Hi chaps,

My mate just bought a 2016 Mega frame, and it was making an awful cracking noise. He’s traced it to the lower pivot bearings by the bb.

He thinks they’re goosed. I’m not fully convinced they will be, even if they were dry and he’s ridden it twice.

The only other thing I can think of is the fitting is ovalized.

Any other common issues anyone knows about on mega frames that could cause it?

Cheers

Ricks

How has he decided that the noise is coming from there ? Assuming the frame is new I would doubt that the bearings are goosed and would try making sure that all bolts are tight and after that make sure that you eliminate things that are easy to eliminate like pedals , seat post , saddle etc .

I just had ChrisL’s mega 290 for what sounds like a similiar cracking/creaking noise, it’s 4 months old. Inevitably the SRAM BB is worn out, because they’re as shit as ever. But the main pivot and horst link bearings are also quite badly worn and approaching needing replacement. The rocker bearings were all fine

I don’t actually know what was causing the crack/creak- I did a full strip, clean and lube of pivots and bearings and it’s apparently fixed it. There was a wee bit of wear on a spacer which suggested it might have been rubbing, I think that was brakeside horst linkage. Or maybe it was just the clean and grease.

The main thing is they are cheap, shit bearings- I opened one up to inspect and there’s no dirt or water ingress, it’s purely low quality. So I wouldn’t be shocked to hear if some are DOA or worn out almost instantly. Also the main pivot bearings are really pretty small, they’re 6902s IIRC.

The good news is in this bike’s case it seems there’s nothing inherently wrong, it’s a dick move from CRC to save a pound but it’s easily fixed with more suitable parts. And it is a bloody brilliant bike otherwise. I’d consider all this stuff to be warranty, but it also fits into “pain in the bum warranty” and at the end of the day if they replace with the same parts it’ll run straight into the same issue in 5 minutes so I think we’ll go down the quality replacements route.

He’s stripped the bike down and *found* the bearings arent great.

I had a quick feel of the bike, everything was tight, no play, isolated the noise to the back of the bike, not pedals, seat rails, etc…

It’s a proper cracking noise on hard pressure on alternate pedal strokes.

Cheers Andrew,

I’ve told him to go see James at Pedals for some Enduro bearings if he’s about tomorrow 🙂

New or Used? If it’s new I wouldn’t be paying for it to be fixed, get in touch with CRC? and tell them about the problem and suggest they pay a LBS to sort it out for you.

Just seen this post. I have just popped the main pivot bearings out of my 2016 mega to find that they an odd ball size. And the fact that the only place i cant find them is the CRC website. I noticed that they were pretty poor quality. So before i order some more crap ones does anyone know where i could pick up some of better quality. Tried enduro maxx and they dont do them. Thanks guys Marc.

Anyone found the bearings with the collar on anywhere?
Or got a part number off the bearing?

Mine are shagged now after 9 months!

Ta

The ones with the sort of sticky-through-middle, like a built in axle? I feel like if I knew the technical term we could find some since it doesn’t seem likely it’s a 100% custom. Maybe it could be replicated with spacers but I just left those alone, they were in good condition.

Not sure but the cracking noise on megas can be caused by a loose or ungreased shock hardware. Especially the rocker ones.

The noise from mine was coming from the lower pivot axle, which was totally dry and a bit loose, cleaned, greased then reassembled – noise gone but when checking the bearings at the same time, this showed they were grunchy and ready for replacement, hence my query about the collared bearings.

There’s a good picture of them on the CRC website;

Clicky

but not quite clear enough to read the number FFS!

I bought some bearings from Kinetic the other day, and noticed they had lots of the bearings with the weird shoulder in the middle…

clicky

**edit** Oops just noticed on your link that the shoulder is on the outside

Ta Benman – server at work is blocking that link unfortunately, I’ll have a look when I get home!

The ones on the CRC site look like “flanged bearings”

From some serious zooming I think they’re 6802 bearings, and they do come in flanged flavour from places like:

http://simplybearings.co.uk/shop/p155702/SF68022RSW7-Budget-Rubber-Sealed-Stainless-Steel-Flanged-Thin-Section-Deep-Groove-Ball-Bearing-15x24x7mm/product_info.html

Note I’m in no way affiliated with the above, although I have used them in the past and they’re good, also if I’ve misread the bearign number than all bets are off.

Won’t Nukeproof, Hotlines or CRC supply bearing details to owners?

Taking a passing interest in this as I might be interested in a 290 at some point.

According to the little book I got with my 290
Main pivot 2 x 6902-2rs
Linkage 4 x 6800-2rs
Chainstay/seatstay 4 x 6802-2rs extended ( extended race ?)
No mention of flanges in the bearing description, but definitely looks like it in the CRC picture.
Watch out for the little spacers on the main pivot and seat/chain stay pivots, they will roll under the fridge. I’ve had to grease my bearings after 6 months of winter use, no play in them, but they were rough, maybe not enough grease from new ?

Same on my 2016 Mega main pivot bearings were shot after about 6 months. Replaced with enduro bearings, hopefully they will last better. Same issue with the cracking, seems to come from the main pivot/spacers down there. New bearings and clean and lube seemed to sort it, however it’s back again 6months later. All the bearing sizes/types are on the frame manual, you can download it from the nukeproof site. Bearing life and frame creak is really disappointing, my Mega AM didn’t have these issues and suffered the abuse much longer.

He thinks they’re goosed. I’m not fully convinced they will be, even if they were dry and he’s ridden it twice.

If the bearings are dry, they’re already goosed, greasing won’t help.

I inspected some of the worn ones in Chris’s bike, they weren’t dry (though it was a pretty low fill) and didn’t show any sign of ingress either. I think they’re just poor quality

They are F6802VH7.

24mm with 26mm flange
outer ring 5mm width
inner ring 7mm width

I will speak to a bearing manufacturer today about them.

Spoken to a few suppliers and manufacturers of bearings, these are a special batch made for Nukeproof in China and are not available anywhere else.
So we’re stuck with these crap bearings and changing them every 6 months.

All the bearing info here

http://nukeproof.com/wp-content/themes/nukeproof/pdf/2016-Frame-Manual.pdf

If it’s the one I think you’re talking about then they list it as a 6902-2RS

No! Read the post please.

We discussed this at length the 6902 are not the problem it’s the F6802HV7 – they are not available ANYWHERE except Nukeproof.

Any pics of these bearings, and the housing?.

Link Clicky in my post above to CRC site pic, it’s the bearing in the middle with the flange and extended inner ring.
I’m getting a quote from a local bearing manufacturer to make a batch of quality bearings to this spec.

I’d be buying some off the shelf 6802 and using them,the only reason that flange can be there is to stop bearing migration, which is unlikely, or because Nukeproof want a captive audience.

You’ll be bonkers money for bespoke bearings, and if it’s not bonkers money, I’d question the tolerances.

Wind your neck in.

I said THEY list it as 6902 for the main pivot. Any F series 6802 and 6902 will fit in the respective positions they list those bearing numbers

You can probably use a standard bearing by taking up the space of the extended parts with some bushings or washers. Packing the new bearings with marine grease will help too.

Scotia Bearings

If you can see the bearing number then this place will post it out to you. Less than £2 a bearing normally. They normally do ceramic sided bearings for a bit more.

Where’s my post gone?

I won’t be paying £2 per bearing for a job that takes nearly an hour to do! Don’t suppose there’s a five year guarantee with them?

I could only find the bearings on Chain reaction, so ordered them really rubbish quality but see how long they last eh.

Hi all, to resurrect this thread I’ve just come across these to replace the four flanged bearings in the rocker link:

https://www.kineticbikebearings.com/f6802-llu-max-e-bo.html

Comes to more than the full bearing kit on CRC but hopefully better quality. Since I’ve previously replaced the main pivot and have just done the horst link with Enduro Max I’m hoping that it will last a bit longer than the 1000km the original set racked up.

Tom

Ta to whoever linked kineticbikebearings – just bought https://www.kineticbikebearings.com/nukeproof-mega-275-290.html for my 2017 Mega 275.

Hopefully none of the other hardware needs replacing, as that seems to require spending a further SIXTY FIVE QUID at CRC: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/nukeproof-mega-275-290-hardware-kit-2016/rp-prod143964

Fingers crossed.

Do the 4 linkage bearings push right through from either side, or do they have to be extracted their specific side somehow?

Anyone found an easy way to get the 2 pairs of small bearings in lower end of the seatstay out?

They have to be pushed out opposite to each other as theres a fixed metal spacer.i used a small punch angled to knock one bearing out from opposite side ,once one out second bearing is easy to get at.

BB

Cheers for that, saved me a load of hassle and having to phone Hotlines.

I suppose it’s a bit early to get feedback on the quality of the kinetic bearings? Just checked the main pivot bearings on my 3 month old mega due to a creaking noise and both had seized. I’ve got them moving again and packed them with fresh grease but they’ll need replacing soon. It’s a great frame but I’ve never had bearings go after 3 months of summer use!