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I found that most of the bearings are shot on my giant trance. Its 4 years old used in all conditions and these are the original bearings so they don't owe me anything.
The suspension still felt very smooth when riding the bike and even felt smooth with the shock removed when i was cycling it up and down through its travel.
A cheap set of bearings will cost about £10, a mid range set £50 and a very high quality set around £120.
Financially I could do without spending anything on it as I just blew £300 on a new drivetrain and some other bits but it needs doing before it becomes a problem.
So, do i buy the cheap ones now and potentially replace them sooner or should i get the mid level set. I am having a set of bearing presses made by a friend so it should be an easy job to change them in the future.
I'm not buying the expensive fag/ina or skf ones like i would for a hub as i doubt they will perform any better than the mid range ones or last longer proportionally to justify the cost.
Any advice would be welcome.
Thanks
Andy
cheap.
get the bearing codes. find skf's that are nice and cheap on ebay but great quality?
Personaly I'd go for good branded ones, at least then you won't be peeved off thinking you should have spent more when they fail. Have you tried a local engineering shop or BETD, £120 seems a lot for 8 bearings, you could probably get a Giant kit incuding all the bolts for that.
If you're doing it yourself it's not going to cost anything to fit them so I'd go cheap. It's not as if they can ruin a ride and leave you stranded miles from anywhere, if they start wearing quickly you will know to spend more next time.
Replaced all the rear suspension bearings on my Rize about 12 months after buying it with the kit from Cannondale (£25).
That was over three years ago still running fine.
Although the replacment bearings [i]looked[/i] like the originals they felt better straightaway and have stayed buttery smooth ever since. My thoughts are that the originals are just enough to get the bike out of the door and part of a cunning plan to make us upgrade when all it needs is a bit of tlc
The £120 was for skf or ina/fag ones from ebay. i always use good ones in hubs but i'm not convinced performance wise it will gain anything other than maybe longevity in a suspension application.
Last time i bought some bearings from a local supplier the old boy who worked there said he had done research in a previous job into bearings in similar applications to suspension i.e applications where the bearing never does a full rotation and the conclusion was that within reason any bearing will perform the same. The only difference comes from better sealing from the elements in a bike application.
He seemed to think that bushings were the best option on bikes as you dont get a point load which in hindsight is what full sussers used to use and bearings kits were an "upgrade". Interestingly I don't remember ever having a problem with bushings.
I think i'm going to go cheap as chips this time just to get me through the winter moths. Ill have a look at changing them when the better weather comes (I maybe waiting a while)
Andy
Go cheap, but prize off the dust covers with a stanley blade and ram them full of extra grease before you fit them.
Go cheap, but prize off the dust covers with a stanley blade and ram them full of extra grease before you fit them.
That's what I do too, frames, hubs, BBs, everything.
I honestly think the quality & quantity of grease plus good sealing is what matters most in just about every MTB application.
When you buy "quality" bearings, they're probably a lot better for spinning at 10,000 rpm all day, every day but are they really going to be any better in the applications we're talking about? 😕
Ecky-thump +1.
Corrosion is what kills my bearings prematurely. The only thingI'd pay extra for is stainless for the lack of rust, but its a close call - for the price of stainless, you can get an awful lot of decent grease.
neither cheap nor expensive. Just good quality. I bought cheap for my wheels and was replacing them often. Spent more on some good quality double sealed ones and they are lasting well.
Get the serials off the rubber seals and go to your local bearing supplier. Then laugh at the price difference you would have paid had you bought identical parts in a bag with a card topper, making them "special" bearings for MTBs.......
🙂
It depends on the bike- ie, how much of a pain in the arse it is to change them.
There's a bloke on eBay who does good quality Giant bearing kits for not too much:
Very nice bloke and good bearings.
Say his name 3 times and he'll appear
Eh? Is my grammar that bad?
[b][u]andysredmini:[/u][/b] The suspension still felt very smooth when riding the bike and even felt smooth with the shock removed when i was cycling it up and down through its travel.
Just out of interest; how did you know they were shot then?
Say his name 3 times and he'll appear
beetlejuice? 😉
Candyman?
Kelly Brook, Kelly Brook, Kelly Brook.
Damn, didn't work
mtbmoto and eckkythump +1
i buy cheapos and make sure they are filled with grease before i use them.
headsets the same, even a (relative) cheapo if properly greased and adjusted will last ages.
lubrication is more important than whatever brand is printed on the side of the rubber seal.
yeah kaesae's bearings lasted well on my trance, certainly not invincible though, better than the originals though. they are full of marine grease i think. could just do it yourself.
As someone who spent a long time extracting the remains of a collapsed, cheap bearing from a Hope freehub, I'd say buyer beware! That was regreased before I fitted it too, but YMMV and all that.