- Location
- London
cripes - I thought I was a slow learner!
Happy that your raleighs are still doing their stuff.
How often do you grease your balls? 😳
- Thread starter Ming the Merciless
- Start date
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Happy that your raleighs are still doing their stuff.
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
If the pitting isnt too bad it can be filled with epoxy and rubbed smooth again.
- Location
- London
sounds complicated.
what sort of epoxy do you use on metal cups to resist the balls?
Apparently Campagnolo put ceramic bearings in all of their mid-high end wheels. They claim that ceramics have less drag, need less lube, oil not grease , last longer and dont need to be sealed. Sounds like magic.
- Location
- London
I gather it can be somewhat tricky, you can't really get at the connector side without seriously risking breaking key connections.
Which shimano dynohub do you have?
How long have you had it/how much use/miles?
OP
OP
Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
Yes I greased the bearings after I’d first fitted it into a hub. Thinking of another grease before the winter. I used assuring to inject the grease in. Hence this post.
weareHKR
Senior Member
- Location
- North East Coast - UK
Yes, I have used them on food packaging equipment in cleanroom conditions, they allow the equipment to be hosed down with cleaning chemicals & hot water with no issues of washing lubrication out.
They are about three or four times the price though!
rogerzilla
Legendary Member
The biggest advantage of ceramic bearings on a bike would be freedom from rust pitting, should water get in. However, they would need to be FULL ceramic units (races and balls) and Campag may be using the cheaper, more common, hybrid ceramic bearings, which still have steel races.
Normal cartridge bearings are also sort-of good for rust pitting, because when it happens you toss the bearings and get all-new races and balls for a few quid. No junking a £100 Ultegra freehub because a bit of water got in and rotted a cup.
Normal cartridge bearings are also sort-of good for rust pitting, because when it happens you toss the bearings and get all-new races and balls for a few quid. No junking a £100 Ultegra freehub because a bit of water got in and rotted a cup.
weareHKR
Senior Member
- Location
- North East Coast - UK
Yes, they do, I use them in processing machinery & ceramic balls in Stainless Steel cage don't last 12 months before they are rattling!
PEEK balls are even harder!
rogerzilla
Legendary Member
I did an experiment last week. Two used but very good PD-5700-C pedals. As they were used, the races were smooth and broken-in.
Stripped, cleaned and rebuilt one with grade 10 balls (from Aire Velo Bearings) and the other with grade 100 balls (from Simply Bearings). All bearings from the same packet in each case, so assumed to be from the same batch. I adjusted them as usual, just beyond the point where play disappeared, then gave them a good twirl by hand to distribute the balls and push excess grease out of the way.
Result: absolutely no difference in smoothness or drag.
The maximum error in a grade 100 3/32" ball is only 0.2 micrometres. In a 1/4" ball it's almost three times bigger, which may be why grade 10 balls are more readily available in bigger sizes. But as long as you don't use Grade 1000, I reckon you'll be unlikely to notice in Shimano kit.
Caveat: I have no way to verify whether the grade 10 balls really are grade 10, but they are sold as such. I trust Simply Bearings as a major industrial supplier but 3/32" balls are unusual in grade 10 and Aire Velo was the only supplier I could find in the UK. The Chinese "G10" balls on eBay are probably grade 1000.
Stripped, cleaned and rebuilt one with grade 10 balls (from Aire Velo Bearings) and the other with grade 100 balls (from Simply Bearings). All bearings from the same packet in each case, so assumed to be from the same batch. I adjusted them as usual, just beyond the point where play disappeared, then gave them a good twirl by hand to distribute the balls and push excess grease out of the way.
Result: absolutely no difference in smoothness or drag.
The maximum error in a grade 100 3/32" ball is only 0.2 micrometres. In a 1/4" ball it's almost three times bigger, which may be why grade 10 balls are more readily available in bigger sizes. But as long as you don't use Grade 1000, I reckon you'll be unlikely to notice in Shimano kit.
Caveat: I have no way to verify whether the grade 10 balls really are grade 10, but they are sold as such. I trust Simply Bearings as a major industrial supplier but 3/32" balls are unusual in grade 10 and Aire Velo was the only supplier I could find in the UK. The Chinese "G10" balls on eBay are probably grade 1000.
