As I pedal up a steep section of trail, my bike begins to creak and groan with each movement of the rear suspension. Every rotation up the trail echoes through the carbon frame, letting me know that I should have taken a few minutes to pump grease into those pesky lower bearings. Maybe some chain lube will stop that gruesome noise? I swear to myself that I’ll fix those pivots before the next ride, and try to pedal in peace for the next few minutes.
Modern suspension designs can take a beating, but whether your bike runs
bushings or
cartridge bearings you’ll surely know when the rear pivots need attention. Brands like Intense and Santa Cruz make it easier to service your lower VPP linkages with grease fittings, while many other frame designs require you to pull your pivot bolts and remove linkages. Doing so is easy with a proper set of hex keys and a torque wrench. However, you will need a bearing or bushing remover and a press set for a full overhaul. Manufacturers don’t generally give you service intervals for when to overhaul these pivots, but as a rule of thumb, inspect and adjust accordingly after every few months of riding. Riding in harsh environments will require more frequent service.
New bushings, bearings, and bolts don’t come cheap - typically $100 before paying a shop for labor, which makes a compelling case for regularly performing preventative maintenance. Often you can simply clean off and re-grease bushings and bearings a few times before you need a replacement set. Cleaning off the bolts and applying a fresh coat of blue Loctite to the threads will also help keep them from loosening. Full suspension frames have improved greatly in the past few years, and while it can be a hassle to pull pivots apart, occasional maintenance will keep your frame riding trouble-free throughout the riding season. Let us know what you think below.
How often do you maintain your frame's pivots?
But then again, if you had an orange, the chances of needing to replace the bearings are slim!
I've never had any experience with em but I get the general idea.
It does not absorb water and stops the internal cables from bouncing around inside of the frame.
There's a lot of good videos and advice on-line as to how to do this. The Santa Cruz bearing tool is simple, relatively cheap ($42US) and absolutely gorgeous. shop.santacruzbicycles.com/bearing-removal-tool-7900.html
Oh, and Santa Cruz offer lifetime bearing replacement www.santacruzbicycles.com/en-US/warranties. Fill out the online form and off you go!
You need to buy the adapters according to bearings size.
That first picture is a great example of what not to do, though. Clean the bike before taking the linkages and anything else apart. All that dirt and exposed grease is just asking for an incident.
On my new Enduro I had a driveside BB end bearing on the chainstay replaced. I'd been chasing a creak for a month. Only under load, shock out, rear end felt smooth, bearings felt smooth spinning with my finger...
Do TRY to keep up...
Definitely depends on the frame design though, seen some interesting bearing locations come through the workshop... a question to any Scott Genius owners: how long does the lower pivot bearing last? (The one by the chainring)
There are trails in LA area that drain very well, some others not so much.
Depends on the soil composition. The Santa Monicas and any other areas that are clay based soil expand during the rains and gunks up your tires...it messes up the trails and definitely not any fun to ride in - best to stay of them until they dry out.
The trails that are granite based drain very well and can be ridden right after the rain, but its best to wait at least 48 hours...and please...dont ride through the mud and leave a nasty tire rut in the trail for months thereafter - that aint cool.
If I lived somewhere it rained a lot I guess I'd have to make do, but missing ridding in SoCal due to rain is so rare I don't even give it a moments thought. Can't complain much as I usually ride 4-5times a week lol
info.santacruzbicycles.com/bearing-warranty
On the other hand, I'm happy I've never had to find out what Giant's warranty on suspension bearings is, as I have never had a problem with them, either on my current 3 year old Trance, or the Reign I had for 7 years before that (*the Reign did eat a DU bushing every year)
On the same bike this year I replaced the 4 bearings in the bottom link last month for around $4 per bearing. I did the work myself. I also have a Carbon Pivot Mach 5.7 with a DW link. That has been ridden 175 days a year for 4 years on Feb 15th and the bearings are still fine. All my VPP bike pivot bearings last about 2 years. I have a single pivot SC 2003 Heckler and have only needed to replace the pivot bearings once.
SC has been very good to me but I will say I never got any benefit from there grease gun and grease nipples. They just never worked on the 4 SC VPP bikes I have owned.
I ride on average 200 days a year.
www.pinkbike.com/news/Reality-Redesigned-The-GAUNTLET-Ep9-M-Slacker.html
I check them regularly as I lube up or replace the seals on my Air Shock.
I fit high quality bearings, use the right grease and a torque wrench and they last 18 months (I only weight 70KGs). I find if you over maintain them it doesn't help. Also I try to replace bearings before they start moving sideways, if the frame developed play after 14 months I'd replace them next time after 12 months for example. Buying a bearing removal/Fitting kit was a good decision as all my mates can borrow it as well.
New set every 6months
thanks guys
(The only reason I opened this article/pointless poll)
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