Just wonderin’ like

My full-suss is presently stripped down as its hardtail season. So while its sat there looking forlorn I was thinking of having it powder coated before rebuilding it for’t spring. There are the usual couple of scrapes.

And seeing as new bearings aren’t that expensive, replace those at the same time. So who’s done this themselves? Is it a big job? Do you need special tools? Or will a selection of hammers do?

Its an expensive frame if owt goes wrong. And I have the mechanical aptitude of an arthritic yet determined baboon. Worth doing? Your experiences please

Depends on the frame. Some are a ball ache, others a piece of pish.

its a pita on my kona, well the main pivot bearings anyway the ones in the rocker plates were easy
admittedly using the hammer and socket technique rather than any specific tools

I did it a couple of times on my Kona Kikapu, its not that hard, you just need to be a bit cunning with some large sockets, large washers and threaded stud (skewers are handy too) I certainly wouldn’t reccomend the big hammer approach. I think it took a couple of hours to do.

Andy

my nomad was a PITA and you need special tools and you cant buy the bearings from your local bearing supplier.

You can easily make presses (for in and out) from sockets, washers and bolts (or threaded rods; but the potential for damaging the frame is high – like if you press a bearing in on an angle.

What frame are you thinking of doing?

Its an Intense 5.5. So a fairly simple frame design. Everything is pretty accessible

I’m thinking, given my track record, I may hand it over to a man who knows what he’s doing

get them out is generally easy if the inner races don’t come out by themselves.

Pressign them back in without exactly the right sized drifts and stuff is a nightmare of bolt, nut and socket set bodgery.

5.5s are a PITA. I know.
Getting it done properly will be money well spent.

Big hammer, big screwdriver, a vice and a socket set – pretty easy just take your time and don’t use the hammer to put new ones in.

I think you can buy some fancy bearing removal tools to make it easier.

backhander – On that note I think I’ll defer to your experience. Get them removed by someone with the right tools/experience, get the frame powder coated, then return it to said man with the right tools/experience for some new bearings

Cheers all

Is it a good idea to leave the old bearings in when the bike is at the coaters or is it better to mask off the holes?

Won’t that raise issues with the steel and alloys expanding at different rates when heated? I suspect leaving them in could end in tears

Didnt think of that. Probably best to do it in two sittings anyway.

One out and one it rather than get a fresh frame and doing it all in one go.

Can you tell that’s what I’m thinking about too?

We havn’t had a inspire me with colour thread in a while either.

It’s easy enough to get them out. It’s putting the bleeding things back in flush that destroyed me.

If you are paying for this job to be done can you do the nuts and bolts bit yourself then take the varios bits and pile of bearings to some one with a press

Or is it an all or nothing thing. They do everyting including supplying the bearings?