Servicing hubs

[Johan Bornman]

Yip I was quoted R1400 a wheel for new bearings, per wheel!

 

Importing them for a fraction of the price.

 

Johan is standard grease fine then?

 

What is the difference between sealed bearings and cartridge bearings?

 

Yes, standard grease is fine. There is no such thing as waterproof grease and marine grease just copes with salt a bit better, but doesn't make things waterproof.

 

A cartridge bearing can be sealed or unsealed.

 

Im this picture there are many cartridge bearings. The ones with blue bits in are sealed, the others are unsealed. The specific type of cartridge bearing in this photo is a deep groove bearing. You also get roller bearings, double row ball bearings, self-aligning ball bearings etc - all in cartridge bearing style.

 

The seal may or may not be required, depending on its use.

[GhostRider2]

Thanks for your help Johan.

[SCD]

Guys, don't confuse a sealed bearing with a cartridge bearing.

 

Cartridge bearings can be sealed or unsealed.

Cup and cone bearings can be sealed or unsealed.

 

Therefore an unsealed bearing can't be equated with cup and cone bearings and a sealed bearing cannot be equated with a cartrige bearing.

 

A note on Fulcrum wheels - some Fulcrum MTB wheels use extremely expensive proprietary cartridge bearings that you won't find at any old Bearing Man.

 

Hi Johan,

 

I was reading this thread on the search for an answer to my creaking wheel. After an elimination process I am 95% sure that it is the rear wheel. The noise is only under pedal load, independent on which pedal is loaded, only under chain tension (so most likely not the BB, external XT Shell), and mostly only a few minutes into the ride.

 

So I suspect the hub bearings. The wheel is a Fulcrum Red Power 29XL. There was a little bit of play between axle and wheel. Took all apart and found the bearings looking intact with no play. The hub bearing on the freewheel side felt a bit gritty, just a bit. The other three felt silky smooth. Greased and reassembled, ... and the noise is still there.

 

So the magic question: Which of the Fulcrum wheels are the ones with the expensive non-standard bearings? Hope not the Red Power 29 XL.....