I've got no resources what so ever. I've pretty much only taken things apart, cleaned and relubed things. Never really replaced bearings. I thought someone above said the cartridges are replaced now? I doubt Specialized would be much help. I guess I could see about tracking down info on the wheel suppliers, but nothing really stands out for "Jalco wheels" when googled.

If your newer hubs have radial bearings in them there is a good chance that they are Novatec or Formula hubs. This is the Novatec site. http://www.novatecwheels.com/novatec/english/tec_r.php

Bicycle hub cartridge bearings are not proprietary so if you can remove them, any bearing supply or industrial supply shop can match them, usually at much lower cost than a bike shop.

If you REALLY want to learn about bearings,go to the Timkin site.You'll be dizzy with bearing info.ANYTHING that you need to know about bearings is there.

Bearings are rebuilt all of the time.Normally they are BIG bearings.....5" and up.The cup,cone and rollers are reground and the difference is made up in thrust washers if they are paired.Bearing cups,cones,balls/rollers are case hardened,so depending on how it was finished,will detemine how thick the hardness is.

Try drilling an old ball bearing,they are hard on the outside,it's hard to center punch it,it flattens the punch.Now grind a few thou off of it,it drills like butter.

In the automotive world,some companies use ball bearings to block oil galleys instead of a freeze plug,I've had my share of drilling bearings.

As a rule of thumb,the bigger the bearing,the thicker the case hardening,because of the way heat is transfered to the metal during the tempering.

Read the Timkin site,you too can be a bearing expert.You can look at a bearing and tell ALOT about what going on.

All well and good but the demands on bicycle bearings (load, rpm, temperature, expected hours of service life, etc. ) are laughable compared to industrial or even automotive requirements.

There's one person that's not willing to learn....anymore? That statement is meaningless.....

Timkin makes bicycle bearings also......They make every bearing known to man....

Sorry,just trying to help.......keep guessing.......

Should I break out the Pepsodent?
 

I just picked up a set of Shimano WH-R560 wheels for $20 at an LBS garage sale. They were filthy, and I knew the rear was not smooth, but I rolled the dice. The rear cleaned up pretty well and rolls OK (not perfect) with new Grade 5 balls, so that part of the gamble paid off.

The front cones are are a different story. They're pretty well pitted, and I can't find new ones online. One of the cups also seems a little rough.

I'm tempted to pack the hub with grease and Pepsodent, and maybe a dab of valve grinding compound, mount the wheel in my truing stand, and keep it spinning while I watch sufferfest videos on YouTube.

Should I try it? At best I'd save maybe $30 on replacement cones. At worst, I'd be out $10.

Any sincere advice is appreciated.

tcpasley

Reduce, Reuse, Rebicycle

Probably not enough load on the bearings on a truing stand. And if the cups are pitted you likely won't be taking enough off to make much of a difference anyway. I think I'd just replace the balls and ride.

Pff, those folks don't know why a Deore hub is superior to a Record hub.

Checked the box and picked the option you want?
http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...tid=243810.jpg

I remember the article you can put jewelers rouge in your hub ride it several miles then remove the rouge and replace the balls. It will polish the cones and cups. I've found that replacing the balls only will restore a pitted cone to a certain extent I did this with some pedals. If you have some patience you can take a large bolt and nut say around 1 inch and put jewelers rouge in it and work it back and forth by hand it will eventually become so smooth you can set the bolt upright and the nut will travel along it by gravity alone.

I got my used fleabay record hubs a week ago, I had a thread about changing the axle spacing for a 7 speed,
I cleaned and re greased new balls (hollow bearing thread) and it sat on the computer table as a finger toy,
Now I could feel something was not "butter smooth" with new grease and new balls and it annoyed me.

Well the Mother in Law came to visit for a week starting today,
so for some reason I had motivation to go in the garage and try to polish the bearings with semichrome.

grease out, packed with semichrome,
put some good rpms on it by the hand drill for some 2 minutes, polish was turning gray so something was happening.

pulled it down, cleaned everything, making sure the left and right bearings went back where they came from.

repacked with mercury outboard marine grease with teflon.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!!!!!

they are now butter smooth.

yes there is some truth in grinding in new balls and polishing the races.

mike in finland

No, the statement wasn't "meaningless" and I'm certainly willing to learn. Yes Timkin does indeed make bearings that can be used in bicycle service but they make nothing specifically intended for bicycles so their information is intended for industrial and other users who are expected to put much higher demands on their bearings. So, we should all read an industrial service manual?