Jacobe Hazzard said:I need to pick up some bearings (pedal and BB) for a bike I'm overhauling right now. My favourite
LBS makes me buy them individually at wacky high prices, so I'm making the trip to buy them in
bulk, elsewhere. I have in the past found myself with all the tools to make a repair but lacking
replacement bearings, so I figure I should buy a bag of each common size to have on hand.
What sizes should I get? I think BB bearings are either 1/4" or 5/16" (and I'm taking the old ones
along to get the right size), but what about pedal bearings? (I'm talking standard platform
pedals) And how about loose hub bearings? I'm assuming there are standard sizes so I can get maybe
3-5 bags and be covered.
Also, about how much can I reasonably expect to pay for bearings in bags of maybe a hundred or so?
Or will I need to buy more?
I think we are typical: yellowjersey.orghardware.htmlOpen ↗ At $1.95 /pk for USA grade 25
chrome steel balls in factory-packed sets.
1/4 and 3/16 are packed 25-count, 5/32 and 1/8 are packed 50-count.
What's a "whacky high price" ?? 1c? 3c? 5c? A couple of bucks for fifty?
I guess I wouldn't be concerned about the extra penny so much as the nagging thought that perhaps
these "sold-in-eaches" balls might not be in a sealed set, negating the matched quality I paid for.
At that store, can somebody toss a bearing _back_ into the mix??? Bad system, IMHO.
When buying bearings, you pay not for roundness nor for shine but rather for alikeness. Mixing a
couple of new grade 25 bearings into a _different package_ of new grade 25 bearings will yeild [censored]-
-a set of possibly grade 200 bearings. You can well imagine the results of having one bearing larger
than the others - you'd chew up the system rapidly as wear would be concentrated on one point.
Grade 25 describes a matched set in which all pieces are within 0.000025" variance. Reducing the
variance is the costly part. They are all round.
Most rear hubs are 9x9 1/4" most front sare 10x10 3/16" Campagnolo Record fronts are 7/32" Common
Loose ball BBs use 11x11 1/4" Campagnolo classic #1039/4041 headsets are 3/16". Current Campagnolo
headsets are 3/16" bottom and 5/32" top Other headsets are commonly 5/32" but some are 1/8". Pedals
are commonly 5/32.
2/16" bearings you say? I know of only one person who buys those ( an r.b.t. contributor, no less!)
for Astabula (aka "opc"😉 cranks. Usually a #64 or #66 retainer is a more convenient approach.
--
Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1 April, 1971
