Hello,

I have a DT Swiss M1700 Spline2 29 wheelset (2016 model, centerlock, QR15 front), and I would like to replace the front hub bearings. They are basically 350 straight pull hubs. The bearings are 6902.
The OEM bearings were TPI, Made in Taiwan, with a LU (red) seal on the outboard side and an LB (black) seal with less friction on the other side.
I would like to upgrade these TPI 6902s to the IJK Made in Japan bearings, which come with some DT hubs (e.g. 240s). But I am at a loss here because there is all sorts of conflicting information around:

1. In this thread from 2018, people mention the Japanese IJK bearings, but it’s not clear whether they are stainless or 52100
chromium steel (more durable than stainless).
https://forums.mtbr.com/wheels-tires/dt-swiss-240-dt-swiss-350-bearing-manufacturer-identification-1082749.html
I’m after the Japanese IJK non-stainless bearings with similar red/black (LU/LB) seals as my OEM TPI Taiwanese bearings, but I’m not sure if they actually exist or not. There are photos of IJK stainless steel bearings with blue (i.e. not red/black) seals, but there are also claims that the red/black IJK bearings are stainless by default.

2. From what I’ve read (official DT site info), the 350 hubs in my M1700 wheelset come with these bearings: part nr. HSBXXX00N2336S. So I guess these are the TPI Taiwanese ones.
I’ve found another DT part nr. (HSBXXX00N1468S) listed for 240s hubs, so I assumed these were the Japanese IJK ones. BUT, I have had 3 reputable DT dealers check these HSBXXX00N1468S bearings for me and they have told me either that these have “Taiwan” written on the seals (red/black, LU/LB) or even that there isn’t anything written on the seals at all
If you check stock photos online for HSBXXX00N1468S, most show pictures with the words “IJK” and “Japan” displayed on the seals, but this is contrary to what the 3 DT dealers have told me.
I wonder if DT has changed bearings suppliers and while HSBXXX00N1468S used to be the Japanese IJK ones, now they are Taiwanese TPI ones?

3. I have also come across a third different DT part nr.: HSBXXX00N1285S. These are supposedly the stainless steel version of the 6902 and they cost THREE times as much as the HSBXXX00N1468S. But these seem to have the blue seals (not red/black) in most stock photos.

So where (if at all) can one still find the Japanese IJK bearings that are non stainless and have the red/black seals??? Is there a fourth different part nr. for them? Or are they discontinued?
(I have just bought a DT XM1501 wheelset with the 240s bearings and they definitely have the Japanese IJK bearings with red outboard seals, not the blue ones, so I doubt they are stainless)

Btw, I have experimented with Japanese NTN LLU bearings in my 350 front hubs, but I find them too draggy and even somehow vibrating (NTN LLU seals might be partly the reason, but I still find this very strange. I got them from an authorized NTN dealer and they are installed in the hub professionally, so this can’t be the result of installation error or fake bearings). For this reason, I’d rather stop experimenting with other supposedly reputable compatible bearings and would prefer to buy the IJK ones.

I’d appreciate any information or suggestion, especially if one has some kind of insider knowledge about these bearings. I just don’t get why HSBXXX00N1468S are advertised (see most webshop descriptions and stock) as Made in Japan, IJK, and then dealers who actually check their stock tell me that these are also Made in Taiwan.

hambini

They’re bearings, just nip over to WychBearings.co.uk and order whatever you want, either some cheap 6902 replacements, or gucci enduro or ceramic bearings if you want lighter and slightly better.

DT Bearings come in 4 levels.

OEM Steel – As used on 370 and 350, these are not sold seperately. DT’s logic is that if you’re a hard enough user to kill these bearings you would be better off replacing them with……

Steel – There are the IJK Japanese ones with one red seal, they come standard in 240 hubs, they’re only a tenner each and are damnn good bearings.

Stainless Steel – One Blue seal, these don’t come standard on anything, but DT offer them seperately, they’re about £40 each, TBH I’d just go with the standard ones.

SiNC ceramic – One Yellow seal, DT’s ceramic offerings, very nice, very expensive, OTT unless you’re racing pretty seriously.

This thread has reminded me about my 240s front hub but I’ll start another thread.
Hope you get it sorted OP.

Hatter, thanks, but I’m not sure. You see, the OEM bearings (TPI, Taiwan) I had in my 350 hubs (HSBXXX00N2336S) are, in fact, sold by DT dealers (at least my local DT dealer has them in stock).
On the other hand, HSBXXX00N1468S should logically be the next level up, i.e. the Japanese IJK that are OEM in some 240 hubs. The price figures too, I’ve found them for about 13 euros. But here’s the trick: as I’ve mentioned, I have had 3 different dealers check their stock and confirm to me that they are NOT Japanese IJK, but Taiwanese (so most likely the cheaper TPI version). As I’ve also mentioned, if you look at these webshops (happy to provide links), the stock description says Made in Japan and the stock photos show the Japanese IJK ones with the read outboard seals, so I only asked them confirm because I’m extra cautious 🙂 And then I was really surprised to hear they were not Japanese, as I had hoped/expected on the basis of the stock info online.

Agreed on the stainless, they are way too expensive, I just asked because I was wondering whether the IJK non stainless may not even exist. So thanks for confirming that there are both affordable Japanese chromium steel ones (red seal) and more expensive stainless (blue seal) ones around. At least in theory, because no one seems to have the former in stock any more 🙁

argee

They’re bearings, just nip over to WychBearings.co.uk and order whatever you want, either some cheap 6902 replacements, or gucci enduro or ceramic bearings if you want lighter and slightly better.

Sorry, but Enduro bearings are not really on the same level

First website I looked at for 1468s says discontinued.. so like with auto parts, discontinued parts get superseded which could be a revision or swap out with what’s available.

There are other quality bearing suppliers and manufacturers, search based on the seal type that you feel you want to will meet you needs?

Where did you find that? My local DT dealer couldn’t find them in their catalogue either and told me they might be discontinued. But all these German webshops still have them in stock (though they also tell me they are not the Japanese ones)

amain and performance bike.. could be the us web shops though as there are a few that use the same shopping site with a different set of logos..

The two bearings I have in my hand say Japan 6902rs ijk (red side) n6902rs Japan IJK (black side)
They were individually bagged and I have no idea when DT sent these to me. Could be any time since 2006 to be fair.

TBF DT probably have a few sources for them but whereever they come from they’ll be made to DT’s specs.

So long as they’re official DT with the single red seal you should be good.

DT don’t sell the OEM 350 grade bearings seperately so as long as it’s a proper DT bearing and has the single red seal you’ll be getting 240 spec and the price will be around £11.

I haven’t heard of DT using a 1468, if you need to check your bearing spec DT now have a really good spare parts finder on thier website: https://www.dtswiss.com/en/support/product-support

BearBack
Member

amain and performance bike.. could be the us web shops though as there are a few that use the same shopping site with a different set of logos..

The two bearings I have in my hand say Japan 6902rs ijk (red side) n6902rs Japan IJK (black side)
They were individually bagged and I have no idea when DT sent these to me. Could be any time since 2006 to be fair.

Amain has bought out Performance, afaik, hence the same design 🙂
If you were to sell those two IJK bearings, please let me know

TBF DT probably have a few sources for them but whereever they come from they’ll be made to DT’s specs.

So long as they’re official DT with the single red seal you should be good.

DT don’t sell the OEM 350 grade bearings seperately so as long as it’s a proper DT bearing and has the single red seal you’ll be getting 240 spec and the price will be around £11.

I haven’t heard of DT using a 1468, if you need to check your bearing spec DT now have a really good spare parts finder on thier website: https://www.dtswiss.com/en/support/product-support

Thanks, Hatter! I got the 2336S part nr. exactly from that DT page (it’s supposed to be the part nr. for my 2015 model year M1700 wheelset with the chrome polished 350 hubs). And that’s what my local dealer has in stock too: no country text on the seals, but Taiwan on the packaging. Now, the OEM bearings I had in my wheels were also LU/LB, with red/black asymmetric seals, and they say TPI and Taiwan on the seals. So I really can’t see in what way the now available 2336S part nr. bearings would be an upgrade (they have the same seals, made both in Taiwan).

The consensus seems to be that the 240 bearings are (or at least, were) better than the 350 bearings, possibly because they were Japanese IJK bearings. And even though the 1468S part nr. is not strictly speaking for the 350 hubs, they are compatible (6902) and according to most stock photos and info out there, they should be the Japanese IJK. I’ve checked r2-bike.de, hibike.de, bike-components.de, and bike24.de. The first three have checked the actual bearing and told me they were Taiwanese (even though their webshop stock photos show the Japan/IJK). I just find this extremely confusing and frustrating

I find your dedication to getting the correct bearings quite fascinating.

LOL I was thinking the same!

I find your dedication to getting the correct bearings quite fascinating.

Clearly somebody with a lot of time on their hands 🤣

Very funny

Ordered the 1468S (IJK/Japan) bearings from Bike24, but just received the 2336S (most likely, these are the new “compatible” replacement part nr.) instead. There is no manufacturer on the seals (it just says 6902 and DT Swiss) and it says Taiwan on the bag.

Send them back

Nah, I need them and the IJK ones are not available anywhere else any longer. I hope these are at least as good as the factory bearings (which were Taiwanese too, made by TPI)

What is the purpose of finding these apparently quite Gucci bearings? Does it help to just know that your bearings are the best they can be? Or do you believe there’s some sort of performance benefit?

Genuine question BTW.

They are not “Gucci” by any means. They cost the same as the other ones (the Taiwanese) and used to be supplied as stock replacement bearings by DT Swiss. It’s just that they are marginally smoother and last longer. But it seems they have been discontinued (I guess DT Swiss has changed suppliers). When I started this thread, I had no idea about this and thought that both the Japanese and the Taiwanese versions were still readily available, and since the price is almost the same, I wanted to go for the Japanese ones. So, there’s your explanation 🙂