gearbasher

I was repacking the bearings on a Campy 10s Record OS hub and the bearings were not shiney after I cleaned them. Out of the 30 bearings (15 each side), I would say 7 were still polished the rest were dull. I looked at them with a jeweler's loupe and they weren't pitted...just dull. I've packed 100s of hub, BB, and HS bearings and have never seen this. I've seen some that look like they were chewed up, and even those were still polished on the good spots. I guess I should pop new bearings into the cages, uh?

Capecodder

"When I wiped the grease off my balls...they weren't shiney"!

Sounds personal to me

bikeman715

when the bearings are no longer shiney it time to replace them , they might last another 100 but in the meanwhile they are on their way out.

fietsbob

You may not need the retainers.. just stick the new balls in the fresh grease,

to keep them in place while you re assemble the parts.

TallRider

may as well replace them. and get a mod to change the subject line of this thread (b/c I just posted it on FB since it was so funny)

Infidel79

Disagree. Let it stand.

Ira B

Shiny new balls are very inexpensive. Like old food in the fridge, if you are even asking if they are still good, get rid of those dull old balls.

jeepr

Yep, can't really polish your balls once they get dull...

BCRider

must... resist... urge..... smart alec...... reply.......




4 or 5 things come to mind. None of them PG rated....

Campy used cages on these hubs? Yeah, by all means replace the cages with loose balls using grease to hold them in place....


er... make that 6 things that came to mind now....

storckm

I would just go ahead and put in new bearings. Why not, since you've gone to all the trouble to take the hub apart.

gearbasher

New bearings are in. The way the dust seals go in, keeping my balls loose would be problematic. So, I caged them.

ratdog

Loose balls will always get you in trouble. Glad you had the problem fixed!

blamp28

All puns aside, with these bearings costing pennys each, why would you even think of leaving the old ones in?

rekmeyata

Excuse me, to what are you implying that should be left standing?

ratdog

He didn't & it's all moot since he replaced them all.

Infidel79

Again, disagree. Certainly, under some circumstances loose balls can be problematic, however having tightly caged balls at all times can be equally fraught with problems, if not more so. I think we all know that when dealing with balls, there's a fine line between too much "freedom" (worst case, you could lose one) and too much "security" (sub-optimal performance)

bluefoxicy

rekmeyata

I have nothing but dull old balls...because my bikes are retro. The video was great, but one guy had green balls, not sure if cleaning can take care of that though, that's more like a fungus and you may need a different cleaner for that.

Infidel79

Fungus? WTF are you talking about? Probably just Phil Wood or Park grease. Just dip those balls in some mineral spirits to get the lube off.

rekmeyata

Did you see the video that bluefoxicy showed? Other then that I have no idea WTF I'm talking about!! But I like the grease idea.

igknighted

No excuse! Replace those dull, old balls with new ones and new grease. Should be less than $10 and will make a "big" difference. New balls + lube = more fun to ride and lasts longer.

gearbasher

Thanks...HEY, someone understood I wasn't thinking about keeping my dull balls.
Loved the video.
Well that was my front hub. Now, I have to clean my rear.

Looigi

Perhaps you should shave them.

ratdog

Some advice,...when cleaning the rear, it's more pleasurable if you can get someone else to do the rubbing and waxing.

rekmeyata

Use a mirror and soap.