Those of you with knowledge in the Way of the Bicycle, I need counsel.

Let me begin by saying I know nothing about how to repair a bicycle, and mine is a cheap one for cycling in the city.

One of the bearings of my front wheel said life is not worth living and broke down to pieces and flew off.

The shop tells me I need a new wheel. I took the ailing creature back home, removed the wheel and the axle, and found myself with the situation shown in the picture.

Is the piece at the top, still around the axle, part of the fallen bearing or part of the axle? It won’t budge, and the other bearing is impossible to remove because well, it turns. Because it is a bearing.

Do I need a new wheel? A new axle maybe…? I was hoping to save a lot of money by replacing the bearing myself, but it looks worse than I thought.

Thanks beforehand!

EDIT

Thanks so much for all your advice!

Tried the flathead screwdriver and WD-40 to get the inner bushing out, but it was impossible.

In the end, I got both -the bearing and the inner bushing of the bearing- out with the help of a bench vice, a hammer, and some personal frustrations.

The axle looks good and so does the thread.

I’ll now check the rest of my bike for any non-repairable issues, and if nothing appears to be wrong, I’ll buy two new bearings (the one I have left has “6000-2RS” on it) and go to my local repair café, because they way you all describe it, putting on the bearings is delicate business.

Here are also some photos of the hub and the spokes linked to it. I think everything looks okay with the wheel, which is why I found odd the full replacement. I want to believe it is simply because it is easier for them.

  • Wutchilli@feddit.org
    6·
    6 days ago

    Metallworker Here.

    Yes that piece at the top is the inner part of the former bearing so it needs to be removed before you can put on a new one.

    The bearings probably have a slight interference fit on the axle so you would need to use a gear puller, heat them or cut them to remove them (tho the gear puller is to be prefered because it hast the least Chance of damaging the axle)

    The axle still Looks fine to me, so if the bearings surfaces and the threads are in good condition you can continue to use it.

    Before you press the new bearings on make sure to watch a Video or read about how to do it properly so you dont damage your new bearings and get the most runtime out of them.

    Oh, and inspect the rest of the wheel, maybe the axle is OK but other parts are also failing and would be harder/Impossible to fix.

    • wildflowertea@slrpnk.netOP
      2·
      6 days ago

      Ah. The main body of the bearing just flew off, didn’t it…

      The heat helped get it out, and I’ll check the rest of the bike before I buy anything.

      Hopefully we have many more years ahead of us.

      Thanks for the help!