Camber Comp wobbly rear suspension

tomstickland
tomstickland Posts: 402
edited April 2012 in MTB workshop & tech
This is a 6 month old Specialized Camber Comp.

A few weeks ago I noticed that the rear wheel was wobbly - the bearing had gone. The rear suspension was also clicking and wobbling, with around +/-1mm of play on the main link that sits under the saddle.

See the red link in the image on this page: http://www.specialized.com/ca/en/bc/SBC ... e=Mountain

Being short of time then I took it to my local bike shop who investigated. They replaced the suspension bearings. That improved things somewhat but I was still concerned with the amount of rear wheel wobble.

I got another shop to replace the wheel bearings (being lazy and short of time at the moment). That improved things a bit more.

I'm still not happy with the amount of play though. The link under the saddle still gives around +/-0.5mm of play. I need to see a new bike to compare it with.

Someone told me that the bearing shafts can also wear out. Is it worth me taking it all apart to investigate?

Does anyone have an experience of the amount of play that a new Camber has in it?

Comments

  • panzer8
    panzer8 Posts: 36
    Contact Specialized directly, a fellow customer at my lbs had his Pitch frame replaced as it was built misaligned slightly causing premature and uneven bearing wear.
  • baznav73
    baznav73 Posts: 111
    the frame shouldn't have any free play at all but depends how hard your wobbling it is it just flex in the system your picking up.
  • tomstickland
    tomstickland Posts: 402
    depends how hard you're wobbling it is it just flex in the system you're picking up.

    That's the question I'm trying to answer. I'll take a look at a new one for comparison.
    If that is a lot different then I'll talk to Specialized and explain the problem.
  • baznav73
    baznav73 Posts: 111
    The diference between flex and play, flex will have no decernable end point whereas play has noticable pionts at which it stops and if you do it quick will feel like its knocking.
    on sus pivots you should be able to pick up play easily by holding the point with one hand and moving the rear end with the other, if it's not easy to notice i don't think you have anything to worry about.
  • tomstickland
    tomstickland Posts: 402
    I've had a look at a few other Camber's now when out and about.
    Conclusion is that it's the knackered rear wheel bearings and the "flex" in the suspension is normal.
  • bennett_346
    bennett_346 Posts: 5,029
    you can always take the rear wheel out and rock the linkages by the chainstay to find out. either way ime this is a pretty flexy bike, i could flex it by hand a few mm easily. if it was acual play in the suspension it would knock
  • tomstickland
    tomstickland Posts: 402
    I have found out - It's the wheel bearings.
  • bennett_346
    bennett_346 Posts: 5,029
    good stuff
  • tomstickland
    tomstickland Posts: 402
    I fitted new wheel bearings on Saturday. Good as new now.
  • jkg
    jkg Posts: 2
    I have the same problem, can you tell me what size bearings to buy?
  • bennett_346
    bennett_346 Posts: 5,029
    jkg wrote:
    I have the same problem, can you tell me what size bearings to buy?
    They're all listed in the frame manual which you should of got.
  • tomstickland
    tomstickland Posts: 402
    CD-ROM manual contained no info at all. I took the old ones out. Can't remember the sizes off the top of my head and I've got about 6 bearing sizes in the garage so it's unlikely that I'll be able to work it out from the spares.

    Does anyone know what the Hi-Lo hub is? Is it a DT Swiss hub?

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