Wobbly front wheel, whats wrong ?

Neal_

CubeCrazy wrote:

I didnt know you had to pack them yourself with grease

You don't have to but as most cartridge bearings only come with a small amount of grease in them it's a good idea to pop the seals off and fill them fully before fitting, use a sharp pick or pointy knife on the outer edge rather than the inner edge of the seal and be careful not to damage it.

The Beginner wrote:

Lots of anecdotal evidence online that the Superstar wheels have cheap/rubbish bearings, no-one as far as I'm aware has ever 'proven' this.

All cartridge bearings need replacing eventually without maintenance but the original ones in my Switch Evo hubs only lasted 6 months before they became rough and the front developed some play, it’ll be interesting to see how well the EZO bearings last with equally nonexistent maintenance. Great wheels though and I really don’t see it being an issue that the bearings don’t last forever as they’re fairly cheap and very easy to replace.

pilch

Neal_ wrote:

The Beginner wrote:

Lots of anecdotal evidence online that the Superstar wheels have cheap/rubbish bearings, no-one as far as I'm aware has ever 'proven' this.

All cartridge bearings need replacing eventually without maintenance but the original ones in my Switch Evo hubs only lasted 6 months before they became rough and the front developed some play, it’ll be interesting to see how well the EZO bearings last with equally nonexistent maintenance. Great wheels though and I really don’t see it being an issue that the bearings don’t last forever as they’re fairly cheap and very easy to replace.

Never had particularly long life out of SS wheel set bearings, when they go I put SKF in and they are noticeably longer lasting, as above no big deal, great wheels at a great price...

Anonymous

OK well bearings are ordered so one last question remains, because I can't get the buggers out and if I keep trying I am going to need a new hub at this rate because I have scratched these end cups as it is and no matter how much I press down on the axel I cant even get 1mm for the thinnest flat head screwdriver to get any purchase.

So before I break it and risk more scratches and damage and the fact that I may have to do this a lot more in the future, i've decided to invest in a 24mm blind bearing puller, any suggestions on where to get these cheap or is it back to evilbay ?

The Rookie

No cups, and if the bearings aren't out I doubt you'll have damaged the hub, Not familair with these hubs, but mine you remove the axle and THEN the bearings?

mrmonkfinger

TBH you might just have received a dodgy bearing in the front hub. See what customer service say.

Do you jetwash the bike to clean it?

OK I best get educated on bearings and the like.

search ebay for 'katec' I understand is a knowledgable supplier, a pair of bearings won't set you back much, especially if you can change them yourself (a front hub is usually easy).

Anonymous

Well I use like a garden hose on the kitchen tap but yeah I do kinda blast it with that, it needs it when its ditched.

Bearings and bearing puller purchased this morning online, £50+ I wish I didnt have to spend though hope a fresh set of bearings sorts it

nicklouse

topics merged. read the service info porvided earlier.

bearing puller not need and not useable.

Anonymous

Well done on the merging, didnt know you could do that

Superstars recommend that I use one, I tried without but I am having no luck.

"Tor remove the bearings clamp the hub in a soft jaw vice and push the centre spacer to one side to get a drift on the inside of the bearing.
Better still use a 24mm blind bearing puller. They are exactly the same as any other sealed cartridge bearing front hub in design and maintinence.

Regards, Neil - Superstars Components"

I remember now having to use a bearing puller on me R1 wheel although I did manage without on an Exup once, am hopin it does the job.

leaflite

Just hope that that is the problem. Are you sure that the expanding steerer thing is not broken-is it pulling the assembly together as you tighten? If you hold the headtube in one hand and the stem in the other, can you feel any play?

Anonymous

Hey lea.

Me too mate, am 95% sure headset is all fine, I have done all the checks and cant feel any play in the forks or headset at all.

With the bike upside down if you spin the front wheel it makes a deep groaning noise, it has to be bearings it cant be anything else.

I should have new ones turning up tomorrow and a blind bearing puller so hopefully wont take me long to change them over and i'll report back if that was the case, fingers crossed

nicklouse

CubeCrazy wrote:

With the bike upside down if you spin the front wheel it makes a deep groaning noise,

ah new info that was missing. does it make this noise with the wheel flipped or the brake caliper removed?

Anonymous

Bike upside down, spin wheel n groaning, brake disc was removed as I was trying to get the bearings out but caliper remained on bike.

I had a friend come and look at it, at first he said its not bearing and he couldnt feel any play but he said when you move the wheel the movement is magnified as you have more leverage when using the wheel to move it and he also rotated the bearings and despite them feeling smooth when he spun them one made a diff sound to the other one.

Theres nothing else hub/wheel wise that it could be, if bearings dont fix it i'll take a drive to Superstars and see what they say but am hoping thats all it is.

I've pulled forks this way and that way and no movement from what I can tell/feel in any direction.

Anonymous

Hey guys

Just wanted to update this post in the hope that it may help anyone else in the future.

Today I received my FAG bearings and blind bearing puller.

Having never undertaken this job before and with no instructions I found it was all was kinda self exploratory anyway.

Bearings came out relatively easy, and while taking these out I put the new bearings in the freezer.

The old bearings looked well dirty and even had surface rust on, at this stage I still wasn't sure what the problem was.

Total clean of all parts, grease the axle slightly and reassemble.

I would have preferred a bearing press in an ideal world but I made do wih using a 24mm socket on top of the outer race of the bearing case to drive the new bearings home carefully.

Bish bash bosh all back together, put the wheel on the bike .. and ...

No play whatsoever

So it was bearings after all, I have just taken bike for a mile ride and the front wheel is a little reluctant to spin freely, with a good push I get maybe 4 turns, disc could be bindling slightly too, so am hoping after a few miles it all just eases in nicely.

The bearings in it lasted me approx 300 miles and 3 months of use and they looked shot, the stamp on them looks like NBK, so I will be avoiding these bearings in the future like the plague, I bet they cost about 50p nice one Superstars....

Anyway a few pics from today, hopefully thats problem solved, looking forward to getting a 20 miler under me belt and checking it then

Thanks to everyone for their help and support, very much appreciated, cheers guys :oops:

Neal_

Glad you got it sorted, the bearings will spin easier after a few rides. I had pretty much the same experience and solution with mine and they're going we'll on the new bearings, Superstar do a new hub model with SKF bearings but I'd still take the the Switch hubs knowing the bearings won't be the best and save myself the cash although I know it's not just the bearings that are better in the new hubs.