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Wheel bearings

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The standard Commando wheel bearings are all unsealed, lubricated by grease which is held in (maybe) by felt seals. My bike is drum braked, so that is what I am considering here. However, I would expect that disc braked bikes will run cooler hubs.

The single row ball bearing, 17x40x12, can be obtained in a sealed version, lubricated for life. One such bearing is SKF 6203-2RSH.

The double row ball bearing is not obtainable with seals in the required size (17x40x16). However a sealed single row ball bearing is available in the required size (eg: SKF 62203-2RS1). Is a double row ball bearing necessary, and if so why? If it is not, is there any reason why the single row bearing cannot be fitted in place of the double row bearing?

I can see that a tls front brake may get the hub quite hot (but I have no idea how hot - has anyone any suggestions?) but the rear hub is unlikely to get too hot, even the bearing in the drum.

All SKF lubricating greases are good for 110 degrees C which should be sufficient for the road.

Anyone got any ideas?

Ian

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A double row bearing has a higher load bearing capacityand is used on the brake side of the hub for that reason.

There is a standard size double row rubber sealed bearing available which is 1.42mm wider than the non sealed version. You can fit one of these if you turn down the step on the bearing spacer tube by this ammount. There are some good photos of this on the Old Britts website http://www.oldbritts.com/wheel_upgrade.html

A rubber seal bearing of the correct size is available from Norvil and several sellers on Ebay, however it is unbranded, so I would not personally chose to use it.

 


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