Bearings driving me mad

[Cubist]

I've been volunteered to service an oldish bike. It's an 8 speed Ridgeback hardtail with v brakes. All went well until I tried to service the front hub. One side had had what looked like water ingress so both races were cleaned out and the bearings degreased and put back in in a nice bed of new grease. The race inside the hub is a bit rusty, but I cleaned it as well as I could. The cone on that side needed a bit of a clean up but not too bad now. If it was mine I'd replace the hub. I reasoned that I'd be able to get it back together as well as it would be. A new hub would be uneconomical IMO.

So, when I did put it back together I was able to set the preload on the cones, tighten the locknut and checked for play. A bit gritty, but span well enough. A soon as I put it on the bike it showed enough bearing play to give a sideways movement of about 5 mm at the rim. Back out and all reset again, same thing. No play on being tightened back up, span well enough on the axles alone, but as soon as I put it in the fork it's slack again.

I then checked and discover that it only did this at certain points in its travel. For half the rotation it's spot on, then for the other half about 3-5mm play.

Stripped it again and checked that the axle itself isn't bent. It's straight. Took all the bearings out, regreased, reset and put it all back together again. Same problem.

Anybody out there tell me what's wrong? I have a feeling the inner race may be stretched or out of shape. Can this be fixed without a new hub?

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

Not meant to be stating the obvious but does it have the right number of bearings and are they all the same size? Also an outside chance is the distance between lock nuts 100mm?

 

[Cubist]

Good question. There were 11 each side, and I mixed them all up in the degreaser bath. I didn't check sizing, but none seemed bigger than the others. Off to measure the distance between locknuts now.

 

[sidevalve]

Change the bearings anyway. They're cheap enough and any wear on them will be hard to measure.

 

[Manonabike]

Good question. There were 11 each side, and I mixed them all up in the degreaser bath. I didn't check sizing, but none seemed bigger than the others. Off to measure the distance between locknuts now.

I tend not to mix them as the wear on each side is different. Having said that, I don't think that is the source of your problem.

Are the cones / racers pitted at all..... I have heard that is one reason for lock nuts to come loose.

 

[Recycler]

I hate to say it but you may have to accept that the bearing is shot. I went through a similar process sometime ago. In the end a new hub sorted it out.

 

[guitarpete247]

+1 on new hub.

If there is any pitting on the cups it's shot. Cones can be replaced but not cups. I always replace bearings as they're so cheap.

 

[fuji-stu]

New bearings and cones wouldn't cost too much

 

[Cubist]

The cup on one side is knackered, so I've put it back together as close as I can get it and will tell him it needs a new hub. He can choose then.

 

[actonblue]

A new hub it is then or by the time you cost in the rebuild a new wheel.

 

[rusty bearing]

You can get the same thing if the axle is at all bent. Tight in one spot and slack in another.

 

[simon.r]

If there is any pitting on the cups it's shot.

I'm not sure about that. I've not long ago serviced a BSO and the cups on the front hub were fairly well pitted, but with a generous dollop of fresh grease the hub was serviceable. I'm not saying it was perfect, but there was no play at the rim and given the bike's intended use (infrequent sunny Sunday short rides) it'll do the job.

I've never done this, but I've read that it's sometimes possible to get an extra ball bearing in each side of the hub - may be worth a try?

Realistically you're probably looking at a new wheel rather than just a new hub? If your 'customer' is anything like the friends I service bikes for he'll probably baulk at the cost - try and persuade him that it's worth spending £30 ish on a new wheel for a decent bike (Ridgebacks tend to be OK IME) rather than binning it and spending £99 on a new full suspension BSO

 

[Cubist]

I handed the bike back with the caveat that the front hub is far from perfect. The owner was so enamoured with the fact that all the gears and brakes work that he cheerfully paid up the cost of the parts plus a drink. I reckon I saved him about 50 quid over a shop service and refit anyway.