Mid rebuild of my Zesty (2010) I’ve discovered that the main pivot bearings (6902) have what is essentially a tophat insert that looks to be stainless or similar pressed in. They don’t (easily) want to move and it feels like I’m going to chew them a bit smashing them out with a hammer and screwdriver.

They look pretty grim in uncleaned state tbh, but with no access to easy replacements I’m stuffed. I do have spares of the upper link articulation inserts which fit except that the centre shaft hole is too narrow so I could never actually assemble with them.

Google doesn’t seem to find me any replacements, and I’m getting a bit sick of how long (self inflicted) I’ve had this bike in bits and want to ride it again. I’m replacing all the other bearings, bushes and inserts.

If I can carefully remove the old ones without damaging them, how wise would reuse be? I’m not sure if they’re plain spacers or actual articulation bushings.

If I’ll really regret it and someone can point me at some spares a few days away I’m interested…

I wouldn’t remove them if you are going to re use them. Just pop the seal off and clean/re-grease them. But I’d replace them if they are rough.

The bearings were all past their best and quite possibly the originals !

I’ve already removed the bearings with a combination of a superstar 6902 tool and some odd washers (this is a very sculpted chainstay so no flat surfaces for normal press use)

I have replacements for all the bearings, bushings and inserts apart from these two inserts that I was unaware of and now can’t find a replacement for… I was really planning to replace the lot but seem to have hit a snag – I’m just not sure how good an idea trying to recover and reuse these two inserts is.