Wheel bearing advice needed

[Lotus]

Hi all

 

I need to replace the wheel bearings on my Campag Scirocco G3 front wheel. It seems as though Campy parts are hard to find and pricey (I've always used Shimano and this is my first exposure to Campy, but it didn't take long to figure this out!).

 

I see that there's an American website that offers bearings for many types of cycle wheels, but I'd like to try and get the bearings locally if possible.

 

I was wondering if anybody has experience of sourcing OEM bearings locally from suppliers like Bearing Man? Can these suppliers figure out what the right replacement part is, if you bring them the original?

 

Your advice would be appreciated.

[Minion]

I was wondering if anybody has experience of sourcing OEM bearings locally from suppliers like Bearing Man? Can these suppliers figure out what the right replacement part is, if you bring them the original?

Yes they can. Just make sure you get good brand replacement bearings (e.g. FAG/Schaeffler, SKF, NSK). Cheap Chinese bearings will not last long.

[Mongoose!]

The bearings you get at your local bearing shops (FAG and others) are just not the same as the bearings originally from wheel manufactures.

 

Size might be the same, and it feels smooth if you spin in your hands, but prepare yourself to see who your buddies will "free wheel" out under you.

 

I have also tried it (FAG).

 

Do yourself a favor and get the original bearings.....

Edited November 21, 2012 by Mongoose!

[Peewee1]

Not sure about the original bearings but if you know the sizes I reckon try out Enduro bearings - I had some cheapo chinese bearings in my MTB Mavic wheels, they disintegrated after a few 100kms. I replaced them with the Enduro ABEC ones and they still running fine - this is after at least a 1000kms.

 

http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=93807

 

Seems like they the same sizing as the Mavic wheels.

 

Of course check out Solomons in Woodmead, they keep these Enduro bearings or order from Rush Sports.

[W3RN3R]

The bearing have to be specked correctly. Size is not the biggest issue. But the load the bearing can handle. 20000rpm bearings will not work. The bearing normally have low load capability. Hope it sheds some light.

[Johan Bornman]

The bearing have to be specked correctly. Size is not the biggest issue. But the load the bearing can handle. 20000rpm bearings will not work. The bearing normally have low load capability. Hope it sheds some light.

 

Hmmmmm.

 

Load bearing on a ball bearing is a function of the ball size and quantity of balls. A large ball, lotsa ball, bearing will carry more load than a small-ball, few-ball bearing.

 

Obviously the former is a larger bearing by definition.

 

Since the wheel doesn't give you a choice of bearing sizes, you take what you get, the ball size being a function of the ID and OD and width of the bearing.

 

Load capacity also has nothing to do with maximum speed. This is a function of the type of grease, seal and smoothness of a bearing.

 

Someone else mentioned ABEC as if that means something. It means nothing. ABEC stands for Annular Bearing Engineering Committee, an American bearing standards organisation. The fact that a bearing is ABEC is meaningless other than to suggest it was made or certified in the US. The rest of the world uses a "Class" system.

 

ABEC (the consortium) grades bearings according to ball and race smoothness. An ABEC 2 bearing is approximately twice as smooth as an ABEC 1 bearing and ABEC 9 aproximately twice as smooth as a ABEC 8 bearing.

 

Bearing smoothness is measured by the size of the largest imperfection on the race/ball surface, usually measured in microns.

 

Europe and AFRIK Japan, uses the Class system which is easier to grasp than ABEC. A class 100 bearing has its largest imperfection (called ashperity in bearingnese) at 100 micros. A class 50 bearing is twice as smooth with an aspherity of only 50 microns, etc etc etc.

 

Class 5 is about the best we can make at any reasonable cost. Class 20 is absolutely good enough for bicycle use but older Campag hubs were as smooth as Class 5 - really classy.

 

If you buy a bearing ball from Bearing Man, you'll get Class 100 by defaut. If you buy a Shimano bearing ball, you'll get Class 20 by default.

 

Enduro bearings are ABEC 3 which are about 200 micron or Class 200 - quite rough. They do have some better ones but at a huge cost and in a limited range. The message is that ABEC 3 is good enough for our game.

 

Bearing numbers are standardised and a code like 6802 LLB2 tells us that it is a deep-groove ball bearing of the cartridge type with the dimensions 24 OD, 15 ID and 5 Width. You cannot deduct the dimensions from the code, you have to look it up. The LLB part tells us that the above bearing has a low-temperature seal made of one or other synthetic rubber, usually nitrile or buna. The 2 tells us that it has two of those seals, one on each size.

 

This code is stamped on the coloured seal or laser etched on the outer race.

 

 

 

A "Z" seal is a steel dust cap (not really a seal) and a RS stands for rubber seal, another way of saying LLB. "Z" seals should never be used on bicycles.

 

Bearing quality and longevity is determined by the quality and quantityof the grease and the way the engineer made the bearing fit in the rolling element. Enduro sells overpriced bearings with a bit of extra grease in for suspension pivot use. They've denoted these as "Max".

 

As someone very observant above noted, never buy a Chinese or Indian bearing. Although I cannot say that all Chinese bearings are rubbish, I can say I've never come across a good one. China will get there, it is not a stupid nation. Just that for now, the best bearings come from European factories.