[Closed] How to degrease blind sealed bearing (Scott Spark)?

I’m trying to service my Scott Spark 930 2020 rear triangle. I want to clean and regrease all the bearings.

That's not servicing the rear triangle.

Any ideas?

Replace the bearings. Either at a shop (easiest) or by buying a set of tools (around 90 quid IIRC) and new bearings/bushings etc.

That’s not servicing the rear triangle.

It's quite common opinion that doing so can prolong the life of the bearings. Do you find it wrong?

Replace the bearings. Either at a shop (easiest) or by buying a set of tools (around 90 quid IIRC) and new bearings/bushings etc.

Unfortunately shops take too much money and too much time for this, so I want to learn to do it by myself.
I'm not sure what "90 quid IIRC" means and googling didn't help. Could you please elaborate?
Basically that's my whole second question: what would be the best toolset for bearings extraction and then pressing them in for my case?

It’s quite common opinion that doing so can prolong the life of the bearings. Do you find it wrong?

Yes - they're sealed bearings, the clue is in the first part of the name. Prising seals off, spraying a load of water dispersant around in there and then attempting to regrease and force a (probably damaged) seal back onto it is a waste of time and effort and it just results in crap getting in there. The whole point of sealed bearings is it removes any need for maintenance.

I’m not sure what “90 quid IIRC” means and googling didn’t help

IIRC - if I recall correctly. As in "I think it's about £90 to buy the bearings and the tools to press them in".

If you're spending the cash on pullers and other bearing tools, a handful of fresh bearings is a relatively small expense. You can refill bearings but it may just be a short term improvement. Certainly if any of them are notchy/sticky then chances are you'll only delay the inevitable.

I use a standard bearing extractor on my lower pivots, which are similar to those, hitting a punch inserted through the other side.

Thanks! May I ask you what is your standard extractor?
And also: what do you use to press then back in?

Think it's a Wheels manufacturing extractor, cheaper alternatives like the one you linked are available.

If you are dead set against tapping it out with a hammer, you'll need to find a proper puller.

I use an RRP press to push them back in.

Removing those main pivot bearings (any bearings) will often kill them anyway.
There's a good chance the main pivot bearings are dead. They are always the first ones to go in my experience.
I use a long drift/punch and work very slowly around the bearing to drive it out.
The spark has a sleeve inbetween the two bearings but it moves enough to allow you to get the punch onto the bearing inner race.
Scott also don't use any locking compound on their carbon frame/bearing interfaces so it's genuinely a gentle tap tap tap.

I have a set of frame-bearing press out tools (so even blind bearings can be pressed out) and then a similar set of press-in tools. Shouldn't need to bash out frame bearings, really.

Oh, and I wouldn't entertain servicing them. If they need servicing, they need chucking away and replacing - especially considering the cost of bearings vs hassle of doing the job! Don't use cheap bearings either - only decent quality ones, with max-ball-load (i.e. ones specifically for frame linkages)

It’s quite common opinion that doing so can prolong the life of the bearings. Do you find it wrong?

😀 Yes, lots of "common opinions" are quite woefully wrong, picking the seals out of sealed bearings will usually result in a drastic shortening of life span, especially with used/worn bearings.

And last time we had a Scott Spark swing arm redone it cost about £90, labour and parts. That was a 2018 model, so the same as yours. Got it booked and then into and out of the shop in a day. Included all the bearings, bushes and a couple of other bits that should be service items (spacers, pivots etc). Not sure of the details as i don't have the receipt to hand.

I looked at buying the correct scott tool kit with the relevant presses etc, which was also about £90 at westbrookcycles i think, a complete set of SKF bearings is about £30-40, depending on your local pricing and availability.
(My ex had three full suspension scotts at the time, which would have made it worth buying the toolset.)

Got it booked and then into and out of the shop in a day.

In and out in a day...in 3 months time! 😉

You have reminded me of years ago when my old Pivot went into a (now-defunct) LBS for a linkage service. The bearings were obviously shot and I was happy to pay for them to be replaced. The shop held onto the bike for six weeks, and in the end (I started to get a bit annoyed as I wanted my bloody bike back!) they returned it but only when I paid did they explain that they "couldn't get hold of the right bearings" and had therefore "serviced the current ones" instead. I had no choice but to pay up and, I'm sure you will not be surprised to hear, the bike lasted less than 6 months before it was as bad as before it went in.

I went online and bought the tools I needed to do the job myself, the correct bearings (which were not at all difficult to source) and did the job properly myself, with minimal fuss. I've never taken a bike into a shop for a suspension service since then.

Yeah. Many many shops should not be in business.
Have had similar excuses before.

One shop couldn't get a couple of fairly standard size bearings for a hub because the "importer didn't have any in stock".

The shop was almost directly over the road from a general engineering supplies shop/warehouse. Which probably had 150 thousand bearings in stock.

To be fair, the bearings in my exes spark were done 2 years ago, before COVID screwed everything up. It was less than a week from deciding to service them to getting the bike back.

I'm going to have to wait 2 weeks to get my forks serviced, but parts are in stock and it's a guaranteed 24 hour turnaround. Mainly as they are so busy they can't afford to have stuff hanging around for a week or more.

I did my Jeffsy a couple's of weeks ago. Bearings from Kinetic, extractors and presses from BearingProTools. Both of the main pivot bearings had been ignored for too long and came out in bits, with the outer race needing a Dremel. The other 9 bearings were reasonably straightforward.

Scott Spark swing arm redone it cost about £90, labour and parts.

Who doesn't love free labour. The kits 90quid on its own 🙂

That's how much we paid...

Though, to be fair, i doubt they used the kit, as the SKF factory shop is in town (but trade accounts only 🙁 ) and they are also the main scott service centre for the region (plus half a dozen other manufacturers), so i'm pretty doubtful they are buying complete kits of parts. I know i've sourced lots of bits n pieces from them that officially only come in kits.

FWIW, we only paid £170 to have the suspension redone on the genius last year, bearings, bushes etc plus a shock service.

picking the seals out of sealed bearings will usually result in a drastic shortening of life span, especially with used/worn bearings

This, frankly, is horseshit. LLU bearing seals are flexible rubber on a metal backer. Its perfectly possible to remove the bearing seals as long as access is ok, you've got a handy pick, stanley blade or precision screwdriver and you're not a complete ham-fist.

The question is 'when' should you add extra grease. If the bearings are full of spent, dirty grease, mud and corrosion its simply not worth the effort unless they're stainless and stainless is generally softer and couple be more worn anyway. Remove and replace with new, because removing a bearing will likely brinell the bearing surface that is probably sub-optimal already.

The best time IME is when they're new - for suspension pivots, get the stickiest, most waterproof grease you can, fill the bearing and replace the seal. The bearing will discharge what it can't use.