Wheel Bearings

[cyclobutch]

Spent 2000 miles rolling on front wheel bearings reported as being slightly slack at MOT last year. Got the same comment this year though they are no worse. There seems to be no adjustment that I can take up on these now. I'm heading out for a ride back from Denmark (to the UK) before long. The handling feels fine, should I be splashing the cash for new bearings or will they still run and run?

[Lew]

The only real issues running them on the loose side is the bike can be difficult to keep in a straight line without tracking side to side.  If very loose, there can be some issues with brake pad and rotor wear and reduced braking effect.  New bearings won't hurt, but they most likely aren't the issue.  Don't know what type of bearings you have, but the inner bearing spacer or shims are most likely the cause for the slack.  If running with a cylindrical type inner bearing spacer, determine the amount of slack you have and adjust it by trimming the spacer the correct amount to tighten them up.  If you have bearings using shims the shims will need to be replaced with the correct thickness to tighten the wheel up.

[andyxlh]

Hello mate,
your '89 is pre-shims, there is a spacer between the bearings which determines the end float of the bearings when tensioned. Can't remember the colour codes, but they are three different colours I think. End float is adusted by swapping them out. It is a good idea to replace them with the later type of spacer (from mid '90's to about 2000's I think?) which consists of a tube and washers as spacers to get the end float closer to perfect. Also you don't have to buy the whole tube but just a few more washers to make it work. Or you can do what i did and butcher the original spacer to accept the later shims and do it that way. I have over 160,000km on my front bearings from new, I just remove the bearings and regrease them every new tyre.