The cheap bearings last abot 6 weeks then disintegrated. The ball bearings just collapsed, leaving the inner race stuck on the axle and the outer race stuck in the bottom of the freehub. Spent more replacing them than I saved on the bearings ?

Which is generally a reasonably high rotational speed function where being packed full of grease would cause overheating and premature failure.

Trek have a contract with JNK which are shite in my opinion, the other supplier is enduro, the enduro and JNK bearings are similar in terms of quality, however the enduro bearings are factory pregreased 100%.

SKF etc are worth 5 times the cost of cheap Chinese bearings, (you can pay less), in the case of frame pivots do you really want to be potentially damaging the seat everytime you mess with them. For frame longevity I’d just use decent bearing

MAIN BODY- Qty 2 x 6903 Stainless Bearings - Main Body in all versions except SP24 SCS.- Qty 2 x 17287 Stainless Bearings - Main body, SP24 SCS Only.

Only problem is that the trek ex fuels run a custom bearing in the main pivot 6903 e type, extended inner race, only two companies manufacture them.

SKF were about 5x the cost of the cheap ones I bought. Would they last 5x as long…I’m not lashing out the cash to find out. After trying out the idea, I have found out I canget 3x the life from the cheapos by opening the seals & packing more grease in.

what are the serial numbers for the bearings? i just ordered some SKF bearings from ebay for my top fuel, price was a bit more but not alot in it

Packing suspension pivot bearings is a good idea i think – they move a fraction of a rotation their whole life, so the main thing you want the grease to do is keep the water out. The slight additional friction this grease causes is completely meaningless in a rear suspension system and pales into insignificance against shock bushing friction and shock stiction.

Bearingsonline

As far as deteriorating grease behind the shields is concerned,its a nicer thought knowing theres grease in there and not some void to hold water,dirt and rust.

Steve, as I understand it bearings are free, fitting isn’t. Personally, I’d rather look after my bike myself. I used ebay bearings in the hubs, they’ve lasted longer than the originals!

I’ve just put some (cheap) bearings in a hub. I used similar last time but they didn’t last that long so this time I filled them full of grease…. I have to say there was precious little grease in them as supplied.

The BIG problem with MTB bearings is that very often they start life with no grease at all!! Manufacturers should pack them but i imagine mtbs application is a rather different than the bearing manufacturer anticipated. As Kaesae has correctly said many times on this forum, the right grease makes a massive difference. I have had great results over the years simply by carefully removing bearing seals and applying fresh grease and turning the bearing round to work it in. I am also careful with washing. Some of the Rock n roll greases are v.good. I would not risk fitting cheap bearings. I believe bearing manufacturers just blow grease into the races with an air gun. On cheap bearings this will be done sparingly to save cash as grease is expensive. You get a lot of “duds” with hardly any or no grease…

Get bearings from an online bearing factor like akbearings, CAREFULLY prise the rubber seals out, get some more grease in there (both sides) and it should increase their lifespan.

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to get back to the original question, yes cheap bearings are a false economy. I bought a pack of 10 * 6001RS2 bearing off ebay for about £8, to use in my hope wheels. SKF bearings are £4 or £5 each.

So for everyone saying that you shouldn’t pregrease bearings 100%, why do enduro do it and have reasonably good results from doing it ❓

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That said I am very busy, good luck to everyone choosing bearings and servicing your rides, if anyone knows how much of a shitemare it is, I certainly do ?

It depends a lot on the fitting. If the bearing’s easy to knock in and out (like a front wheel bearing in most hubs) then cheap is fine. if it’s a hassle to do, then the extra labour is worth avoiding.

FREEHUB Microspline V2 Sept 21 Onwards- Qty 2 x 6803 Stainless Bearings - Freehub Body- Qty 1 x 17287 Chromium Bearing - Freehub Body(You have the flexibility to part order any of above if you do not need full kit)

Bushings are really the correct solution for the type of bearings in suspension systems for bicycles , it just takes rather more work to execute effectively than bunging in a very cheap roller bearing.

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Hahaha! I mentioned about 18 months ago that the maintenance time off sets any benefits from using cheapo bearings, I don’t have a problem with my frame bearings or hub/bb bearings, they last years.

If the above poster thought out of the box and into reality.. they would see that many mountain bikers could easily spray the hose against the shields when washing the bike down.So filled with grease is the way to go in non rotating pivot bearings in frames.

FREEHUB Shimano HG 11 Speed and Hope Alu- Qty 1 x 17287 Stainless Bearing - Freehub Body- Qty 1 x 17287 Chromium Bearing - Freehub Body

Cheap bearingsnear me

Anyone ever tried full ceramic pivot bearings? Be rather expensive, but they should basically last forever, just flush with water if they get full of crap!

BearingsDirect

Oh and don’t blindly follow the SKF path as in 20 years of testing high load/vibration applications we have found NSK to be superior as the cages are less prone to fracture.

6903, 6803, 17287 2RS Stainless - as above but race and balls are stainless for extra corrosion resistance if you ride in the rain alot

All that happens when you overpack a bearing is that the grease gets pushed out to the sides and the ball and race run in the grease that is needed, the stuff pushed out to the side then creates resistance and drag making it harder to move/rotate. The excess grease will also start to degrade. I work on equipment that runs 24/7/365 and we do not repack any bearing. Manufacturers pack a bearing to do a job.

Cheap bearingswholesale

FREEHUB Shimano HG 11 Speed and Hope Alu- Qty 1 x 17287 Stainless Bearing - Freehub Body- Qty 1 x 17287 Chromium Bearing - Freehub body

6903, 6803 LLU NTN Contact - as above but with contact LLU seals. Ideal if you want longevity, as helps keeps the moisture/dirt out for longer. Note, they don not roll as fast as non-contact LLB, but difference isn't very noticable.

The grease I used was the stuff we fill pivot bushings with on the loading shovel at the quarry. It’s good shizzle! – Total Multis Complex EP2 (UK) I use it in loose hub bearings too, and I seem to get very good life out of those. Time will tell! ?

I think Trek sell the complete rocker link with the bearings complete. This is because the bearings are allegedly impossible to change

Note, any image of a Hub displayed, is to give pictorial guidance of the product the bearing kit we supply will fit. We are not selling a Wheel Hub.

The ‘frame’ on my Trek Fuel EX8 (2009) has bean creaking; closer examination shows that at least two of the link bearings have seized (no…..I don’t pressure wash it!). Being a tightwad, is it false economy to buy cheap ebay bearings, accepting that they may need to be changed more regularly? Can they be any worse than those that Trek have fitted? I understand that Trek will replace free of charge, but only if fitted by a dealer?

Best course of action is simple, buy top end bearings SKF, INA/FAG,NSK what ever you can get at good prices and then every 12 to 18 months open up the seals and stuff them full of fresh grease, rotating the bearing to work it in.

Everything used to be bushings, but a worn bushing can trash a frame in a way bearings can’t. Used to get tonnes of stiction too.

Bearing Store near me

FREEHUB SRAM XX1/XD & Microspline V1 upto Sept 21- Qty 1 x 6803 Stainless Bearing - Freehub Body- Qty 1 x 17287 Chromium Bearing - Freehub Body

Leave the bike sitting about unused and you simply excellerate the internal rusting. This leads to it building up and seizing the bearings.

FREEHUB Microspline V2 Sept 21 Onwards- Qty 2 x 6803 Stainless Bearings - Freehub Body- Qty 1 x 17287 Chromium Bearing - Freehub body(You have the flexibility to part order  any of above if you do not need full kit)

Cheap bearingsonline

This product listing provides flexible product options. You can select standard chromium bearings, stainless option or upgrade to Enduro or NTN.  See Main description for more guidance on options. Note, 17287 unavailable size in NTN range. Note, this listing doesn't fit SS/Trials Hub.

Ball bearing

I recently serviced a Mondraker Summum sponsorship frame, it was running SKF bearings that were only 6 months old, the bearings were ruined due to the bike being used a lot and also being jet washed regularly.

FREEHUB SRAM XX1/XD & Microspline V1 upto Sept 21- Qty 1 x 6803 Stainless Bearing - Freehub Body- Qty 1 x 17287 Chromium Bearing - Freehub body

IndustrialBearingsnear me

6903, 6803, 17287 LLB Enduro - chromium bearings from cycle specific brand Enduro with LLB light contact seals (LLB similar to RS)

This product listing provides flexible product options. You can select standard chromium bearings, stainless option or upgrade to Enduro or NTN.  See Main description for more guidance on options. Note, 17287 unavailable size in NTN range.

On the other hand mountain bike use is either low speed full rotation or very limited rotation, neither will create heat from over packing. But it will help to stop the ingress of contaminates.

Would it be possible to run a bike without bearings? They do seem to be a major weak point, it might make more sense to look for an alternative solution. For example, the world spins rapidly on its axis, but to the best of my knowledge has no bearings fitted, whatever the technology in use there might transfer really well to bikes.

As has been said, mtb bearings suffer (relative) low rotation and work in very harsh (dirty and wet) conditions. Nearly all my bearings ultimately fail due to dirt and moisture ingress followed by rusting out and going lumpy and loose.A void filled with grease can’t be full of muddy water.

6903, 6803 LLB NTN Non-Contact - genuine precision Japanese bearings bought from the official UK distrbutor, with non-contact LLB seals. Ideal if you race or want the ultimate low resistance without spending a fortune on Ceramic Bearings

There are air bearings – typically used for incredibly high rotational speeds no grease.. the earth kind of spins on bigish air bearing.