I think Phil Wood hubs are designed to be "field seviceable". To me, that would certainly imply that you would not have to unlace/relace the wheel in order to replace the bearings.
Looking at the PDF on the Phil Wood web-site that walks one through bearing replacement, I cannot see anything you need to do that spokes or the rim would interfere with. I'm presuming that the PDF process that applies to the rear freewheel hub is applicable to front hubs too. I especially like the trick of using the old bearings and a quick- release axle to push the new bearings into place. Perhaps that is obvious to those who've worked closely with devices that use bearings. But to me it just seems inspired. All that said... I'd expect the front hub not to need service before several thousand miles of use. And I'd think some of those miles would have to be in pretty crappy conditions. I've got >2500 miles on my Phil Wood rear hub, with hundreds of those miles in wet, sometimes sandy, salty or muddy conditions. It certainly doesn't need service. I know they use different bearings front-versus-rear... but I'd think the expected replacement interval would not be worse for the fronts. (Just watch... I'll get back on my bike after work today and hear the most horrible grinding noises... :)) Good luck! Yours, Thomas Lynn Skean On Feb 23, 1:31 pm, james <meine...@gmail.com> wrote: > I have some phil wood hubs on my sam hillborne and a while back the > front one got real noisy making some clinking and clanking. I thought > at first if i trued the wheel ever so slightly that would help, but > no, and i thought i would remove breaks and fenders just to make sure, > but the clinking and clanking went on. then it went away for a little > while, so i din't worry about it. then it came back. currently > (today and yesterday) its gone again... but i'm wondering, should i > buy some phil wood bearings and replace them? is this very > difficult? i looked through the walkthrough pdf they have on their > site and it looks easy. can it be done with the hub still laced up? > > any info appreciated! > > james -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.