You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Hi All,
I wanted to reach out to other Nukeproof Giga / Mega riders to check to see if I am the only one experiencing this as I am surprised I always expected a brand such as Nukeproof to place reliability as a key value of their bike design.
Back in October 2022, I purchased Nukeproof Giga, I have to say the bike rides really well. As part of preparing my bike for UK winter, I covered and packed all the bearings with blue marine grease. Something I have done on other suspension bikes I have owned for the past 5 years.
After 8 weeks of riding in UK conditions and only a single bike wash(this was up in Scotland). The rest of the time I bush and wipe the bike down to remove the dirt I find that the main pivot/linkage bearings are toast and need replacing.
I understand that the UK is bad for bikes and bearings, But 8 weeks is ridiculous!
Is anyone else experiencing this? I am trying to work out the following and would welcome any experience other owners have:
1) Is this normal or expected is there something with the Nuke proof giga that I need to accept? Or could this just be a bad batch of bearings or the frame out of spec? ( other ideas or comments welcome)
2) Apart from not riding the bike, is there anyone else who is a giga / Mega owner? Who has some tips to reduce my having to go through nearly 7 sets of bearings in a year?
3) Should I raise this back with the Nukeproof distributor, or as I guess they will call bearings a wear and tear item?
Have a Great New Year!
Ta
Bobster!
packed all the bearings with blue marine grease
You've modified the part you are having issues with so I would say it's not their problem.
Filled or packed ?
ie. Seals off and shove grease in or pack grease around the outside of the bearings ?
Mine went pretty much square after a month although that included the Wettest Ride Ever(tm) over the Gap in South Wales. Bought my frame from Biketart, sent them an email, they got in touch with Disti who send me a whole set of bearings I think. Only needed to replace the main pivot pair.
Since they, I check them pretty regularly and so far some 1000km later (and a few wet rides), not had to change any more. Defo worth getting in touch with who sold you the bike, I'm sure they'll sort you out some replacements. No idea why first set failed but the new set seems okay.
There is a recent mega/giga thread, and @militantmandy said her other half has one and it had eaten bearings.
packed all the bearings with blue marine grease
Did you torque them back correctly?
Hi All,
thanks for the comments :-
1) Packed ie :- bolt covers off and covered in bearing grease to prevent water ingress. I did not fill them full of grease or remove the seals.
2) Torqued to the right setting , yep ... the main pivot did come lose and i have to tightened it and thread locked.
3) Appreciate the comments , i will get in touch with the supplier i bought it off and see if they will send me some.
Will also bring this thread into the main chat. Thanks for the your feedback
I have just reached out to the supplier ! Lets see what they say...
ChrisL on this forum got a gen 1 Mega, the first bearings were toast in no time at all, absolute crap parts used. The replacement set which I think were from Nukeproof were far better. Which was just as well because they were weird nonstandard bearings that weren't easy to find from other suppliers.
I had a Vitus sommet that came with crappy bearings, replaced with max versions and they were fine for ages.
Possibly a bit tenuous, but I had the original Mega 290 alu frame and the bearing life was a bit shit (and it ate shock bushings at an alarming rate). It generally felt cheap and unrefined.
Dunno if the new carbon frames are even made in the same factory though. I thought the current models looked like a real turning point for them. But maybe not.
I'd go with poor quality bearings to start with, if the bearings go again and on inspection they arn't full of mud/crap I would be looking at frame alignment.
Whilst I salute your care and attention to a new bike, there is a scenario whereby you are the architect of your own demise; it's possible that by packing them with grease, when torqued down, the non compressible grease introduced too much side loading via the seals, causing the bearings to lunch on themselves, rather than all that tasty radial loading.
1) Packed ie :- bolt covers off and covered in bearing grease to prevent water ingress. I did not fill them full of grease or remove the seals.
The bearings quite possibly had very little grease in them from new, so fail quickly from water ingress and corrosion, pretty common.
I started removing the seals on new bearings to inspect and re pack as required. Suspension pivot bearings might be specced with a 90% grease fill, but what happens at the factory day to day can vary.
There must be some design fault or poor quality kit in there surely? My Norco Range is nearly 8 years old now and I have never changed the bearings. Have taken them out the odd time and they’re still completely fine.