - that is why Singer and Herse
\r?\n> both used Campy hubs as well. But for a machine that is pushed through the
\r?\n> elements and can get only minimal maintenance, the MaxiCar is the way to go. It
\r?\n> is the solution to a very real problem."
\r?\n>
\r?\n> The fact that these hubs were mainly used on touring bikes is totally unrelevant
\r?\n> in my opinion. Back in the 80's, I cycletoured for 8 months straight throughout
\r?\n> North America, going through snow in Texas, New Mexico, British Columbia and
\r?\n> Alberta; as well as rain in over 15 states and provinces, upon returning home
\r?\n> there was still absolutely no need to repack the hubs. The same holds true for a
\r?\n> good friend of mine who rode around the world at about the same time. He too
\r?\n> rode a 5 digit tour through inhospitable roads and during the tour never needed
\r?\n> to repack any part on the bike. Touring is in fact not overly stressing on the
\r?\n> bike as far as hub seals. Any modern race team will explain that the continuous
\r?\n> washing of racing bikes puts their parts under substantially greater stress.
\r?\n> than the worst treated touring bike. I therefore maintain what I wrote earlier,
\r?\n> MaxiCar hubs are a solution looking for a question. They are over engineered,
\r?\n> overly expensive and overweight. I would never turn an inexpensive set down, but
\r?\n> at the same time I would have never considered ever paying regular list price
\r?\n> for them.
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n> --
\r?\n> Steven Maasland
\r?\n> Moorestown, NJ, USA