Okay, so there I was on Vern's Surly, hooning doing the hill between Steep and Petersfield (there's a clue in one of those names) when I heard a loud metallic clunk from not sure where, but it caused the bars to shake. The bike was still running OK so I came to a halt and checked everything I could think of: frame, forks, wheels, spokes, bars, brakes, glare at the chainset, shake the rack, remove the pannier, shake the rack again. Y'know, all the usual "will I die if I continue?" checks, found nothing, so I continued on to Tim's place for dinner and drink. Riding back to the station afterwards the bike was making such a racket that we even disturbed the rauccous drunks in the market square.
On Sunday we did a more considered study and discovered that the major comedy noises were from the rear hub and the front rim. The rim appears to have something small and annoying (probably a spoke nipple or some such) in it which we can't get out, it'll just have to stay. The hub on the other hand contained a number of half bearings, a split cone and a stripped thread on the axle - what a mess!
we've only had the Surly since Dec '07, that's a year and a half, during which time we haven't done that much cycling probably about 5k miles if that; by comparison the M760 on my Hewitt has been there since June '05 and has gone a lot further and on much more questionable roads without ever being serviced.
That seems a very short life for a hub, particularly one which was recommended for heavy useage, what does the jury think?
