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Before I buy some new bearings, I'm still wondering what the general consensus is overall on application in a hub.
Buy cheap (as in 5 for a tenner, or cheaper) and fill with grease, and replace often (it's easy to do on my front hub)?
Or buy decent (like SKF) and [i]hope[/i] they last long enough to justify the steep cost?
Bought an SKF bearinged BB from Superstar a couple of years ago, that lasted 8 rides. OK, this was mainly due to the poor design of the BB, but my front hub (a Roval Traverse) isn't exactly the best designed at keeping the crap out, and also uses the same 6805 size on the non disc side as a HT2 BB anyway, so IMO is likely to fail within a few wet rides anyway...
Also, when it comes to cheap bearings, is anyone manufacturer/distributor better than another? I need a 6804, and a 6805 FWIW, but I'll likely buy spares at the same time if the price is good.
I just g on ebay, type "6805 bearing" or whatever and use the cheapest ones. They don't seem to last any different to the odiginal ones.
C
Personally - expensive ones and do not disturb the seals - I get long life from them that way.
Good ones sourced cheaply from a bearing shop
ChrisE, how long do you tend to get out of a set of cheap bearings then?
TJ, how long are you getting from decent ones? I suspect your Hope hubs are a better design (at least for keeping the crap out) than the Roval front hub I've got is on the non drive side, I'm quite concerned that I'd kill decent bearings in no time too!
definitely grease them up, expensive or not.
Never seen a failed bearing with much grease in it.
Found my local bearing supplier on google, so rang em up...
Asked him his opinions, and he said that they sell 99% "normal" branded bearings (ie. not super cheapo ones, but middle of the road stuff) at about £2.50 per bearing to 1% SKF at about £13 a bearing.
So I asked how much longer they last... He said in high speed, low load applications, quite a bit longer. In low speed, high load applications, like on a mountain bike, you won't notice the difference...
Just off down there now to pick some up...
Mboy - replaced one set of rear pro 2 freehub bearings in around 5000 or more miles, replaced one set of front big uns on the tandem in a similar distance. Can't remember the brand but one of the big well known ones - skf or fag
i shall report back in a few weeks. just ordered some el cheapos to repair my haggered gxp bb.
was guessing at sizes a bit, so went down the £2 bearing route to ensure size before looking into posher ones.
That is impressive TJ, I know the Pro2 rear hub and the Bigun front use bearings with much bigger balls in than the bloody 6805 that I need here. Like I said, 8 rides and I destroyed a set of SKF bearings in a BB before. I'll give the cheapies a try first.
Coincidentally, my rear hub (a DT 240s) is as smooth as the day it was bought still, and was new at the same time as the front.
pro 2 rear are small bearings big un front are large tho
If you are going for the cheapies then I would open them up for a grease fill
I've found that there is a difference between how long RU, RS sealed bearings last and wouldn't scrimp again. Personally don't like changing bearings that often as eventually you will wear out the seats or knock it out of square
I was thinking of getting some from here
http://www.onlinebearings.co.uk/mountain-bike-bearings-c-463.html
Hope Pro 2 set here
http://www.onlinebearings.co.uk/hope-pro-2-hub-bearings-c-463-p-1-pr-16472.html