> There are about 50 Trek OCLV bikes in my local riding club. At least half
> of
> them have a problem with the bearings with these Race Lite and Race X Lite
> wheelsets. I was suprised at the increase in riders who discovered they
> had a
> problem after a meeting in which the subject was discussed.
>
> Trek does not acknowledge nor give a tinkers damn that the bearings they
> supply
> with these wheels are basically cheap Japanese ( Shimano ) products.
Well, actually they're not Shimano bearings at all. The hubs on the Race
Lite and Race X Lite are made by DT/Swiss (formerly DT/Hugi, but I'm told
the "Hugi" thing is no longer part of the company name). I haven't check the
sourcing on the bearings, but would have no reason to suspect that a
bearing, because it's made in Japan, would necessarily be bad.
> I went through hoops with Trek Technical people, and with one of the
> owners of
> Trek. Their only response was that the bearings had ³less² rolling
> resistance...???
Yeah, I'd be saying ??? if somebody told me that too. I'll look into this
one a bit but, as I'd mentioned, we haven't seen much trouble (and we sell a
lot of them). Plus, I'm usually the first one to come up with bearing
issues, since my bike sees a bit more ill-weather use than it really should
(I do have a "rain bike", but unless it's pretty nasty, I really prefer
leaving it in the garage and riding the 5900 instead).
> If you have this problem, get DT Swiss bearings from Hugi. Problem solved.
>
> BTW, Mike J. Thanks for your help in this.
Just trying to make the world a bit better place for bikes, one bearing at a
time, I guess!
--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com