Is there a better way than just giving the back end of the bike a shake? Presumably that would only show it if the bearings were well and truly knacked.

That’s what my LBS told me to do

You have to remove the shock from the suspension and move it through its range. Better still is to strip back the suspension links so that you can grab each bearing between finger and thumb, then rotoate them to feel for binding.

OK – thanks

In terms of putting the shock back on when I’m done, is getting the right torque a finely tuned thing (this is an alloy frame), or can I just go for approximately the right tension it was when I removed it/tight, but not swinging off it, kind of thing

Manual rotation check, I advise riders to do it once a year or every two at the most.

What kind of frame are you thinking about servicing?

lol @ the manual rotation check, if they dont rotate then yes, they are truly fecked. I think the OP wanted to know before they seized solid 🙂

But manual rotation will reveal anything from slight notchiness to full-on seizure. I don’t get what’s funny.

yeah but you don’t need to strip the whole thing down to work out that the bearings are on their way out, you just take the shock out and give move the swing arm, if you can’t feel anything then I doubt you’d notice it when riding and if you can then you change them, don’t you?

With a single pivot, perhaps; but what about something like FSR that has around 12 bearings? I’ve known plenty of bearings feel fine with just the shock out, but when the link is removed to allow full rotation the bearing is shown to be unable to go beyond the range it worked in on the bike. Why wait until deterioration shows up when riding? That’s way too late in my opinion.

The main load bearings on my TranceX started making cracking/creaking noises on large compressions so I knew something was up. The other bearings were only a little gritty but it seemed worthwhile changing them all while it was in bits.

Nick – Member
lol @ the manual rotation check, if they dont rotate then yes, they are truly fecked. I think the OP wanted to know before they seized solid

Critisizing others is easy, all it takes is stupidity and ignorance combined with a belief that you know how others should think and act better than they do.

If you have a better way to check them, let’s see, hear of read about it 😀

Nick – Member
yeah but you don’t need to strip the whole thing down to work out that the bearings are on their way out, you just take the shock out and give move the swing arm, if you can’t feel anything then I doubt you’d notice it when riding and if you can then you change them, don’t you?

Legend in his own mind syndrome or a troll be’ache anyone!

The point you are missing is leve RAGE! **** yes you can make the back end move, but that doesn’t mean that the bearings are fine, if they are binding and continue to rotate they will ware away the housing.

Here’s a questions that I think you might be able to understand, housing being worn away, GOOD 😀 or BAD 😥 💡 ❓

bounce the rear end, shows up dead bearings
remove the shock and manually move the rear through its full travel, shows up dying bearings
manually twiddle* each bearing, shows up individual wear

*yes twiddle is a technical term.

The rear shock removal technique is flawed due to the amount of leverage that can be applied, bearings can be forced to rotate in the housing.

I’ve checked 750 = 1000 frames. a lot of the time the frames feel OK and don’t sound too bad, once you strip them down and check them individually you see how bad they are.

What costs less new bearings and to fit them yourselves or a new frame ❓ Checking your bearings once a year or once3 every two years is the only way to insure that the money you have invested in your frame isn’t lost.

It’s also the only way to ensure you get all the performance benefits out of your frame that you should.

😀

Anyone wanting to check and renew your bearings, it’s a fairly easy straight forward job, if you have someone of years of experience teaching people how to do it.

You could service your frames with what ever is lying about and do a better job than most bike shops