I think it must be at least 3 weeks since I had to tension the chain. I just was under-confident in my tightening of the axle nuts. They really are tight though
Well, that lasted for some months, then it reverted to being very difficult to tighten the nuts enough to avoid (slight and self-limiting) wheel movement. This is despite tightening the nuts to a slightly anxiety-inducing level, yet failing to achieve that nice "yup, that's it" feeling you get with e.g. a car wheel nut. I eventually realised why - I was distorting the locknuts inside the track ends, causing cracks and a lack of that definitive tight feel. The solution to this is supposedly to make sure your lcoknuts and "cones" are very well locked together. I found this impossible to achieve for any length of time.
Other niggles: chain line tolerable ok but 2 mm away from perfect. More annoyingly - lack of roundness in the drivetrain meant that it was impossible, despite trying the usual remedies and a different chainring, to get a nice even tightness. Not helped by an annoying tendency for the axle to want to settle into a particular location when fitting.
I took a bit of a gamble and spent more than I really think a hub should cost on a Phil Wood. I now wish I'd got these to start with - really well put together. Tightens up beautifully and with modest effort - I really hate having to force things. It's now just so much easier to get the tension perfect and the wheel tight - a matter of moments, right first time, compared to the faffage required to get my System EX hub acceptably located.
So - Phil Wood: expensive but, so far, worth it and I'd have saved a fair bit overall if I'd sprung for one when I built the bike.
