Bearing, bearings, bearings, Who thinks they know the score?

Hello and welcome to my thread.

Come in you know you want to and make yourselves at home, you know you always do anyway.

Please bare one thing in mind not reading and not responding is two different things.

Heard a lot of arguments on hear about bearings.

Heard a lot of arguments on hear about nothing.

Cheap sh1t or performance, pregreased or not.

Should you remove the seals and won't that damage the bearings.

Should they slightly resist movement or should they rotate as freely as possible.

I argue that performance bearings if you can get them at the right prices are the better option and that all bearings in mountain bike applications should be caged and fully 100% pregreased.

I do not believe that full compliment bearings should be used, even though they are better at dealing with heavier loads over Chinese bearings.

Let's be hearing you then, you know you can't resist posting. On the other hand since I just wrote that you might feel the over whelming urge not to post.

Should we run budget / generic or performance bearings in our bikes.

What do you run and why?

Who gives a F*ck.

Who gives a F*ck.

people who fit bearing themselves, particularly people given to riding through rivers all the time:

I tried cheapo bearings but they last no time at all, just a few weeks 🙁

I chose hubs with 6000 series bearings which cost about 60p each. I don't mind changing them when they die, but even the cheapest bearings seem OK for at least 6 months. I add my own grease before fitting.

Elsewhere I've got CK headsets and UN54 BB's. Sorted.

And I adjust and regrease my M540 pedals whenever they need it.

Hey Simonfbarnes. another one of your photo's? not a bad photo and it does emphasieze the point. What kind of bike do you run?

Full complement bearings in frame pivots as they rock rather than rotate so see a lot of high static load. Quality bearings for me and I always clean and repack with lots of sticky grease.

@simon1975 You can get SKF bearings in those sizes for pretty cheap, Pregreasing is a must. Most bearings are specific to rotational application so the grease isn't really water proof. Pivot point grease you can run most stuff like marine but hub/bb grease you need to get the right viscosity/water proof combo. At least that's what I think.

What kind of bike do you run?

hard to say, a hardtail with most of the paint missing 🙂

I don't go in for full compliment. If you rotate an enduro max and then rotate an SKF, INA, NSK etc. you can feel the enduro max are no match for the Top end bearings. They are a lot better than the chinese or cheap jap / taiwanese bearings giant and specialized run. JNK or TPI are the two main brands and NBK also supplies them for some pivot points.

Do you run any full sus frames?

With a hardtail what maintenance is required to keep bearings happy? How can you tell when a bearing needs replacing? Does replacing bearings before the wear becomes too serious prevent other more expensive parts being damaged (as with chains and sprockets)?

Does replacing bearings before the wear becomes too serious prevent other more expensive parts being damaged

it means you can remove the bearing by hitting the inner race which is much easier than trying to prise out the outer race after the inner has shattered 🙂

Do you run any full sus frames?

isn't FS for tarts who can't ride properly ???

Bearings? Nope…I have a life…much betterer

Same as any other frame with a headset crank or wheels etc. Make sure they rotate smoothly.

As for damage from worn bearings. The worst is when the bearing binds or siezes and rotates in the housing and wares it away. Kona rockers are a perfect example of this.

As for checking the bearings, the most basic check on the back end is to remove the rear shock and run the back end gently through it's travel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tREkC3fVzXM

To be honest though with the amount of leverage the rear end gives you, it's still hard to tell.

Or blokes like me with gammy backs, full sus is for anyone wanting more performance at the cost of forward momentum

So where can we buy these high quality bearings, pre-greased and sealed from Kaesae?

You need to hunt about and try different brands and see which ones you like. I only sell to people who I want to go biking, sorry!

Bearings are easy – if the bike isn't right, the nice man at Nicolai makes it better…

AGGGGGGGGG, MAKE IT STOP, PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I do not believe that full compliment bearings should be used, even though they are better at dealing with heavier loads over Chinese bearings.

And that just makes no sense?
Unless the chinese bearing is a type I've missed.

Bearings, come from BETD, the local transmission/bearing shop, the original manufacturer depending on who's cheepest or been best in the past and whether they're a standard size or a manufacturers own.

What about the people who run FS bikes which haven't needed to change them at all yet? Orange Fives have bearings guaranteed for 5 years? Mine are still going strong ater 18 months?

noooo – Chinese bearings are special and can take more load and, with the "special sauce" that kaesae fits, they are more waterproof than a nuclear submarine…

Chinese bearings? This thread is just wong.

Got to admire his perseverance.

Simple this isnotaspoon. most cheap bearing in this country are chinese or euopean or crap jap/taiwanese, I would rather run enduro max over those.

However I would rather run top end bearings like FAG INA or SKF over Enduro max.

I use Ceramic Speed bearings.

so what bike are you fitting these bearings to, kaesae?

isn't FS for tarts who can't ride properly ???

I guess that's why he was surprised you ride a hardtail simon. 😆

Grease… there are so many kinds. For years I used the finish line white teflon stuff but it seems to dry out and generally be a bit rubbish. I then had some lovely red stuff which I cannot remember what it was but it was super thick and stayed where I put it – although using it for Hope hubs was a mistake since the pawls would not move and it made the hub feel sticky.

I've now got a tube of Weldtite which is red but I'm pretty underwhelemd with it other than it being the same colour as the good stuff I had – but fien for the hub application.

So… one grease for bearings that rotate a lot like hubs… and another thicker one for headsets and pivots which do not rotate a lot… does that make sense?

allthegear – Member
so what bike are you fitting these bearings to, kaesae?

several hundred so far throughout europe.

I only sell to people who I want to go biking, sorry!

Ehh???? 😯

Mighty strange sales patter there!

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Did this type of thread not get you banned on another forum!!!

Messiah. I agree the right grease is vital. I think they stopped making that pink grease. I spoke to a guy in a shop a while back and he mentioned it, can't remember the name. Good budget grease for hubs is moly grease. Same stuff as rocknroll grease without the ouch factor in the price.

Cool – that's quite a lot – did you say before that you had a bad back or something?

SV purses at dawn

sv – Member
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Did this type of thread not get you banned on another forum!!!

No saying SteveL had a little kingdom to sell his sh1t on and lots of minions that munch butts got me banned.

I guess that's why he was surprised you ride a hardtail simon.

ya got me 🙂 I'll admit bouncing around all over the place on hardtail gives me an excuse for being slow :o)

I only sell to people who I want to go biking, sorry!

I only buy bearings of people who don't really get on my wick, it's kinda the opposite of a sybyotic (sp?) relationship.

MTBRIDER.COM

Roll up Roll up, worship me or get banned!

OOH SteveL you're so cool!
OOH SteveL that thread about commencal bearings for a measly £69.99 is amazing.
OOH SteveL you the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Talk about creepy.

thisisnotaspoon – Member
AGGGGGGGGG, MAKE IT STOP, PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Boyfriend got a new toy sunshine?