Reynolds Assault 2018 bearing upgrade

[Cubist]

I own a set of Reynolds Assault wheels from 2018. I am not impressed with the bearing quality of the rear wheel. Also the freehub body bearings are already feeling rough after a hub warranty replacement and wheel rebuild. I did around 8k after the service.
They offer a lifetime warranty and they did give me a new freehub body and full rear wheel rebuild after I had sideways play in the rear wheel.

Unfortunately all the rear wheel bearings are really rough.

How many km’s you guys think rear wheel bearings and rear wheel freehub should last?

The bearings are called 6902-2rs Revo Cream. The freehub bearings I am not sure.

Could it be that when I put in some decent quality bearings my wheel will be much smoother?

Any recommendations?

[alcatraz]

Light/non contact seals spin fast initially but after 50-200km they are gritty again.

So the solution for care free bearings is to take the hit with full contact seals. That way (assuming there is no excessive misalignment = premature wear) you'll have a long life out of them. They spin very smooth after wearing in a bit, and they stay that way for a longer time.

So many people have tried to save watts with bearings and they all return to high precision steel bearings sooner or later, some after wasting tons of time and money. NTN and SKF have high precision. Try NTN and if you can't find them SKF will not disappoint.

Watch out for fakes. Usually anything below 2-3usd is probably a fake. Could be a good fake but a fake nontheless. You really want good seals and high precision to get that longevity and smooth action. Hambini was able to tell real from fake by using a box cutter and trying to scratch the bearing outer race. A real bearing is hardened to a point so it doesn't scratch easily.

Don't touch the seals. A seal that has been lifted will not perform as good again and the bearing life was probably just cut down to a fraction of what it was. Just lift seals to get some emergency life out of a bad bearing (lets say you're touring or have an event coming up) so it lasts until you can do a bearing swap.

Bearing life depends on the quality and design of bearing and hub. Some hubs with small bearings can not compete in lifespan. They are for lighter riders and/or smoother roads and more frequent service intervals. 6902 bearings in the hub shell (not freehub) are considered as durable. 6802 are not.

[pdlpsher1]

+1 on what Alcatraz said. Another factor that comes into play with regards to bearing life is the manufacturing toleraces on the hub shell. Sealed bearings are pressed into the hub shell via an interferance fit. That means the hub shell opening is slightly smaller than the outside diameter of the bearing. If the hub opening is slightly too small the sealed bearing race will be squeezed in, and that will destroy even the best bearings in a few hundred miles. When properly manufactured the pressed-in sealed bearing design is very robust and reliable. But it takes ultra-high precision to get it just right. The manufacturing difficulty/challenge is the reason why Shimano and Campagnolo don't use sealed bearings on most of their hubs/wheels. They use cup/cone design which doesn't require ultra-high precision manufacturing. The slight manufacturing inperfection can be easily adjusted out on the cup/cone bearing design.

Here's a good video that explains what happens when a badly manufactured hub can cause prematuer bearing wear. I'm not saying that's what's happening with your wheels. But if your bearings don't last at least 5,000 miles then the problem may not be the bearings but rather the hubs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpfD28tQ_sA&t=302s

[Cubist]

Thank you for the input. Since the bearings in the hub shell and freehub are already rough I am not impressed with the Reynolds build quality..
Will try and replace all with NTN LLB bearings..

Changing the bearings on the hub shell seems pretty straightforward. Changing the bearings in the freehub seems more difficult. Would be nice to be able to change them myself.

You guys think it is better to let the LBS do it or is it a task easy doing at home?

[pdlpsher1]

Changing bearings in a freehub is pretty easy when you have the right tools. I do them myself. I purchased a bearing puller set like this one. This tool is also perfect for pulling bearings out of the hubshell. https://www.amazon.com/BELEY-Bearing-Pu ... 16&sr=8-48

I have various wheelsets, some have cup/cone bearings along with sealed bearings in the freehub, and some have 100% sealed bearings. For some strange reason the freehub bearings are the ones to get cruchy first. I have two sets of Campy Boras wheels, and they are supposedly very high quality. The cup/cone bearings in the Boras are silky smooth and never go rough despite a ton of miles. But the sealed bearings in the freehub do get crunchy after about 10,000 miles. I use NTN LLBs exlusively on all sealed bearings.

After you have pressed in the bearings into the hubshell check the bearing smoothness. If they are smooth then the hubshell machining is probably OK. If they are crunchy even with new bearings then the issue might be the same as the Fulcrums in the linked video. When you order the bearings just order some extras and expect to replace them over time. I would order two sets of freehub bearings for every set of hubshell bearings. You do need a quality bearing press set if you don't have it already. I bought a set from Wheel Manufacturing.

[JoO]

If new bearings are not smooth when pressed in, would a bearing with C3 or C5 clearance be able to mitigate the issue?

[pdlpsher1]

Good question. Perhaps a question for Hambini. My intuition says "no"..

Sent from my KFMAWI using Tapatalk

[Cubist]

Just ordered from Hambini:
- NTN 9200 LLB for front wheel
- NTN 9202 LLB for back wheel

He made me scared enough of the fakes to buy somewhat overpriced from him

Ordered Enduro SMR15267LLB for the freehub since there don’t seem to be industry bearings available for that size..

Now search for the right bearing press...don’t want to spend to much money. Anybody made their own?

[Cubist]

‘
An increase in bearing clearance is associated with an increased ability to accept axial load at the cost of reduced radial capability. In most bicycle applications a CN clearance bearing will be sufficient, the exception to this is in some wheel hubs which have small bearings – in this case C3 may be more appropriate.’

From Hambini site about the C3 subject. Might be something in it..

[alcatraz]

Go to the hardware store and get a ~300mm threaded rod. 8-10mm thick should be good. Get some washers in plenty of different sizes and some nuts to go on the rod.

There's your press. You can use it for most bearings.

If you don't have the bearing specific press mount you can keep the old removed bearings and use them. It's bad practice to press on the inner race. To press the outer race it requires very exact dimension washers/press tools, OR you can use the old bearing inbetween. It's not perfect but it's something. Just make sure that the washer behind that old bearing is larger than the outer race. Then as you press you do it very gently and make sure the new and old bearings remain stacked. This is easier said than done.

[Cubist]

Thank you I am going to try and do that.

[alcatraz]

Even a 12mm rod should be fine. Only front wheel hubs sometimes have smaller inner diameter bearings.

Another trick to installing and removing sealed bearings is a hairdryer. Heat up the hub before installing/removing. It makes it easier.

Also some loctite 641 is sometimes useful. Might be good to get this in advance. If a bearing requires very little force to remove/install, then use loctite 641 to try and get a better fit. It's a retaining compound that fills up small gaps.

[Ypuh]

Tagging along in this topic as replacing wheel bearings is my next step in becoming the ultimate home mechanic (is there already a TV show for this, or just cooking/dating/singing and Lego so far?).

What would be the best/cheapest non-DIY way for a bearing remover. Possibly one that can be used for both BB30 as well as wheel hubs? I like the puller design more than the ones where you need to hammer something. @pdlpsher1 already posted something, but unsure how that one works?

[Cubist]

Good I still have loctite 641 from installing the bottom bracket so that’s nice. I went and bought this:

Unfortunately there were no washers available in the appropriate size. They are smaller and bigger unfortunately.

Hopefully I can make it work to press the bearings.. maybe with the old ones.

First have to figure out how to get them out without damaging my hubs..

[pdlpsher1]

First have to figure out how to get them out without damaging my hubs..

Most hubs have an aluminum spacer placed in between the two bearings. This prevents you from using a hammer bearing puller. So you have to move the spacer aside to give some room to use a punch to punch out the first bearing. Gently tap the inner race and rotate the direction like what you do to tighten automotive wheel lug nuts. Once the first bearing is out the spacer can come out. Then you use the hammer bearing puller to take out the second bearing on the other side. The same procedure applies to the freehub. If the freehub doesn't have the spacer then proceed to use the hammer puller on the first bearing. While the outermost bearing can be punched out with a punch, the innermost bearing in a freehub must be pulled using the hammer puller. There's no other way to remove it. Some freehubs have a dust shield covering the outermost bearing. You will need a spanner wrench to remove the dust shield. Once you invest in the tools the payback will happen quickly since you're not paying a shop to do the work. Good luck. If in doubt post some pics of your bearings and someone here can help you.