Posiible faulty rear wheel bearing seal

paulbnix

I have a Boardman Comp road bike - about 12 months old now.
About 2 months ago the back wheel started to make some clicking / clunking noises. I removed the axel to find the normal cone and ball system and the ball bearings on the casette side were rusty as the grease was contaminated with water. I replaced the balls, cleaned and regreased and all seemed to be ok.
This weekend a similar noise started again. I stripped out the back axel to find that the grease on the cassette side was again contaminated with water but the ball bearings were actually ok.
So having regreased and refitted I wonder why this is happening.

Is the seal likely to have failed? Can you get new ones? It appears to be attached to the cone.
Is the problem caused by me using a hose (not a jet wash) to wash off the chain before relubing?

The wheels are Mavic CXP22 rims with Formula hobs.

ed_j

http://shop.ceramicspeed.com/category/5 ... balls.aspx

Just kidding... Or am I?

thistle_

You can get new rubber seals for Shimano hubs (well, my LBS can) so they might be out there. My hubs don't have a rubber seal on the drive side though.

Cup and cone bearings do require regular maintenance. 2 months of riding in the wet doesn't sound too unreasonable especially if the bearings/grease was still OK ish.

paulbnix

Ed J wrote:

http://shop.ceramicspeed.com/category/55-ceramicspeed-balls.aspx

Just kidding... Or am I?

I'd have to put a suitable sticker on the bike to advertise the quality of my balls

ed_j

Balls of Ceramic... 8)

No, not quite the same ring to it as steel.