It is incredibly important to carry out regular checks and maintenance on your bike to ensure it is in good working order. Regular bike maintenance and changing your bearings will also save you money in the long run.
Maintenance of bike bearings
You must regularly disassemble all of the bearings on your bike. This is because they are open to all weather elements, even with the protection of a dust cover, meaning that they can accumulate dirt and debris. They will also lose grease over time so this will need to be reapplied.
A Quick Guide on how to Grease Bike Bearings
It is very important to regularly clean and greases your you must regularly disassemble all of bike bearings. Below we explain how you should grease bearings in the wheel of your bike. They are located between the wheel axle and the hub found on the wheel. To quickly ascertain if the bearings do need greasing, take the wheel off, hold the axel and then gently spin the wheel. If the wheel does not move smoothly and you can feel friction, then you’ll need to disassemble the bearings and apply grease.
You will need an adjustable wrench, bike grease and a cloth for cleaning.
1. Using the adjustable wrench, locate the locking nut on the wheel and gently loosen it, making sure to hold on to the bearing cone whilst doing so, do this with the wheel on the floor. At this stage do not open the bearing cones.
2. Next you need to take a firm hold of the axel, making sure to do so on the side that is still attached. Now you can continue to unscrew the locking nut so it is nearly off. Put this to one side and then unscrew the bearing cone so that you can see the bearings inside.
3. Now you are ready to apply the grease. The best way to do this is to remove the hub cups, cones and bearings. Using a cloth, you will need to thoroughly clean the bearings, ensuring that you remove all dirt and debris. Once clean you can cover the bearings in bike grease.
4. Once the grease has been applied you need to reassemble everything. Firstly, you’ll need to screw the bearing cone into place, remembering not to screw it too tightly. A good way to check if the bearing cone is on correctly is to check if you can hear the bearings rolling smoothly around inside. Next, you need to simply screw the lock nut back into place and recheck the bearings.
If you need to replace any bike bearings then we have a wide selection on our website.