Back end of my ’16 Giant Trance Advanced is rattling like a bag of spanners. It looks like the main pivot bearings are knackered.

Does anyone know off the top their head the bearing codes or a link to the info I need.

I know I could strip it down and look at the codes but I’d rather have new bearings ready to go in before I take the frame in bits.

Just out of interest how much do shops/Giant dealers charge for a full pivot bearing change?

I called up a giant shop to ask how much it would cost to replace the bearings from a Liv Intrigue which I think is the women’s versioning the trance. They said £60-£80 for bearings and about £40 for labour if my memory is right.

@1timmy1 thanks for that.<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”> </span>

<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>I took the rocker linkages off tonight. The driveside main pivot bearing (6900 v-rs) has a lot of play in it. But the source of the noise seems to be the lower shock eyelet rattling from side to side, the spacers on the axle look to be worn. The bearings either side of the lower shock mount feel tight. Rest of the bearings don’t seem bad.</span>

MB Bearings do kits, cheap kit about £30, Enduro Max kit about £80 I think.

Depends on the shop, if you take in a complete bike or just a frame, if the bearings just press out or if every bearing seperates. I would normally expect a minimum of 2 hours at the shops rate if you take a whole bike in.

How rough a life has your Trance had? Is is thrashed all winter and then jet washed within an inch of its life?

I am bearing and creak phobic so my Anthem has yet to get wet let alone muddy.

I bought the frame second hand last autumn,  the seller told me he’d only covered 500 miles on it.  I’ve done around 700 miles since I built it up, I mostly rode my hardtail through the winter. I’ve never jetwashed it.

I now change all the bearings in my bikes myself.

After gradually getting a few tools together and learning how to bodge the other tools needed.

The Jeffsyi have had 11 bearings to replace. It took a few hours but I wanted it done right. The frame had seen one winter of riding by previous owner.

Personally I would replace all the bearings whilst it’s apart and renew the shock mounts with some from TFT or similar. Should see you good for some time to come then!

Giant do a specific bearing press kit for their frames:

https://www.cyclestore.co.uk/giant_maestro_bearing_tool_kit-ID_68169

In fact, it’s very generic and I’ve used it to press bearings on all sorts of different bikes, although it was originally bought to service a couple of Anthems I have. Obviously, sockets and bolts will also do, but there’s nothing like having the proper kit to make a job go smoothly.

FWIW, I consider Giant bikes to have some of the easiest-to-swap bearings of any bike and with the proper tool kit, it’s a genuinely trivial job. Frankly, they’re so easy to swap and relatively cheap to buy the bearings, this one gets abused and pressure washed with very little care taken 🙂

@daern thanks for the link, I didn’t know Giant did their own kit. Might be worth buying as changing the bearings twice pretty much pays for itself.

The Giant kit is good, as long as the bearings dont seperate, then you want a blind puller.

When speaking to someone in the industry he swore by these guys and their stainless bearings.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BEARING-6900-2RS-SS-STAINLESS-61900-10MM-X-22MM-X-6MM/190544872044?hash=item2c5d5c026c:g:JAQAAOSw9r1WBsN-

Be aware the lots of Giants have an odd flanged bearing (On the rocker link if I recall correctly) that bears a normal bearing code but isn’t what it says it is….exactly….