The bearings fell out...

[Hydrode]

My specialized langster had recently had the bearing fallen out, I had the problem with my front wheel a while ago but just rode without bearings as it was fine, but now even my back wheel has had the bearings fall out, I did actually put white grease on the front wheel but it didn't really do much and then the bearings that I bought fell out too, so I just thought screw it...

I don't know why this was the case, I think it may be that friction caused the screw to loosen, I have seen that my backwheel has actually become loose for the bearing to fall out, but not sure why that's the case when I had it tight, could it dirt causing the screw to loosen? I don't really want to buy a whole set of bearing for my specialized langster (What size are they?) or even spend money on greasing the wheel when it will just fall out again.

I also don't want to spend money on bike parts when I should have bought a motorbike by now, I've found this bike to have just become a nightmare, the chain snapped the other day, bearing in the headset had gone (don't know what size they are), I don't get this bike, all the bearings from the whole thing just fall out, as well as me being a donut stupidly grease the seat post, this bike was lovely to ride at first but now it's a piece of trash, lot's of paint scratched off where the chain has snapped.

 

[Globalti]

TBH it doesn't sound as if you and cycling are made for each other. You haven't got a clue about maintenance or repairs, your mindset is completely non-mechanical and dismissive and you expect an assembly of delicate mechanical bits to maintain itself without attention or adjustment.

I suggest you give the poor bike to somebody who will cherish it and buy a motorbike then take it for its services where a so-called professional will do the simple stuff like change the oil, filter and brake pads. Then when it wears out, buy a new one.

 

[Levo-Lon]

As above..

and a motorbike will kill you with your attitude towards maintenance..seriously use a car or bus..

 

[Globalti]

No, up to now nobody has built a car with self-inflating tyres or self-filling washer reservoir. Bus or train best, I think.

 

[steve50]

My specialized langster had recently had the bearing fallen out, I had the problem with my front wheel a while ago but just rode without bearings as it was fine, but now even my back wheel has had the bearings fall out, I did actually put white grease on the front wheel but it didn't really do much and then the bearings that I bought fell out too, so I just thought screw it...

With that type of attitude you are not going to keep a decent bike on the road, you quite obviously neglected to maintain the bike and then you are surprised when it starts to fall to bits..................................I'm in agreement with the above comments.

 

[Mile195]

I can appreciate how frustrating it is when things seem to just keep going wrong. However it's true that your problems are down to lack of maintainence. A bike is a machine and like any machine it needs to be maintained properly to keep working.
Chains need to be replaced as they stretch, and if bearings are wearing and falling apart then dust seals may be letting in grit and probably need changing, although I expect the races have had it too now.
As an owner of two motorbikes I'll tell you now that maintenence and parts are MUCH more expensive than a pushbike. My last back tyre alone cost me £180 fitted. 4 litres of (decent) oil is £35. Chain and sprocket was £210.
By all means get a motorbike, but think carefully before you jack in cycling completely. If you can't afford to have your cycle maintained by someone else get a beginners cycle maintenance book and teach yourself. I do all my own work but it's all self taught and stuff I've picked up since I was in my teens. Anyone can do the same.
Plus you can apply some of the fundamentals to motorcycle maintenence. Motorcycle mechanics charge at least £60 per hour labour, rising to £100 an hour for franchise dealers. The more you can (properly) do yourself the better. But do it properly. Get it wrong on a push bike and it's annoying. Try running your motorbike with no wheel bearings and it'll kill you.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

TBH it doesn't sound as if you and cycling are made for each other. You haven't got a clue about maintenance or repairs, your mindset is completely non-mechanical and dismissive and you expect an assembly of delicate mechanical bits to maintain itself without attention or adjustment.

I suggest you give the poor bike to somebody who will cherish it and buy a motorbike then take it for its services where a so-called professional will do the simple stuff like change the oil, filter and brake pads. Then when it wears out, buy a new one.

I so wish I could have said this to a few customers in my day. I can't count how many times I've had to deal with things like this. I've once had a customer accuse me of rusting his headset bearing to seizure (in just one day that I had the bike) and then tell me that it is unreasonable that he should wait a few days for the proprietary part to arrive from the agents because ball bearings can be purchased anywhere.
I've had cases where something breaks from abuse and the blame has to fall on the fact that the bike was in for a "service" just a month ago. My wife has a friend who's car is like the OP's bike. The sump just falls off, the brake discs just eat themselves up, the paint scratches just from driving around and the gear lever just came right out by itself.
Further, these people have loads of time on their hands and will spend hours on social media dissing the bike shop. These individuals should be born with warning labels on their foreheads so that we can avoid them or refer their custom to our enemies.

 

[Globalti]

Anybody who has read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance will recognise the OP; there are people who have no interest at all in the beauty of machinery or the fact that an engineer invested hours of their life in creating it, balancing the cost of manufacture with weight and efficiency while striving to keep it durable and cheap. These people have minds that are firmly closed to the idea of maintaining anything themselves and expect a specialist to wave a magic wand and rectify neglect and abuse. The best vehicle for them is a modern motor car, which only requires somebody to change the oil and filters once a year.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I don't understand this at all. Bearings don't fall out. They may sieze. They may become grindy. They may be too tight. They may be too loose. But they don't "fall out", unless you have gone to the trouble of removing various lock nuts, QRs etc.

Or are there some modern Houdini-branded bearings that are outside my experience that can "fall out".

And what's wrong with greasing seatposts? It's not stupid. It's standard practice (for me at least).

Some of the posts above suggest that some kind of mechanical sympathy is required for riding a bike. I disagree - just a bit of moderate care and cleaning is all that's required. I suspect your bike may be haunted by a poltergeist if it is spontaneously disassembling.

 

[gavintc]

My specialized langster had recently had the bearing fallen out, I had the problem with my front wheel a while ago but just rode without bearings as it was fine, but now even my back wheel has had the bearings fall out, I did actually put white grease on the front wheel but it didn't really do much and then the bearings that I bought fell out too, so I just thought screw it...

I don't know why this was the case, I think it may be that friction caused the screw to loosen, I have seen that my backwheel has actually become loose for the bearing to fall out, but not sure why that's the case when I had it tight, could it dirt causing the screw to loosen? I don't really want to buy a whole set of bearing for my specialized langster (What size are they?) or even spend money on greasing the wheel when it will just fall out again.

I also don't want to spend money on bike parts when I should have bought a motorbike by now, I've found this bike to have just become a nightmare, the chain snapped the other day, bearing in the headset had gone (don't know what size they are), I don't get this bike, all the bearings from the whole thing just fall out, as well as me being a donut stupidly grease the seat post, this bike was lovely to ride at first but now it's a piece of trash, lot's of paint scratched off where the chain has snapped.

This must be a wind up. I just can't believe that someone be this mechanically un-sympathetic.

 

[guitarpete247]

I, too, have never heard of bearings falling out let alone running a wheel with no bearings in. Does he mean a q/R skewer?

Here if OP is still following.
If you ride without these it is dangerous. I know Langster won't have been sold with q/r but i bwas bought 2nd hand.

 

[Hydrode]

Well I've said I've already tried putting new bearings in and greasing them, but they just fell out again, I make sure the wheel was tightened but again it just fell out, I have bought 3 sets of bearings trying to get this thing farking sorted but it just farks up again, I even put in bearings from the other bike and the same thing happened again, even though they did fit.

 

[Profpointy]

Well I've said I've already tried putting new bearings in and greasing them, but they just fell out again, I make sure the wheel was tightened but again it just fell out, I have bought 3 sets of bearings trying to get this thing farking sorted but it just farks up again, I even put in bearings from the other bike and the same thing happened again, even though they did fit.

what exactly do you mean by "bearings fell out" - can you explain it in a bit more detail as I suspect you or us have got the wrong end of the stick somehow

 

[steve50]

Well I've said I've already tried putting new bearings in and greasing them, but they just fell out again, I make sure the wheel was tightened but again it just fell out, I have bought 3 sets of bearings trying to get this thing farking sorted but it just farks up again, I even put in bearings from the other bike and the same thing happened again, even though they did fit.

Well you are obviously doing something wrong, perhaps watching some tutorials might give you more insight into the workings of a bicycle.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=replacing+bicycle+bearings

 

[Ajax Bay]

Please, do tell us about

the other bike

The bearings can't have fallen out without the OP disassembling the hub (3 times?) so there must be some mechanical capability there - OP's had the bike 2 years.

I recommend you take said wheel (track hubs?) to your lbs and ask their advice - think they'll be able to see what the problem is and, if you need bearings and grease, sell them to you.

NB Last @Hydrode thread was "how do I go faster on a 'single speed' bike". He didn't really get an answer (which is higher cadence or higher ratio gear).