Crank ring bolts falling off / Hope rear hub servicing

First post for a while, not a lot to report really, the Surly has been ticking over very nicely and has been in constant use since building it, very happy indeed.

First issue came up today when I noticed a creaking noise around the bottom bracket... initially sounded like the usual highly irritating "bottom bracket vs pedals mystery creaking noise" that inevitably comes up on any / all bikes (where occasionally it seems impossible to work out whether it's the bottom brank or the pedals causing the noise!)... however when I inspected it closer it turned out to be the Middleburn chainring bolts that had come loose.

The middle and outer chainrings had worked their way loose, thankfully not loose enough to come off completely, but still needed a good tightening (was loose enough to remove by hand though so loose enough!).

Anyway, no big drama, was a good opportunity to take the chainrings off and give the crankset a good clean.

At the same time I went over the whole bike and gave it a proper clean / service / inspection.  In the process I found that the Hope hub on the rear wheel is starting to get a bit gacked up, took it apart and gave it a good clean, but the palls and springs are starting to show some wear, as is the steel block:

 

 So, .. they need changing I think.  I COULD just put them back on and they would probably be OK for another few months / years (probably!) but ... I did start thinking about how long they'd been on the bike already the Hope hubs... and to be honest I couldn't remember off the top of my head.

So I did some digging just now and came across some pictures I took of the hub when I originally purchased it - amazing from almost exactly 10 years to the day (July 16th 2004):

It was actually laced with a Mavic XC717 rim, a leightweight XC rim / wheel setup that I purchased I think from Stifsports for about £100 or so.  Actually oddly I just checked and I purchased the wheel in December 2004, so no idea how I've got that ^ picture above allegedly taken in July 2004?!  Odd, must have been the date set incorrectly on the camera.

Anyway... still, getting on for 10yrs.  Will try and source a new block and pawls/springs... should do the bearings as well but meh such a faff... have to see.

Also found this rather funky picture of my old Marin from back around that time in 2004: