bicyclist
Guest
I didn't recall anyone reporting bad rear wheel bearings, so I did a search of the forum which turned up only Karl's front bearing failure.
While putting a new tire on the rear wheel the other day, I checked the bearings and found them starting to fail. They were notchy feeling. The bike has just over 27K miles, so I was a bit surprised. I don't have bearing tools and it takes about a week to get parts on the net, so I bent over and took the wheel to the dealer. The parts are rather expensive, $94 for two bearings, a dust seal and an o-ring. The dealer initially quoted an hour for labor. It takes about 10 minutes, 15 if you're slow. When I pointed that out, he said they'd only charge for the time it takes. I wound up paying for a half hour. Lesson learned, I'll be acquiring tools and finding a local bearing house for the parts.
The front tire doesn't need to be replaced. Nonetheless, I pulled the wheel and checked the bearings. They're OK.
If you don't do your own tire work and check the bearings yourself, be sure that they are checked whenever the wheels are off. Simply doing a wiggle test with the wheels on the bike isn't good enough. By the time there's any movement, the bearings are dangerous.
While putting a new tire on the rear wheel the other day, I checked the bearings and found them starting to fail. They were notchy feeling. The bike has just over 27K miles, so I was a bit surprised. I don't have bearing tools and it takes about a week to get parts on the net, so I bent over and took the wheel to the dealer. The parts are rather expensive, $94 for two bearings, a dust seal and an o-ring. The dealer initially quoted an hour for labor. It takes about 10 minutes, 15 if you're slow. When I pointed that out, he said they'd only charge for the time it takes. I wound up paying for a half hour. Lesson learned, I'll be acquiring tools and finding a local bearing house for the parts.
The front tire doesn't need to be replaced. Nonetheless, I pulled the wheel and checked the bearings. They're OK.
If you don't do your own tire work and check the bearings yourself, be sure that they are checked whenever the wheels are off. Simply doing a wiggle test with the wheels on the bike isn't good enough. By the time there's any movement, the bearings are dangerous.
