I sold a Gary Fisher Cake DLX to a guy this evening who noticed there was some lateral movement in the swingarm and we thought it was the suspension shock/bushings, so I knocked £60 off, but having played with it he thinks it is the bottom pivot; are these replaceable easily does anyone know? Cheers Martin
They are easy to change. Just undo the bolt a bit, hit it with a hammer to drive the axle out of the other side a bit.. then undo some more, tap some more til you can grab the axle then you can pull it out. Then lift up the swingarm - you can do it without undoing the shock mounts if you have it in a bike stand, you can pull the back wheel up and tie it up on the seatpost. Then the bearings are revealed and you can tap them out with a screwdriver. Putting them back in is a case of gluing them in place with loctite. They don't stay in place on their own unlike most cartridge bearings.
And yes I have done loads of these, can you tell? I used to get 6-9 months out of a set on my Cake. Although, if the swingarm moves it might just be the general flex you can feel. It's not the stiffest of frames. If the shock bushings or bearings are worn you'll hear a knocking as you ride over bumps.
Still, flex or no, great bike 🙂 Climbs like a dream.
Thanks for that; where do you get the bearings from? Martin
More thanks; I passed this on and the guy I sold it to got the bearings for £6 and did it in 30 mins so he's happy - I wish I'd noticed it and posted before he bought it as i could have saved myself £50 🙂