Hub maintenance

[Piernas Flacas]

Questions for the gurus out there: I have an MTB with a raiser handlebar and bar-ends ;-) I serviced the rear hub (Shimano) last weekend and, although I didn't notice anything wrong with the bearings, I can hear a slight noise and I wonder if I should have replaced the bearings with new ones. Should bearings be replaced everytime the hub is serviced as a general rule? A second question is if it's better to get cartridge bearings or stick to loose ones. Also please note that I don't have a bottle cage on the bike.

 

Yours Trulli

 

Jarno

 

[NotSoBigBen]

I don't think that if a hub has been manufactured to take loose ball bearings that it is possible to replace them with a 'cartridge bearing' .........

 

I may be wrong though!

[TNT1]

Oh, I thought a  question for admin about maintaining this site...

[Sammajoor]

 

Questions for the gurus out there: I have an MTB with a raiser handlebar and bar-ends ;-) I serviced the rear hub (Shimano) last weekend and' date=' although I didn't notice anything wrong with the bearings, I can hear a slight noise and I wonder if I should have replaced the bearings with new ones. Should bearings be replaced everytime the hub is serviced as a general rule? A second question is if it's better to get cartridge bearings or stick to loose ones. Also please note that I don't have a bottle cage on the bike.

 

Yours Trulli

 

Jarno

 

[/quote']

 

Very very funny also the only F1 rider who came from Boksburg  JA NO Truly

 

Sorry for the hijack, just could not help myself

 

 

[AndreZA]

Check ot out before replacing. You will be able to see if it need replacement. But then again it is sooooo cheap, just replace anyway. Just bought me 200x high grade stainless steel bearings (100 front and 100 rear) from Bearing Man for R128.

 

Cartridge will not work as you will not get it past the little lip.

 

I opened my rear hub and it was discustingly dirty. Opened the front and it looked brand spanking new. The clear grease was not even dirty.

 

 

 

 

[Piernas Flacas]

Check ot out before replacing. You will be able to see if it need replacement. But then again it is sooooo cheap' date=' just replace anyway. Just bought me 200x high grade stainless steel bearings (100 front and 100 rear) from Bearing Man for R128.

 

Cartridge will not work as you will not get it past the little lip.

 

I opened my rear hub and it was discustingly dirty. Opened the front and it looked brand spanking new. The clear grease was not even dirty.

 

 

 

 

[/quote']

 

Thanks, someone told me about Bearing Man but can't remember where it is located. Apparently they sell very good bearings. Could you please give me their address?

[AndreZA]

 

Thanks' date=' someone told me about Bearing Man but can't remember where it is located. Apparently they sell very good bearings. Could you please give me their address?

[/quote']

 

they are all over the place.

 

http://www.bearingman.co.za/HomePage1.aspx

 

For the fron it 3/16" and the rear it's 1/4" bearings. Ask them for Stainless 316 grade.

 

 

[TNT1]

 

Thanks' date=' someone told me about Bearing Man but can't remember where it is located. Apparently they sell very good bearings. Could you please give me their address?

[/quote']

 

 

 

Gauteng

 

 

Alberton North Tel: 011-907 2750 Fax: 011-869 8115 Cnr 7th Avenue & Louis Trichardt Str	Aeroport / Isando Tel: 011-974 8805 Fax: 011-974 9693 34 Director Road	Boksburg North Tel: 011-894 6876 Fax: 011-894 5568 148 Paul Smit Street
Spartan Tel: 011-975 0292 Fax: 011-975 9690 90 Plane Road	Krugersdorp Tel: 011-953 3701 Fax: 011-953 3368 95 Luipaard Street	Pretoria West Tel: 012-327 2046 Fax: 012-327 2071 296 Mitchell Street
Selby Tel: 011-493 9330 Fax: 011-493 8951 171 Eloff Street	Springs Tel: 011-811 3390 Fax: 011-811 4574 Unit 3, Springsgate	Vereeniging Tel: 016-4223971  Fax: 016-421 1110 53 Barrage st
West Rand Tel: 011-474 1433 Fax: 011-474 1488 2A Motor City, 26 Main Reef Rd, Langlagte	Germiston South Tel: 011-873 2372  Fax: 011-873 5772 316 Victoria Street	Vanderbijlpark Tel: 016-981 6100 Fax: 016-981 6106 3 Whitehouse Bldg , 101 Goodyear Street
Bearing Man Park Tel: 011-620 1500 Fax: 011 620 1660 Droste Crescent, Ext 7	Carletonville Tel: 018-787 3575 Fax: 018-787 3587 35 Haulage Street	Wadeville Tel: 011-827 9074 Fax: 011-827 4677 54 Dekema Road
Rosslyn Tel: 012-541 3663/4 Fax: 012-541 3661 Piet Rautenbach Street Shop15

 

[Piernas Flacas]

Thank you guys

[MintSauce]

As a matter of interest, a friend of mine had his hubs drilled out a couple years ago to replace the loose bearings with cartridges so it's doable

[Johan Bornman]

Just bought me 200x high grade stainless steel bearings (100 front and 100 rear) from Bearing Man for R128.

  

 

Bearing Man doesn't sell balls suitable for high quality hubs. Bearing man's best balls are Grade 100. This means the largest imperfection on that bearing is 100 microns (Inch microns, not metric). 

 

Balls for the ground and polished cup and cones such as that on the upper end Shimano products, need to be Grade 20, to match the smoothness of the other parts. Grade 20 is not available from any bearing dealer that I know of, I've been trying for years.

 

Grade 20 bearings are theoretically five times smoother than Grade 100 bearings, if that is a valid comparison of 100 micron vs 20 micron imperfections.

 

You can see whether your cones are Grade 20 quality by looking at the bearing track area. If it's shiny, it's probably hardened first and then ground and polished. If it is black and full of mill scale, it is probably machined and then hardened. The latter process is much cheaper but creates a sub-standard bearing surface. Use your Bearing Man specials on these cones.

 

I have no idea what Grade the bearings are that's sold to bike shops by cycle parts importers. Once or twice when I've asked, I got the duh treatment.

 

Will grade 100 ruin your hubs? I doubt it. I've just found that their lifespan is less and they never run as smooth as I'd like.

 

The OP asked whether he should replace bearings everytime. No, you dont have to. If they're still good, use them again. However, judging whether they're good is not easy. You need a strong magnifying glass and a clean bearing and, you must know what to look for. I teach people this technique in my classes.

 

Stainless steel bearings aren't better than other bearings. Once you have water in your hubs, the cones and cups also rust and that gives off grit which will damage your (the hub's) balls in anyway.

 

The easiest way to identify rust in your hubs is to a) know when to expect it, i.e. the day after a river crossing or a high pressure wash. It presents as fine crackling noises from the general wheel area. The noises can be likened to grass burning or the opening of sweet wrappers on those fruity boiled sweets your granny used to keep.

 

Getting the right bearings in SA is a mission. I import them from the US but with great difficulty. My last batch was stolen by the Post Office. I don't know why they think those dikwiele of theirs need fine bearings.

 

If anyone wants to order, contact me, I'm making up an order right now.

 

 

PS - if you have to ask the price, you can't afford it.

 

 

 

 

[TNT1]

Post of the day JB...

 

" Bearing man's best balls"

[rock]

so another point on the score-board  for sealed cartride bearing hubs eh?

[TNT1]

 

so another point on the score-board  for sealed cartride bearing hubs eh?

 

Only if you got no time to play with balls...

 

[Johan Bornman]

so another point on the score-board  for sealed cartride bearing hubs eh?

 

No, not at all.  "Sealed" in cartrdige bearing is a misnomer.

 

Cartridge bearing seals were developed in the early days of electrical motors. A motor that spins, forces air out on the motor's outside through centrifugal force and sucks it in via the inside .i.e. through the bearing. Obviously dust inside a lubricated bearing is not a good idea and so the wiper seal was born. However, it is only good for dust intrusion, not liquid intrusion.

 

This is because a seal that doesn't leak, leaks. Let me explain. If the seal doesn't allow some of the lubricant it tries to keep inside, escape, it will burn itself on the unlubricated axle that turns inside it and a gap develops. Seals are thus designed to leak a little in order for them to lubricate themselves. Rubber can't just run against a spinning axle without getting abraded away.

 

But because the seal leaks, it will allow water in just as it will allow grease out. Water that ends up under the lip gets emulsified and readily mixes in with the clean lubricant and ends up doing some dirty work inside the bearing.

 

 

Therefore, a rubber seal must be protected from water with an neutral chamber that can drain. The chamber is protected on the other end with a non-contact labyrinth seal. This is what is erroneously called the dust cap, on modern hubs.

 

Now, to get back to your "sealed bearing". A cartridge bearing may or may not have a seal, depending on its application. The seal on hubs that use cartridge bearings are no better than the exact same seal on a cup and cone hub. It's exactly the same rubber and they work in exactly the same way and both leak in order not to leak.

 

Neither are submersible. If you submerse it, you'll flood the neutral chamber and water will works its way under the seal.  Try it, you may not like it.

 

 

[dirtrider]

BUT , you can get a sealed bearing from FAG or Bearing man for your hub ! And who the hell got time to play with little balls anyway ?