I've used a Powertap 2.4SL wheel for the past 2 seasons, and now find the bearings a bit rough.

Have any of you successfully replaced the bearings either at home or at your shop, or do I have to ship the entire wheel back to Saris? This would be a bit of a pain in the *** as I do not live in the US.

If so, what bearings did you find and eventually use, and please share your tips on how you did this without damaging the internal power-measuring electronics.

Thanks in advance!

Yeah, I've done it myself, it's easy. Forgotten which bearings they are though, 6001? 6002? Not sure off the top of my head.
You just need a long piece of metal (such as a punch) put it in one side, push the magnet support tube to the side slightly and then tap the bearing out from the inside. Same applies to the other side, but it's much easier without the magnet tube and first bearing!

To get them back in, tap/drift one side in, then put the magnet tube back in, drift the otherside in. Put the axle etc back in and hey-presto!

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http://twitter.com/mattyclinton
http://mattyclinton.blogspot.com

Trek Speed Concept 9.8 (Di2), Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL4 (Di2), Trek Superfly Elite, Trek Marlin SS, Giant TCR Ominum Fixed, Sabbath September

Master ti, it's easy to change the bearings in a PT hub, same as any other hub in fact.
I've done more than a dozen here in the workshop and never had a problem.
I've got the bearing codes written down in my data book in the workshop and can get them tommorrow if you want?
I can run you through the method as well if you need it?
Don't believe all that crap that Saris spout about it being so easy to damage them, it just takes a bit of care and the right method and it's easy enough.
Cheers, Rob.

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Guildford/Woking is the home of F1.
We make loads of other stuff here too.

4 pcs 6901 is what you need.

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That's right, I said it!

Thanks for your quick and excellent advice!

You guys are great!

Cheers!

Hi again.

Well, I've dismantled the Powertap hub this weekend, and now have the four bearings exposed. They seem to be very tightly seated, as several gentle blows with a nutdriver and hammer have not resulted in any hint of any of the bearings moving. My only other experience with sealed bearings in hubs were with an older Zipp front hub, and these popped out with a single gentle hammer blow to the nutdriver.

Any suggestions / hints on how to get these bearings out? More powerful blows with the hammer? Heating the hub and freehub body with a blowdryer?

Thanks again! I'd appreciate hearing about how you got your bearings out!

Master-ti, the secret to getting them moving is to put your wheel on a solid surface, ie.... on a solid workbench or a decent sized block of wood so the bearing will take all the force of the blow.
A solid punch or drift, ie..not something with a plastic handle, you want all of the force to be transfered to the bearing (I use a length of Aluminium bar about 10mm section) or a peice of brass or bronze.
A decent hammer or mallet, and give it a bloody good clout........
I wouldn't put any heat on it though, unless I got really desperate as you've got a load of stuff that could be effected in the hub.
They are quite sturdy though, so don't be afraid to really give them a whack to get them moving.
I would tap them from side to side so they come out straightish though.

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Guildford/Woking is the home of F1.
We make loads of other stuff here too.

Timely question--I actually just took my bike in for a rebuild and the shop said "oh yeah, we went ahead and replaced the bearings in your rear hub." All fine and good but when I got the bike back the hub was no longer reading. Do I need to re-program the codes after replacing the bearings--or does this sound like a more serious issue?

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Speedvagen Road
Speedvagen SS Cross
Cyfac Nerv DS
Ira Ryan XCR DI2
Parlee TT
Moots Mooto X 29er
Richard Sachs Cyclocross?

Thrillo, I can tell you what you have wrong with your PT!
When the monkey re-assembled it, he put the spacer tube in the wrong way round!
The tube has a magnet taped to it, and it has to be replaced with the magnet at the drive side.
It seems illogical to put the tube this way round as all the electronics are on the NDS But, the DS is where it should be.
Be careful though, as if you take it back, they will probably hammer out the bearings and replace tham again after they turn the tube around.........
That will f**k the bearings.

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Guildford/Woking is the home of F1.
We make loads of other stuff here too.

Thanks for the tip. I'll see if that works. Otherwise I have to send it back for a rebuild and Saris said it would cost $300. I hope you're right.

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Speedvagen Road
Speedvagen SS Cross
Cyfac Nerv DS
Ira Ryan XCR DI2
Parlee TT
Moots Mooto X 29er
Richard Sachs Cyclocross?

Not that i can be much help on here as its all been explained already but if my shop is in south london and if anyone has a powertap bearing issue etc by all means drop it in and we can sort it for you as we employe a mechanic and not a hairy monkey, always willing to help a weenie.

Legs 11--you were exactly right. I took it back to the shop. They were very good about fixing their mistake. They worked with Saris and figured out they had, indeed, reassembled it backwards. I havent tested it yet--so hopefully it works. If it does not, i think the shop is going to take responsibility for getting it rebuilt.

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Speedvagen Road
Speedvagen SS Cross
Cyfac Nerv DS
Ira Ryan XCR DI2
Parlee TT
Moots Mooto X 29er
Richard Sachs Cyclocross?

It's just a case of removing the bearings, turning the tube around and re-building it with two new bearings.....

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Guildford/Woking is the home of F1.
We make loads of other stuff here too.

I've changed bearings in a lot of wheels before, but I can't seem to figure out how to get these bearings out. I hesitate to try to much in fear of damaging anything, so I will appreciate any guidelines.

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Canyon Ultimate CF SLX