Mislabelled bearings?

One of my wheel bearings needed replacing, so I read off the code on the side – 61903 – ordered some replacements and was surprised to find that the axle didn’t fit. Turns out the existing bearings have an i/d of 18mm where as the new ones are 17mm. Google suggests that 61903 should be 17mm and that 30x18x7 is 18307.

Did Fulcrum just get a mislabelled batch or am I missing something?

Probably a cost saving measure by using the same seals, had similar on a DTSwiss hub, 16100 bearings with 6001 markings, and also on no-name square taper BBs marked as 6002, but with a large ID.

I’ve just had some 61803 SRS delivered which were actually 61803 LLB when I took them out of the box.

Were these bearings from Fulcrum Racing Sport DB CX wheels? If so, I’ve just wasted some time & money trying to fit some 61903 bearings & having got the calipers out have just ordered some MR18307s.

Not very impressed with the longevity of the bearings in these wheels. Not sure if it’s the hub design or the bearings were made of cheese, but for a CX wheel they’ve not lasted 6mths – of intermittent weekend riding – without dying on me.

Sadly, Fulcrum are utter d*cks when it comes to bearings. It is labeled up as a 61903 but they are indeed something else, and yes they are terrible in terms of longevity too.

We try and talk folk into a better quality wheelset with sensible spokes and bearings where budget and desire to change allows.

Fulcrum use bespoke sized bearings for some applications.
I’ve got a set of red metal 3s or something and you can’t get the freehub bearings except from Fulcrum because they are a proprietary size.

Shimano BB’s are another one, the bearings are narrower than the seals suggest, because they’re actually angular contact bearings not radial.

It’s actually a better design, it just makes replacement a PITA unless you just buy a new BB.

The angular contact Shimano BB ones are easy if you remember “Never black out” so you just put the black seal so it doesn’t show.
I’m not sure who is responsible for the seal identification problem but it does happen quite a lot sadly. Always best to measure and go off the sizes especially where frame kits are concerned.

The angular contact Shimano BB ones are easy if you remember “Never black out” so you just put the black seal so it doesn’t show.

Assumes you can find a bearing that fits.

But when XTR BB’s are <£20 it’s not worth the hassle.

https://www.endurobearings.com/support/bearing-finder/%5B/url%5D

Were these bearings from Fulcrum Racing Sport DB CX wheels?

Yes they were. As yes, the bearings lasted a pitifully short time.

Holy thread resurrection, Batman!

Just had this exact problem. I’ll just go down the parallels I had:

1. Set of Fulcrum Racing DB5 wheels, new in April on a Ridley X-Trail
2. Front bearings seized solid after just 5 months use in virtually dry conditions, < 800 miles
3. Read the bearing ID from the seal, popped down to my local supplier and acquired the “correct” bearing
4. Fitted, went to insert axle. <insert curse words>
5. Found this thread after coming to pretty much this conclusion

So I would agree that they are mislabelling bearings and the bearings are made from an amalgam of cheese and window putty.

*sighs deeply and makes a call to get the correct bearings*

This sounds really annoying. The local bike shop talked me out of buying fulcrums and refuse to supply them. They suggested hope / Mavic / Hunt instead.

This sounds really annoying. The local bike shop talked me out of buying fulcrums and refuse to supply them. They suggested hope / Mavic / Hunt instead.

Yeah, wouldn’t be top of my list for aftermarket wheels, although they’re good enough for OEM and certainly seem well built enough. I just don’t know why they compromise them by putting the cheapest, crappest bearings in that they can find. Well, ok…I do know. Cost :-/

Building a new set of wheels for this bike is on the list, so I might just bump it up a bit.

There’s a reason companies use fulcrum wheels as OEM. It’s because they are cheap. This is reflected in the bearings especially & the freehubs. At least if you can get some decent bearings in it’ll be 100% better than it is now

There’s a reason companies use fulcrum wheels as OEM. It’s because they are cheap. This is reflected in the bearings especially & the freehubs. At least if you can get some decent bearings in it’ll be 100% better than it is now

Indeed. The rant was more about the inconvenience – I suspect I’ll have to press in the old ones as I’ll need the bike next week. Hopefully, the replacements will arrive tomorrow AM with the post so I don’t have to do this.

I’ll build a set of lighter, carbon-rimmed wheels for this later this year and will probably retire the Fulcrums at that point, or keep ’em for rough, winter use where I can abuse them into the ground 🙂