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.

  • C A B B A G E@feddit.ukEnglish
    41·
    6 days ago

    A new bearing (especially a cartridge, like you have) is absolutely not the end of your wheel unless there’s other issues you haven’t divulged!

    Bearings are generally pretty cheap so you’re in luck there (and you have a full bearing totally off the axle so you can measure and ID it to make sure you get the correct ones to replace).

    I won’t rehash what everyone else has said, but the leftover of the original bearing (the"race") might be a bit of a bitch to remove. With that said you don’t really need bearing pullers. If it’s causing issues then there’s a few things I’d try at home:

    1. If there’s any gaps you can work a skinny screwdriver in and wiggle against the ‘stop’ of the axle and one edge of the race.
    2. If that doesn’t work then get a vise or mole grips on the race, and see if you can wiggle it free, or if possible, try to smack the axle with a hammer - some penetrating fluid might help here
    3. If it’s still stuck, then a lighter and vise or mole grips - heat then clamp and twist. The bearings are brittle so this can cause it to crack and split so maybe wear glasses while doing this.
    4. If none of the above work, then I’d carefully use a small rotary cutter to gently cut into the axle which (again) might crack and split.

    Worst case a shop with a friendly mechanic would probably do this for a small fee (or source you a new axle if it’s totally FUBAR).

    • wildflowertea@slrpnk.netOP
      2·
      6 days ago

      Right…? I don’t see any other problems, so I want to believe the guy just wanted to make things easy for himself and not just overcharge my ignorant self.

      Apart from that, I’m happy to report the bench vice did it! I got both bearing and the valiant surviving inner bushing out with heat, the vice, and a hammer.

      Thank you!

      • C A B B A G E@feddit.ukEnglish
        2·
        6 days ago

        Glad you made a start!

        And good luck with the install of new bearings - best done with the right tools, but please know that even professional techs occasionally resort to a suitably sized socket and a hammer to install them in a pinch - they can be a pain but it’s hard to go dramatically wrong; you shouldn’t need to use massive force to install so if it feels like you need to take a beat to check alignment etc.