How to Install a Cartridge Bearing

Many bicycles, especially racing bicycles, have sealed cartridges in the wheel hubs to protect the ball bearings inside. Jim Langley, author of the "Complete Guide to Bicycle Maintenance and Repair for Road and Mountain Bikes," advises to overhaul your hubs once a year if you are a serious cyclist. Replacing the bearings in the hub can be tedious, but your bike will run better because of it. You can easily replace cartridge bearings using tools found around the house, though you will need to go to a bike store to get the right size ball bearing.

Things You'll Need

  • Two new cartridge bearings for each hub
  • Mallet
  • Two open-end wrenches (14 or 17mm)
  • Rag
  • Sandpaper
  • Thick bike grease
Show More

Instructions

  1. Removing the Old Cartridges

    • 1

      Put your bicycle onto a maintenance stand or bike rack. If you don't have one, you may be able to balance the bicycle upside down on its saddle and handlebars.

    • 2

      Use the cone nut wrenches to unscrew the lock nuts on the hub. Each side has two nuts. Alternate the sides so the pressure remains relatively even on each side.

    • 3

      Use a mallet, or a hammer covered with cloth, to gently knock out the axle from the hub. Strike it in the middle so that one of the cartridge bearings comes out with the axle.

    • 4

      Reinsert the axle and repeat Step 3 on the other side of the hub. You should now have an axle and two cartridges. Clean the axle and set it aside.

    • 5

      Clean the inside of the hub shell using a rag. If there is rust inside the hub, remove it using sandpaper.

    Installing New Cartridges

    • 6

      Apply a thin coat of thick bicycle grease to the races on the inside of the hub shell and on the axle.

    • 7

      Lightly tap the new cartridges into place with the mallet, rotating the hub and working around the outer edges of the bearing as you do so. Be sure to put pressure on the outside and not the inside race of the cartridge bearing, as the outside is where the friction is.

    • 8

      Insert the axle, and then lower the bearing on the other side of the hub into place. Work it in gently with the mallet. When it is almost in place, layer one of the old bearings on top of it so you can use the mallet to drive it in.

    • 9

      Tighten the four lock nuts back into place, alternating left and right.