An easy way to tell if your bearings are worn out.

On Feb 20, 12:25*pm, "Leo Lichtman"
wrote:
"datakoll" wrote: *(clip) find a water pipe or tape cardboard tubes, paper

towels, saran wrap, together for a stethoscope (clip)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
One of the most (and least expensive) tools I own is a stethoscope. *The
mechnic's kind, with a long slender metal probe--not the doctor's kind. *It
will help you hunt down clicks, squeaks, rattles and other troubling sounds
on all sorts of machines, not only bicycles. *Unfortunately, I have not
found a way of using it while riding :-)

Leo, down at the music store there's an inexpensive guitar pickup once
called a Buffalo Nickel. Ask the music man if it plugs into a portable
recorder with monitor earplugs attached.
My work sounds like a old Sears steel cement mixer with steel drive
gears filled with 2B, water and no sand (fines) when tight!

datakoll aka gene daniels wrote:
On Feb 20, 3:04 pm, BicycleTutor wrote:
Thanks Jobst,

I really appreciate your honest and critical assessments. At some
point I will be re-touching many of the tutorials using advice like
yours as a guide. Before Sheldon passed on, he was critiquing each of
the tutorials very bluntly and thoroughly, and I miss having that
level of expert input... yours is greatly appreciated!

Alex

looking over hub posts we find the question, "what do I do with the
bearings" asked frequently. Used bearings are elliptical,
unadjustable.
Questioner will go on into a serious hand wringing episode over the
expense of new bearings and will again ask, after screaming at him
that used bearings are no good, if he can use the old bearings, that
are what? unadjustable.
Several posters will then scream at the questioner: "DO NOT MIX
BEARING BATCHES" and off course that goes in one ear and out ? with
foresight to carefully segregate bearings on say a used and clean bed
sheet before one (one hahahah) rolls under the dishwasher.
Questioner will then rerun asking "the bearings all look the same, can
I use used bearings that all...
Some questioners will ask: I CAN'T AFFORD $4 FOR NEW BEARINGS. THE OLD
BEARINGS ARE CRACKED, ARE THE OLD BEARINGS OK...?"

A TUTORIAL SHOULD COVER THIS GROUND following those used bearings.

Do not used bearings work as sling shot ammunition?

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
The weather is here, wish you were beautiful

Aside from all the noise over worn bearings, let's be clear about
this. The only types of wear that affect a bicycle ball bearing is
rust and spalling.

Rust in a wet ball bearing being ridden will dry out and leave fine
rust that causes intermittent and random sharp cracking sounds. Such
bearings can be cleaned by wiping traces of rust from the races and
balls with a clean cloth before re-installing and oiling them. They
will work fine.

Bearings that have rusted at rest from water are another matter
because that causes eroded rust grooves at the edge of the wet
meniscus. The balls and probably their races are shot if this
condition developed over a few days.

The most common failing is spalling, in which the highly polished
surface of bearing balls and even races, flake off much like a pot
hole in a repaved street in which the top layer of pavement cracked
and got displaced from its place. These need replacement.

Other than that, bearing balls do not become oval or change their size
significantly without spalling. Therefor all the advice about oval
balls and undersized balls is imaginary. If you were to watch the
rotation of bearing balls in use, you would see that they spin about
an ever changing axis, causing uniform color and roundness. They do
not rotate about a fixed axis as the ovality folks visualize.

Jobst Brandt

Aside from all the noise over worn bearings, let's be clear about
this. The only types of wear that affect bicycle ball bearings are
rust and spalling.

Riding ball bearings when wet will dry them out and leave fine rust
that causes intermittent and random sharp cracking sounds. Such
bearings can be cleaned by wiping fine rust from the races and balls
with a clean cloth before re-installing and oiling them. They will
work fine.

Bearings that have rusted at rest from water are another matter
because that causes eroded rust grooves at the edge of the wet
meniscus. The balls and probably their races are shot if this
condition developed over a few days.

The most common failing is spalling, in which the highly polished
surface of bearing balls and even races, flake off much like a pot
hole in a repaved street in which the top layer of pavement cracked
and got displaced. These are also shot.

Other than that, bearing balls do not become oval or change their size
significantly without spalling. Therefore, all the advice about oval
balls and undersized balls is imaginary. If you were to watch bearing
balls in use, you would see that they spin about an ever changing
axis, causing uniform color and roundness. They do not rotate about a
fixed axis as the ovality folks seem to visualize.

Jobst Brandt

wrote:
Aside from all the noise over worn bearings, let's be clear about
this. The only types of wear that affect a bicycle ball bearing is
rust and spalling.

Rust in a wet ball bearing being ridden will dry out and leave fine
rust that causes intermittent and random sharp cracking sounds. Such
bearings can be cleaned by wiping traces of rust from the races and
balls with a clean cloth before re-installing and oiling them. They
will work fine.

not if they're stainless, and the high end bike bearings like dura-ace,
phil wood, etc. usually are.



Bearings that have rusted at rest from water are another matter
because that causes eroded rust grooves at the edge of the wet
meniscus. The balls and probably their races are shot if this
condition developed over a few days.

see above. stainless bearings are used for a reason.



The most common failing is spalling, in which the highly polished
surface of bearing balls and even races, flake off much like a pot
hole in a repaved street in which the top layer of pavement cracked
and got displaced from its place. These need replacement.


the races, notably the cones, usually deteriorate faster than the
bearing balls. pointless replacing one without the other.


Other than that, bearing balls do not become oval or change their size
significantly without spalling. Therefor all the advice about oval
balls and undersized balls is imaginary. If you were to watch the
rotation of bearing balls in use, you would see that they spin about
an ever changing axis, causing uniform color and roundness. They do
not rotate about a fixed axis as the ovality folks visualize.

this is true for as long as they are properly lubricated and correctly
adjusted. over-tightening and lack of lubrication can change that.

On Feb 22, 12:03*am, wrote:
Aside from all the noise over worn bearings, let's be clear about
this. *The only types of wear that affect bicycle ball bearings are
rust and spalling. *

Riding ball bearings when wet will dry them out and leave fine rust
that causes intermittent and random sharp cracking sounds. *Such
bearings can be cleaned by wiping fine rust from the races and balls
with a clean cloth before re-installing and oiling them. *They will
work fine.

Bearings that have rusted at rest from water are another matter
because that causes eroded rust grooves at the edge of the wet
meniscus. *The balls and probably their races are shot if this
condition developed over a few days.

The most common failing is spalling, in which the highly polished
surface of bearing balls and even races, flake off much like a pot
hole in a repaved street in which the top layer of pavement cracked
and got displaced. *These are also shot.

Other than that, bearing balls do not become oval or change their size
significantly without spalling. *Therefore, all the advice about oval
balls and undersized balls is imaginary. *If you were to watch bearing
balls in use, you would see that they spin about an ever changing
axis, causing uniform color and roundness. *They do not rotate about a
fixed axis as the ovality folks seem to visualize.

Jobst Brandt

chickens don't lay eggs unless you feed them therefore chickens don't
lay eggs.