daveizdum

I'm waiting for the arrival of a BD bike for my girl friend. I heard someone mention that a new BD bike needs to have its bearings greased during assembly. I'm assuming he meant the headset bearings. It would be unpleasant if the BB, hub, or pedal bearings needed work.

I've used the search feature and found nothing in the forums about BD bikes needing bearing grease. The only reason I ask is that greasing a headset is trivial but opening a hub or BB to check for grease isn't my idea of a fun way to teach my girlfriend about assembling her new bike.

I'm confident that I can build a bike from scratch (with the exception of wheel building). But if I can avoid messing with bearings, I will.

Anyone have experience with the bearings from BD or an otherwise "dealer ready" bike from a box?

Bianchigirll 

I bought two bikes (don't tell Bianchi USA) last summer from BD. while I adjusted the hubs I did not grease them, I did dab a bit of grease in the HS though.

rogerstg

Mine have had plenty of grease where needed on the 4 I've bought from BD

njkayaker

Pedals, BB, etc, have grease put into them at the point where these parts are manufactured. (This might not be true for every part.)

Do LBS put bearings (and grease) into hubs for bicycles they put together?

cny-bikeman

The hubs are the same no matter whose bike they are on or who sold it, and BD would not have assembled the BB or H/S either as far as I know. If it's a Shimano or other name brand it will have the same amount/type of grease in it no matter where you purchase it.

The far more likely possibility is that the hub bearings will be adjusted too tight. They should have a small amount of play when off the bike and rock fairly smoothly back and forth when mounted with no play. I think Hillrider has posted in several threads how you can check for proper "preload" when adjusting the hub - I just do it from experience. Given that you will need to readjust after the hub is broken in a bit anyway the most important thing is that they are not way too tight.

daveizdum

Bianchigirll and rogerstg, thanks for the info about your experience with BD. Very helpful.

njkayaker, you asked a good question. I too would like to know what changes, if any, to the bearings/grease the LBS makes before sale.

cny-bikeman, this is great advice. I love that the artistic side of bike maintenance can help me avoid doing a scientific hub autopsy.

reptilezs

here is a quick run down of what we do at my shop. i would add a few more steps depending on the bike but it is pretty comprehensive. grease seat binder bolt, grease post, grease stem bolts and preload bolt, grease pedal threads, true wheels, check tension, adjust the hubs, adjust brakes, seat derailleur housing caps, adj derailleurs, adj headset

wmodavis

My humble guidlines: (what I usually do - but in the end what you do is up to you)
1. If there is metal on metal motion it needs to be lubricated.
2. If you want to know if it 'needs' lubrication you can a) ask for someone's opinion, or b) check for yourself and really know.
3. The harder it is to check (BB, Hubs etc) the less likely it will ever be checked until it's too late for PM so you may have to take the more expensive replacement approach.
4. If it is a transient, low potential loss situation maybe option a) above is OK. If the GF may become my wife and I want to impress her that I really care, am meticulous and detailed on important matters I might pick option b).
5. If I care about my expensive bike then I want to KNOW if its lubricated or not.
6. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well.
7. If you want something done right or in a specific way then I do it myself.


Though this linked article doesn't directly address bicycle issues there is an immense amount of valuable information that can help work through issues we face daily such as the one you posed. See here.

daveizdum

Thanks. I've augmented my tuning checklist.

davidad

Check the wheel bearings for proper adjustment. Often they will be tight when there should be a little play in quick release hubs until the QR is closed.

reptilezs

also dont forget to check crank torque/proper install

fietsbob

the way you lower your manufacturing costs is to stretch the tub of grease over as many units of production as you can..

so the math is simple stretch the grease use lightly per unit.

You are doing the prep work that the bike shops employees would have to do..

Lawrence08648

I would grease the bearings using synthetic grease, and check the # of bearings. I find many bikes, too many, are missing bearings. And as a previous poster posted, after greasing the bearings you'll have to adjust the bearing tightness which is a good thing as most bearings are not adjusted at the right tension and are too tight. If too loose, there is play there and that is easily identified, but too tight is not as easily identified unless the wheel is removed and the axle is turned with your fingers but you still can't tell if there is sufficient grease.

DieselDan

Depends on the bike too. My BD source Motobecane Messenger has cartridge bearings in the heasdset and a cartridge bottom bracket.

daveizdum

I did assembly of my girlfriend's bike last night (Motobecane Cafe Latte). It went smoothly for the most part. If you've been reading the suggestions and advice in this thread and you're planning on buying from BD, here are some notable things from my person assembly experience. Please bear in mind when reading these comments that I tend to be overly scrutinizing and demanding.

- The hubs were too tight. The rear hub was so tight the axel could barely be hand rotated.

- All bearings had enough grease. (The BB was sealed, so that was one less thing to check.)

- Almost none of the screws and bolts that were pre-installed had grease on them. One of the crank bolts was so tight I haven't been able to remove it (may visit the LBS after all ).

- When I first unboxed it, the frame didn't look nearly as bright and beautiful as the website photo. I soon realized that most of the frame was coated in a thin dusty film that was nearly invisible due to the white-colored frame. The coating was easily wiped away with dry rags.

- The front derailleur wasn't anywhere close to proper adjustment. I've heard people say their BD bikes are ready to ride with a little derailleur tuning. This one needed major adjustments.

- The rims have sort of an aero style, but the tubes had standard length valves, making inflation a bit annoying.

- Two metal prongs on the pedals had to be hammered slightly before the pedals could fit on the bike without scraping the crank arms.

- Assembling a bike while teaching someone else to assemble a bike is much harder than assembling a bike alone. She did have fun though.




If you're interested here was the assembly checklist that I put together. Thanks to all who responded to this thread. Your comments helped me improve the list.

PHASE 1: CLEANING, CHECKING, & ADJUSTING

O Clean dust/grease. Remove stickers.

O Make sure nuts/bolts/screws are properly tightened and greased.

O Check cranks.

O Check chain for dirt and lube.

O Check dropout and derailleur alignment.

O Adjust/grease hubs.


PHASE 2: INSTALLATION

O Install wheel. Grease threads and quick release. Check wheels for tension/true.

O Grease headset. Install stem. Grease stem bolts and preload bolt.

O Install bars.

O Set up brakes. Oil cables.

O Install saddle. Grease seat binder bolt. Grease post.

O Install pedals. Grease pedal threads.

O Inflate tires.

O Set up derailleurs (check derailleur housing caps).

O Install reflectors, water bottle cages, lights, etc.


PHASE 3: FINE TUNING

O Gears/shifters.

O Brakes.

O Saddle.

O Stem. (The Cafe Latte has an adjustable stem.)

rogerstg

Nice list. You might want to check the wheels for true and check/adjust the spoke tension

daveizdum

Already on the list, but thanks.

Mondoman

And that brings up the whole issue of whether or not to oil the cables...

daveizdum

Oops, didn't realize I was poking the bee hive. I don't have an opinion. The bike maintenance videos I learned from suggested it. Let the crossfire begin!

Lawrence08648

I agree 100% whole heartedly with WMODavis

JiveTurkey

While the bearings in the bottom bracket are sealed and therefore adequately greased, the threads of the bottom bracket "cups" are likely not. I learned this the hard way when I went to replace the bottom bracket over a year after I bought a BD bike. The threads were bone dry. I couldn't break it loose; finally I took it to the LBS and the mechanic had to stick a 3-foot pipe on the end of the wrench and whack it with a hammer to loosen it.