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Roller bearings on rear shock

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#41 ·
slimat99 said:
I asked about the play and was told the bearing would bind if there wasn't a little play. That's really a copout. Their bearings just have poor tolerances. If you get lucky where one of the pins fits perfectly you'll have zero play and smooth action. More often you'll just have to live with a little bit of play. Right now I have a perfect fit but that's because the narrower pin ended up with so much play the wider one that wouldn't fit at first now fits perfectly. Not sure if they are just maximizing profit by sourcing cheaper bearings with half ass tolerances, or they just can't source precision needle bearings and pins?
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Nice assumptions.
 
#42 ·
TwoTone said:
Nice assumptions.
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Given how much slop exists in the bike industry I don't think my assumptions were unfounded. I just failed to assume the more important part, the shocks themselves were the parts with the sloppiest tolerances. I'm surprised the RCW guy I talked to didn't blame that rather than telling me some amount of play was required to avoid binding which is false.
 
#43 ·
slimat99 said:
Given how much slop exists in the bike industry I don't think my assumptions were unfounded. I just failed to assume the more important part, the shocks themselves were the parts with the sloppiest tolerances. I'm surprised the RCW guy I talked to didn't blame that rather than telling me some amount of play was required to avoid binding which is false.
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Well they were. Do you even bother reading descriptions of items before you buy them?

From the site:
"The breakthrough performance and popularity of our needle bearing kits has inspired some cheap knock-off kits. Only our kits include:
-Machined and anodized aluminum spacers with integrated seals.
-Up to 4 hardened bearing steel axles of varying Outside Diameters so that you get a custom fit regardless of slight variations in your shock eyelet bore. "
 
#44 ·
TwoTone said:
Well they were. Do you even bother reading descriptions of items before you buy them?

From the site:
"The breakthrough performance and popularity of our needle bearing kits has inspired some cheap knock-off kits. Only our kits include:
-Machined and anodized aluminum spacers with integrated seals.
-Up to 4 hardened bearing steel axles of varying Outside Diameters so that you get a custom fit regardless of slight variations in your shock eyelet bore. "
Click to expand...
The guy on the phone told me they needed some play to avoid binding. My assumption was he knew what he was talking about. Clearly this info wasn't up at that time, and the guy I talked to wasn't even aware the issue was the shock not the bearings.
 
#45 ·
slimat99 said:
I asked about the play and was told the bearing would bind if there wasn't a little play. That's really a copout. Their bearings just have poor tolerances. If you get lucky where one of the pins fits perfectly you'll have zero play and smooth action. More often you'll just have to live with a little bit of play. Right now I have a perfect fit but that's because the narrower pin ended up with so much play the wider one that wouldn't fit at first now fits perfectly. Not sure if they are just maximizing profit by sourcing cheaper bearings with half ass tolerances, or they just can't source precision needle bearings and pins?
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I consider the RWC bearing a wear item like bushings. They also sell individual maintenance parts.
 
#46 ·
Dougal said:
The tolerance issue comes from the shock eyelet. The bearing is a press-fit into that and takes on that tolerance. Unfortunately the dimensions of shock eyelets are all over the place. Some are 15.08mm (19/32"), some are 15.10mm. Often they'll be different on each end of the shock.
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How dumb would it be to use a little sandpaper inside the eyelet to get a better fit?
 
#49 ·
slimat99 said:
The guy on the phone told me they needed some play to avoid binding. My assumption was he knew what he was talking about. Clearly this info wasn't up at that time, and the guy I talked to wasn't even aware the issue was the shock not the bearings.
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I apologize for the misunderstanding. I was attempting to make the point that even an inner ring (axle) of the correct tolerance for the situation would need a certain amount of clearance. Some folks expect a very tight fit between the inner ring and rollers. A tight fit would not allow the needles to rotate and would destroy the bearing. Sorry I did not do a better job of explaining.
 
#50 ·
slimat99 said:
...RWC is much more user friendly through the tool they sell is only good for installation. It's easy enough to remove and reuse with other random punch tools. I do wish the needles were captured. I've learned to use care anytime I remove the shock hardware, or punch the bearing out to use on another shock.
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Thanks for the positive feedback! Regarding the needle rollers not being held in with a retainer: Yes, it does require care to not lose the needle rollers. However, the reason it's better to not have a retainer is that we are able to put more rollers inside the cup. This makes for a significantly stronger bearing.
 
#51 ·
sqizzle said:
I recently swapped the rockshox air rear suspension, that came with my V3 Bronson, for an EXT storia coil shock. The rockshox came with roller bearing on the bottom eyelet; however, the EXT came with a standard bushing.

My question is this:
Do roller bearings, installed on rear suspension, improve the ride noticeably?

Also, any recommendations of what brand of roller bearing I can install?

I looked into the fox roller bearing kit; however, the $110.00 install tool was a deterrent.
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No difference at all. Blind test will show that none of riders will determine whether it was DU bushing or needle bearing.
 
#53 ·
Blind test by all you, BIKERS.

For 5 years I use same bike, same location, same susp - Fox X2. I used DU, needle bearings - no difference, at all. Now I use DVO Jade X. Also tried both type of connection - no difference.
Two my friends installed (after seeing at mine bike) needle bearings - after some continious time they approved that there's no difference.
IF linkage bearings are all always in good condition - suspension works same fine with eather du and needle.
 
#55 ·
When I removed my clicking Fox bearing I initially replaced it with a regular IGUS bushing thinking it wouldn't really matter. I either didn't know about or consider a needle bearing setup. Well the bushing definitely added a bit a stiction and a few months later I ended up replacing it with the RWC kit. It makes a noticeable difference. This is on a V1 Megatower btw.
 
#56 ·
ka81ua said:
Blind test by all you, BIKERS.

For 5 years I use same bike, same location, same susp - Fox X2. I used DU, needle bearings - no difference, at all. Now I use DVO Jade X. Also tried both type of connection - no difference.
Two my friends installed (after seeing at mine bike) needle bearings - after some continious time they approved that there's no difference.
IF linkage bearings are all always in good condition - suspension works same fine with eather du and needle.
Click to expand...
There's a reason bushing are only used in suspension when there is very little rotational movement.
Oh, gee- that's the same thing being said about shock needle bearings - wonder why?
 
#57 ·
Of for god sake, none of thread speakers will ever notice a difference while swapping du to needle and back on their bike with eyes closed. Seriously, funny to read this all.
Changing shock? Of course. Changing tyres? Yes. Changing brake pads? Uhmm.. yes, but..
But changing du to neefle in shock eyelet?.. ))
As i said, people without bullshitting in their opinions will trully admit it.

I guess, same people like to shout they feel difference between freshly bled shock with Motorex 2.5w after freshly bled same shock with Motul 2.5w or any other quality susp 2.5w oil. ))
 
#58 ·
There was a noticeable improvement in suppleness for 3 of my bikes with roller eyelet bearings vs/bushings. 2 of my bikes, not really. It just depends how much rotation there is at the shock eyelet.
 
#59 ·
ka81ua said:
Of for god sake, none of thread speakers will ever notice a difference while swapping du to needle and back on their bike with eyes closed. Seriously, funny to read this all.
Changing shock? Of course. Changing tyres? Yes. Changing brake pads? Uhmm.. yes, but..
But changing du to neefle in shock eyelet?.. ))
As i said, people without bullshitting in their opinions will trully admit it.

I guess, same people like to shout they feel difference between freshly bled shock with Motorex 2.5w after freshly bled same shock with Motul 2.5w or any other quality susp 2.5w oil. ))
Click to expand...
A lot of people compare a bound up bushing to a new bearing. The converse comparison would be a seized bearing to a properly fitting bushing.
 
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