Changing Novatec D772SB bearings

staffo wrote:

Anyone have any experience changing these without resorting to an expensive bearing press?

I have extracted the existing bearings without any problems and was hoping to use a DIY bearing press made from 10mm threaded rod, nuts, washers, a spacer bar and a 6902 open bore adapter.

It worked fine fitting the non-drive side bearing however fitting the drive side isn't as easy. The problem I have is pressing the bearing in and aligning the axle sleeve with the inner race of each bearing at the same time. Does anyone have any tips as to how I do this without splashing out?

I replaced the bearings on my Novatec 482SB hubs about 3 years ago. My step by step process is outlined near the end of this thread. I am assuming that the 772SB construction is similar to the 482SB so apologies if that assumption is wrong

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Like you I was reluctant to shell out big money for the professional press rig which I was only likely to use once at the most. To replace the new bearings I used a combination of socket set heads and eventually an old spark plug spanner for the drive side bearing as none of the socket heads was deep enough to allow use over the axle protruding through the drive side bearing.

As you can see from my experiences I tried to fit the DS bearing first but struggled to get it lined up correctly because of the awkward location within the hub ratchet. I then inserted the axle through the DS bearing (noting that it was out if true) and slid the NDS bearing on to the axle and tapped it home with a suitable socket head/mallet. On the 482SB, the NDS bearing is thinner and much easier to line up with the axle in position. Tapping the NDS bearing home effectively corrected the alignment of the DS bearing and I was able to bed it in with the spark plug spanner as driving force.

The DS bearing is thicker and heavier than the NDS and needed quite a bit of persuasion. As you can see from my description my first attempt at assembly failed because the DS bearing was not fully seated.

Hope this helps