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Yellow Saddle
Guru
- Location
- Loch side.
Good, because a vice will just squash and marr the ends.
A needlenose pliers inserted into the end and a very firm grip and yank. Your grip has to be firm because if the pliers slip, you have a scratch.
Alternatively, tap them out from the inside with a long pin punch. Pin punches are sometimes too fat in the handle section to allow a nice angle for purchase. I used a piece of 6mm carbon steel rod (piano wire) ground to a perfect perpendicular edge on the one end. I drifted hose caps out with such a slim punch and a small hammer.
Tap tap pop.
When you say a needle nose pliers, do you mean by clamping it round the outside behind the ridge of the caps? Inside the hub there is nothing for a punch to press against, its a smooth tube. I did read that there is a plastic sleeve inside which can be moved for this purpose but I dont yet want to bash out the bearings.
Yellow Saddle
Guru
- Location
- Loch side.
No, you stick the pliers axially inside the cap and grip on the material of the cap, a single layer thick. Black bit only. Don't grip anything over the circumference of the cap. I hope that makes sense.
As for the punch, there is usually some ridge to use. From the photo I see black and silver. There's a border and where there's a border there's hope.
Just one more q, would a blind bearing puller work to remove these? Thinking of something like this. I imagine changing out bearings on my other bikes will also be easier from what I have seen from videos of these tools being used.
Yellow Saddle
Guru
- Location
- Loch side.
Yes, a took like that would work but don't bother. We had two or three sets of those in our workshop and none of the experienced techies ever bother. Your best/fastest tool is a simple pin punch - 5mm or 6mm.
Once the axle is out, place the wheel on your lap with the one side bearing facing the floor. Place your pin punch inside, resting against the bottom bearing's inner race. Tap once. Move 180 degrees opposite, tap again (with a small - 150g ball peen hammer). Repeat with other angles and drift the bearing out. Never hit too hard or the bearing will be locked in place and the cavity notched once it is forced out.
Flip the wheel and do the other bearing. All in all, 30 seconds flat for both sides.
That tool is extremely cumbersome and usually the smallest adapter is broken within three bearings if the handler doesn't have skills. They don't sell replacements. The tool requires one person to hold the workpiece and another to operate. A punch is a one-man job.
There are a few situations where that tool is useful but that's usually on full suspension bikes with blind recesses. Even then, a bit of putty squeezed into the hole and eventually punched in with the pin punch will pop the bearing out.
