Phil Wood BB -- Is it really worth it?

wrote in message
ups.com...
Hmmm, I must be living on borrowed time ... at 5K with my PW BB
I was
just starting to consider it broken in and ready for serious
riding.

I have no trouble with their warranties, and I have known them
to bend
over backward to help those with failures on tour. Just 2-3
years back
there was a local guy touring Madagascar who had a failure, and
PW
expedited replacement parts out to Madagascar to get him back
on the
road.

I have not had to take my PW BB in for service, yet. But I
took my
(1979) threaded PW rear hub back in 6 months ago for its first
service.
Bearing service was $25, the axle replacement was covered
under
warranty. That was a 25 year old hub, with lots of miles ...
and they
still replaced the axle at no charge. How many 25 year old
hubs have
any parts covered under warranty? I expect I will have similar
service
when the BB needs to go in, or my FSA or FSC hub.

Assuming you bought your hub in 1979, it had a lifetime warranty
on everything, including bearings -- but Phil changed the
warranty unilaterally about 15 years ago, or maybe more. I just
remember being ****ed off, because when I bought my first set of
PW hubs in '75, I figured lifetime warranty meant my lifetime and
not until someone decided otherwise. -- Jay Beattie.

Agree, one advantage of Phil Wood bbs are the available of spindles and
cups not available anywhere else. For example, remember Suntour Superbe
Pro? Those cranks are still available on the market at Rivendell and
others. However, Suntour Superbe had its own taper spindle that is
different than Campy's ISO or Shimano's JIS. Thus, you either have to
find a Suntour Superbe bb, good luck with that, or get a Phil.

I recently bought a used Phil magnesium/ti bb for $80. The previous
owner claimed it had "less than 2500" miles. Smooth and extreme light,
we will see how durable it is. Then again, Phil is located in SJ, about
an hour drive from me!