Inpd

Fortunately, I was working on my cheap backup bike. A Target Schwinn road bike.

I removed the cones and rings and half the ball bearing were missing so bought some more of the right size and packed them with lots of grease. But when reseating the rings I must have over tightened something as I seemed to have bent rings where the bearings sit (not the cones). Now I'm having a tough time getting them out. I think I unbent them enough (with a pliers) but when I put it all back together the thing just seizes up.

Should I just scrap the wheel?

Can you by the rings some place online? Its just a cheap Swift Arriv 700cc front wheel so I'm not sure if parts are even available?

Andrew R Stewart 

What are these 'rings" that you speak of? Do you mean the dust caps or the retainers that hold the balls in place? Or do you mean the cups that usually are press fitted into the hub shell? Are you sure you didn't install more balls then were correct? Andy.

Rowan

You did get the preload on the bearings right, then tightened up the overlock nuts against the cone nuts using two wrenches?

It sounds to me as though you failed to do this, and a cone has tightened along the thread on the axle, causing way excessive preload on the bearings, which causes the wheel to seize.

If that's the case, you're lucky that you didn't break the races on the hub itself. That also would explain why the dust cap rings which I think you are talking about may well be mangled now.

Homebrew01

And/or, you are using bearing retainers and put 1 or both in backwards ?

KLiNCK

Some photos would help...

AnkleWork

That's it. You win!

Inpd

Picture 2 shows the "race" I'm referring to its the silver object.

Picture 1 shows what's happened to the race, you can see its been dented.

I'm assuming a few things:

a) The race is not supposed to move when the wheel turns. Its supposed to be stationary.
b) The ball bearings are supposed to turn freely in the race (they do not, the are jammed due to the race being damaged.

Can I buy new races somewhere?



Thanks.

tanguy frame

your bike shop will have replacement races...

Bill Kapaun

That's a retainer.
You don't need it.
Just use grease to hold the balls in place.
12 balls is probably too two 2 many.

The race is the part of the hub that the balls ride in/on.

catgita

That is not a race, it is a dust cover. If you put it in like that, yes it will bind and destroy the dust cover.

I do think you have way too many balls in there, because the actual bearing cup (in the hub), and the cone (screwed on the axle) would be much smaller. First leave the dust cover off. Put a sticky layer of grease around the inside of the cup. Put the axle thru the hub to keep balls from falling thru. Drop in the bearings and poke them into the grease with your finger. You have enough balls when they form a nice even string all the way around with a gap of about 1 ball diameter.

The dust cover press fits into the hub last, or just before screwing in the nuts if they are larger than the ID.

Turtle Speed

What catgita said is correct - that's the dust cover for the Quandro hubs that Target Schwinns use, not an actual bearing race.

Target Schwinn front wheels need 10 x 3/16" ball bearings between the hub and the bearing cone. Back wheels need 9 x 1/4" ball bearings. Don't try to use a different number or different size!

cny-bikeman

1. Don't buy "some more" of the right size bearings. Replace all.
2. If you use a bearing retainer (no good reason to do so in a hub) one needs to place them in so that the bearings contact both the cup and the cone. One can easily test that by placing the cage on each separately before reassembly, but the continuous ring of metal should always be toward the cone.
3. It is critical to inspect the surfaces of the cups and cones for damage, especially in a case where bearings are missing or have disintegrated. New bearings will not help much if the surfaces on which they run are pitted or uneven.
4. When using loose balls there should be a small amount of space left.
5. You should be able to push out the dent in the dust cap with a flat punch or similar.

Follow catga's procedure (plus 3. above) and you should be OK.

Inpd

Hi Guys

Thanks for your help. I know you are all experts but I don't think it's a dust cover.

The silver object in the second picture is the one in my hand.

If I didn't put it in as recommended all the balls would fall out.

This is a simple hub and going out to in the assembly is

Lock nut - retainer/race - bearings - cone screws - hubs

The bearings sit in the hub and the cone screws go through the retainer/race.

cny-bikeman

The object in your hand in which the bearings are sitting is a dust cap - period. The proper assembly starting from the inside (which, being the order of assembly is the logical way to list it) is cup (race)/balls/dust cap/cone/lock washer/lock nut. The number of bearings is determined by what fits in the cup, NOT in the dust cap. You could leave the dust cap off and the bearing would be fully functional, as it is the cone that holds the balls in place against the cup - the cone is only a protection against the elements. Again, follow catgita's instructions. You can place the cone onto the balls and rotate to make sure everything is smooth before reassembly, and the dust cap is best put on before assembly so that you can gently tap it in (use soft-faced hammer, block of wood, etc.).

Homebrew01

The "race" or "cup" is the fixed part of the hub shell the bearings roll along. The "cone" is the adjustable part that screws onto the axle, that the bearing also roll along. The bearings are between the "race" and "cone". The race & the cone are high strength steel, with smooth surfaces for the bearings to roll along.

The dust cover is just as it's described, to keep dust & dirt away from the bearings.

Here's more info.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/cone-adjustment.html

Here's a cone, with a dust cover attached to it. The curved, highly polished area of the cone keeps the bearings in place. And getting the cone adjustment "just right" allows them to run smoothly for thousands of miles.

cny-bikeman

Note that homebrew's diagram is of an axle set that has the dust cover attached to the cone, whereas yours appears to be pressed into the hub.

Inpd

Okay. Thanks for the lesson. Before I have another go at it. Can you confirm that the ball bearings should sit in the dust cover and freely rotate in them? That is I can place a single ball bearing in there and it should easily roll all the way around?

Homebrew01

NO !

The bearings should never be in contact with the dust cover.

Put a nice amount of grease in the empty hub. Place the bearings into the grease, leaving a gap where 1 more bearing could fit.

cny-bikeman

NO - the ball bearings NEVER contact the dust cover when the bearing is properly assembled, so what the balls do in it is irrelevant. The only way the dust cover would interfere would be if it had a very serious inward dent in it. Again, once you have inspected the cups and cones for damage: Put in grease, insert 10 3/16" balls, tap in dust cap (or put the dust cap on before inserting bearings). Repeat on other side, then assemble axle and cones to hub shell. Follow Sheldon's instructions for adjustment. One more thing - make sure the hub tunnel (between the two cups) and the axle are both clean so that you don't carry contamination through when you insert the axle.

Homebrew01

Skip to the 9 minute mark. This does not have pressed in dust caps that you have. These are attached to the cones.



This one does have your type of press in dust caps. Leaving the dust caps in place removes the risk of damage to them, but makes the races a bit more awkward to clean. Since yours are out, you should be able to gently tap them back in before reassembly. Don't tap them in too far. Generally they will be flush with the hub shell as seen here.

Inpd

Many many thanks.

The guys from Target completely incorrectly installed everything. God knows how the wheel was turning and my adjustment screwed up the careful balance.

I reassembled the hub as recommend without the dust caps and it spins beautifully. But the dust caps are gone (bent too much to sit flush as shown in the nice video). Can you buy any dust cap to replace these?

Velocivixen

Dust caps are just that. To keep dirt from collecting in there. It's alright if they're not perfect looking and, as a technicality, are not necessary for the function of your wheel.

Homebrew01

If the dust caps will stay in place, then go ahead and use them even if bent a bit, as long as they don't interfere with the bearings. Replacements might be hard to find. Maybe you could replace the cones with cones that have attached dust caps, if they fit your axle and hub.

Try reusing the originals.

DannoXYZ 

Use pliers to slightly bend outwards the outer edge of those dust-caps. Then they should fit tight enough to stay on the hub.

Rowan

I am sorry everyone, but I cannot decipher any explanation in all this as to why the dust covers became so deformed that they are useless and need to be thrown away. I also did not get a clear answer from the OP on my question about whether the lock nuts were properly tightened against the cones.

I also cannot help but think the thing that everyone has decided is a dust cover is in fact the inner race that has now been detached from the hub.

How am I able to come up with all this conjecture? Because I have personal experience way back in my very early days of bicycle touring (and mechanics) of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with a broken inner race on a hub caused by my failure to do up the lock nut properly.

In the end, I think the OP is way in over his head and needs to take the hub to an LBS to sort out.