You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I need new bearings for a Hadley rear hub I bought on here last month. I've learned they are 6804-2RS which seems to be pretty standard but there is a HUGE choice of places to buy and quite a price range. How much difference does expensive make over cheap and how expensive do you need to go for it to be worthwhile without being a waste of money. Finally, where should I buy from?
Cheers.
PS. just built my first wheel so will probably die on my next ride!
The trouble with cheapies isn't so much bad or good, it's that you never know. I bought a five-pack of no-names off ebay and 1 was practically seized on arrival, 1 shattered while fitting, 2 hardly lasted any time at all... and the 5th lasted forever. I think buying cheap genuinely did save me a little money but not enough to be worth the hassle, I always go with a quality named brand- SKF, FAG, INA, etc. Or Hope, if there's a Hope one available, as they're usually from one of those quality brands except sold cheaper.
Always use this guy on ebay for all our bearings. Good quality at a decent price.
Can't fault the service from Kinetic Bike Bearings https://www.kineticbikebearings.com/. The Enduro bearing do seem to be better made !
I've had good bearings from Aire Velo.
You could also try your local bearing stockists.
Kinetic +1
Kinetic and Aire have both been good.
If you wanna learn about bearings check out Hambini on YouTube.
Same bearings as on the Hope Pro 2 front. CRC do the kit: https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/hope-pro-2-front-bearing-kit/rp-prod134411
Buy cheap buy twice is generally what happens to me when i buy bearings so now only buy good quality bearings like NSK, FAG, SKF etc...
Pop along to your local bearing supplier with the bearing and they will match it up, they will prob cost close to double the price of the cheap bearing but will last 5 times longer
Think last time i bought cheap ones from a major online shop they were £6 each and the Nsk equivalent cost £10 each from my local bearing supplier
lucky13
Subscriber
Same bearings as on the Hope Pro 2 front. CRC do the kit: https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/hope-pro-2-front-bearing-kit/rp-prod134411Get that, no argument for anything else IMO- like I said up the page Hope use quality bearings (last ones I got were INA), just that they sell them cheaper than anyone else that does low volumes.
Aire are my go-to for bearings. Ring up the shop, they know their stuff.
Whatever you get, check them for grease fill too.
My Hope ones were a little on the dry side from new.
Enduro abec3 are okay for hubs and reasonably priced from kinetic or winstanleys but the best by far are NTN from Hambini, a few quid more but worth it. I have had issues with skf ones from superstar, considering the price I'd avoid, I've also had good and bad from Hope but NTN ones have been superb so far.
Never heard of NTN bearings. Do they have different sealing or such mate?
Some hubs need xxxx-C-2rs bearings which have more clearance between the balls and the races to allow them to spin easier and last longer. Worth checking or experimenting.
Whatever you get, check them for grease fill too.
I think that makes sense on suspension pivots that dont move much but on hubs that spin constantly and are generally behind end caps and extra seals.
A bit late responding but NTN have two different seal types, low friction and full contact, depends how well sealed your hubs are to choice between the two, I think the metal cage instead of plastic is the secret to how good they are. The ones in my front hub have outlasted anything else I've tried. SKF ones were notchy had my rotor rubbing on hard turns, total rubbish. Hambini swears by NTN and he knows his stuff and his bottom brackets are legendary. Rolls Royce and mavic use them too.
Cool, thanks for info mick.👍