Wheel bearings

willis617

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Are loose ball cup and cone bearings that come on inexpensive bikes adequate for front or rear wheels?

Would a more expensive cruiser, say a felt, or a hub purchased from mbrebel have a better grade of loose ball type bearings that could be run long term?

Trying to decide if it's more practical to upgrade the hubs of my inexpensive bike, or upgrade the bike?
 
As long as they are not running dry, they should hold up decently. You may want to check them and maybe repack them with grease.
 
I've already cleaned and greased them, but the quality of the components is what concerns me, the faces of the locknuts and cones are not square to the centerlines, and the threads are not on center with the cone surfaces, so when you tighten the locknuts there is not a consistent spacer between the cone amd cup for the balls? It's entirely possible I'm over thinking this, as a Toolmaker it hard to keep my OCD from kicking in!
 
I would look into some hubs if the cones are like that. You could just buy some cones and lock nuts but who knows what other short cuts they took.

As for upgrading a cheap bike, that's what I did. All thats left is the frame, cranks and seat :cool:
 
Mine are some cheapies from Amazon. They looked decent and had the specs I wanted. Just got lucky they are good quality. The listing is gone now.
 
If the bearings are that janky, it's best to replace them, but there's nothing wrong with cup&cone design. Upgrading the grease is the most important thing. The grease that comes out of China is just about good enough to hold the balls in place during assembly, and that's it.

You mentioned Felt; I just bought a Felt front wheel, and the hub has cup&cone bearings (adjusted way too tight).
 
As a bike mechanic for a couple dozen years I've seen entry level bikes get cheaper and crappier bearings as bikes got newer from the early '90's..

It's why I'm always looking for some garage kept old MTB from that era. If it's complete and unmolested it's going to have bearings that can be rebuilt a few times before they need replacement. Plus the bike's frame tubing are generally better welded and made of better steel or alloy. The brakes will always be older cantilevers, but I think they're more than adequate for normal sub 25 mph speeds.
 
As a bike mechanic for a couple dozen years I've seen entry level bikes get cheaper and crappier bearings as bikes got newer from the early '90's..

It's why I'm always looking for some garage kept old MTB from that era. If it's complete and unmolested it's going to have bearings that can be rebuilt a few times before they need replacement. Plus the bike's frame tubing are generally better welded and made of better steel or alloy. The brakes will always be older cantilevers, but I think they're more than adequate for normal sub 25 mph speeds.
Never looked into it but is it possible to replace the cups? Does anyone sell them?
 
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