BaGearA Posted April 14, 2017 Share Disclaimer: What you're about to read is going to sound very anal and maybe stupid but bear with me. Got A stans 3.30 hub (front) , replaced with normal bearings from bearing man for Like R30 each. Feb 2015 Been A good 14 months of riding and they have seen some hectic abuse but are still very smooth( not worn at all and in no need of replacing) Now will replacing them with stainless steel bearings have any effect at all ? The reason I poder this is after replacing my millionth shimano BB I bought A raceface x-type with stainless steel bearings and the roll of the bearings in my fingers felt significantly smoother shimano's. BB still holding up which I'm very happy with. So stainless steel bearings worth it or not ? You may now voice your opinion / start happing me 'K@K" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lechatnoir Posted April 14, 2017 Share Seems more about peace of mind than marginal gains to me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaGearA Posted April 14, 2017 Share Seems more about peace of mind than marginal gains to me...Seems to be the consensus with stainless steel , but normal bearings have also held up to some pretty rough riding. Although what makes them normal ? Not being stainless steel ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddy Gordo Posted April 14, 2017 Share Steel vs stainless is what you referring to. Stainless will def last longer as far as corrosion goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldBull Posted April 14, 2017 Share Steel vs stainless is what you referring to. Stainless will def last longer as far as corrosion goes.OK..... With corrosion you refer to "rust", in general terms. Your comment make sense. But how would steel and stainless steel compare on the abrasion due to dust, sand, etc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V12man Posted April 14, 2017 Share Run them with thin oil in the bearings instead of grease... that will give you some marginal gains... and some extra maintenance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddy Gordo Posted April 14, 2017 Share OK..... With corrosion you refer to "rust", in general terms. Your comment make sense. But how would steel and stainless steel compare on the abrasion due to dust, sand, etc?Steel wont or rather shouldnt handle it as well as stainless steel would. Stainless is harder and should not wear as easy as steel. So basically stainless steel is more resistant to corrosion than steel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisF Posted April 15, 2017 Share Run them with thin oil in the bearings instead of grease... that will give you some marginal gains... and some extra maintenance Marginal gains .... maybe more than expected ... Speak to the guys that race radio controlled cars. A typical car would have about 20 bearings. You assemble the car with great care and tune that setup as best possible ... BUT, you remain almost 2 seconds of the race pace !! Strip the car. Remove the side covers of each bearing. Wash out all the "grease". Add ONE drop of the thinnest possible oil ... now that bearing keeps on spinning into tomorrow. Suddenly the car is right up there with the race pace. NOTE - now you have drastically increased your maintenance schedule ... I would NOT do this on a bike that is used in dusty conditions !!! PS - for real race pace the guys would wash out all the grease, then run those bearings DRY for an hour, wash out with petrol, repeat ... give the surfaces a proper wear to increase the clearances ... then add the drop of oil .... just halved the bearing life, but it is now LOOSE and you are setting the pace. EDIT - saving 1 or 2 Watt on such a small machine obviously has a much bigger effect than saving 1 or 2 watt on your bicycle ..... Back to BIKES - Stainless steel will stand up better for WATER and corrosion. Dust is a grinding paste and even SS will have a hard life. The quality of the side covers are most important !! Tell your bearing supplier where you will use the bearings (dusty environment), then he can give you a bearing with proper side covers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony datoy Posted April 15, 2017 Share Go overboard and get hybrid ceramic... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porqui Posted April 15, 2017 Share Simple answer to would you notice the difference is no! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allstar scott Posted April 15, 2017 Share It's easy to confuse the properties and characteristics of steel versus stainless steel. Stainless steel in general, is softer than steel. The load carrying capacity of the stainless will be somewhere between 15% to 25% less due to it being softer. (with regards bearings) Different steels have different characteristics that are utilized in different applications. The most important consideration is that where you have moving parts, there is always a 'wear part'. In the BB that would be the bearing balls. It's cheaper to replace than the axle and/or the bearing cups.Hope this helps. Edit:- changed my wording to make sense. And again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony datoy Posted April 15, 2017 Share Simple answer to would you notice the difference is no!I've got hybrid ceramic in my hubs and my bike free wheels much faster than any other bike on a downhill, I've noticed it more than once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porqui Posted April 15, 2017 Share I've got hybrid ceramic in my hubs and my bike free wheels much faster than any other bike on a downhill, I've noticed it more than once. Ceramics are seriously good but do you think there might be a bit of a psychological affect as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDL Posted April 15, 2017 Share I found that when I put on 15 kg I was suddenly freewheeling much faster than the other guys downhill. Not so much uphill though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazzacpt Posted April 15, 2017 Share Steel bearings are normally chrome coated giving them a harder wearing surface. Stainless they have to polish to that shine and you don't have that extra outer hardening the chrome plating will give. Well good steel bearings are coated anyway or at least use to be. The cages would wear before the bearing race and the balls where indestructible. Sent from my SM-A510F using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisF Posted April 16, 2017 Share Steel bearings are normally chrome coated giving them a harder wearing surface. Stainless they have to polish to that shine and you don't have that extra outer hardening the chrome plating will give. Well good steel bearings are coated anyway or at least use to be. The cages would wear before the bearing race and the balls where indestructible. Sent from my SM-A510F using Tapatalk The bearing shops now have various quality options ..... For that low use project you can get cheap bearings - NOT suitable for the bike. Then there are the proper SKF type bearings of old .. tough industrial stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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