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Workshop: Servicing your bearings

If the cages get replaced the wrong way around, the balls won’t spin.

  • Servicing Your Bearings
  • A grease gun is the cleanest and most efficient way of applying grease to a bearing.
  • Lint free rag, scalpel, grease (with gun), cone spanners, degreaser (with straw nozzle).
  • Slide the tip of the blade between the outer steel case of the bearing and the outer edge of the black (sometimes orange) seal.
  • Use a can of spray degreaser with a fine straw applicator.
  • Use a lint-free rag to dry the bearing – you don’t want to fill the bearing up with rag fluff.
  • Which brand of grease you go for is less important than how much you use.
  • When you’re happy that the cartridge bearing is full of fresh, clean grease, you can refit the seal.
  • Threadless headsets with loose caged balls can be lifted out with a scalpel.
  • Be very careful to avoid popping the individual ball bearing out of the cage.
  • Wipe the bearing seats out. They’ll almost certainly need a dousing with degreaser.
  • Here are two cages of loose balls taken from two different threadless headsets.
  • Ensure the cage is sitting on a bed of grease.
  • If the cages get replaced the wrong way around, the balls won’t spin.
  • Be careful not to disturb or dislodge any of the bearings, which should remain in their seats.
  • Use a scalpel to remove the loose balls from each side of the hub.
  • Add a spray of degreaser to the balls and rub over with a rag.
  • Clear out the hub’s bearing seat with some degreaser and a cotton bud.
  • Leave the bearing adjusted so that it turns smoothly with no catching.
  • Pop loose ball bearings straight into a pot, or you’ll lose them

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If the cages get replaced the wrong way around, the balls won’t spin.

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