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I'm going to bite the bullet and change the bearings in my Jeffsy - it's long overdue, and though it seems OK - I'm sure I'll be glad I did it when I do. I have the various tools needed, but haven't done it myself before.
How much should I take the bike to pieces? I presume I can do each linkage one by one by removing rear wheel, shock and crank (to get to the bottom one).
Anything else I should know or any other advice or gotchas? Will it take me an afternoon or will it take me all weekend? 😐
None are hidden/need a blind puller. Usually takes me a few hours but then I decrease and repack the existing bearings, rather than replace with new.
Having a set of washers, sockets and threaded bar is essential; you can’t just whack them out. Except the double bearing on the seatpost pivot!
Packing with grease makes them last much longer- we’ll worth doing with your new bearings. Pad spring to remove the seal and pack with decent grease
In answer to the ‘how much do I take it apart’; I’d say as much as possible as it does make things easier.
And take a pic of the link before you remove it so you’re not puzzled by which way round it goes when you put it back!
Get a full kit from Kinetic https://www.kineticbikebearings.com/frame-pivot-bearing-kit-yt-industries-jeffsy-alu-carbon-mkii-2019-onwards.html, saves time and hassle.
None are hidden/need a blind puller.
Mine's an older one, and I think some are. I have various blind pullers which should be made to work. But I'm prepared for it all to be a PITA.
Thanks for the other advice, and noted re: taking photos - I'll do that.
Frame bearings are never that much of an issue, worst you'll find is if there's any double row bearings with a lip, but i find having sliding hammers works well for that, or you can make one up easy enough.
Well. I did it yesterday. All yesterday. I thought the double bearings on the main pivot were a bit of a pain but then the rear chainstay/seatstay bearings came along with their "hold my beer". Now I don't have a vice or anything really useful to knock them out on, but it did end up with the seatstay in the freezer to try to contract them a bit. It was a pig of a job. The bearings weren't in too bad condition considering, but a couple of the o-rings are now toast, so I've got some more o-rings to try to make the seal water tight again.
Bearing design will now be a factor in any future bike purchase...
EDIT - I have bearing puller/slide hammer etc, but the way those seatstay bearings are means it's difficult to get any decent purchase on them... Still it's done...