Ball bearing grade

[nirakaro]

I've just ordered ball bearings to rebuild a rather gritty-feeling pedal. I spent the extra pound or two to get grade 100 rather than grade 1000 – will I be able to feel the difference?

[fastpedaller]

I've just ordered ball bearings to rebuild a rather gritty-feeling pedal. I spent the extra pound or two to get grade 100 rather than grade 1000 – will I be able to feel the difference?

possibly not - but your pedals will!

[rogerzilla]

100 is the minimum quality you should be using. Some Campag hubs can't be adjusted properly unless you use better, like 25 (rare) or 10.

I assume "G10" balls from eBay are nothing of the kind - use a proper bearing supplier.

[Gazelles]

Do you have a norm these grades are based on?

[Carlton green]

Do you have a norm these grades are based on?

Look here for the international standards: https://hartfordtechnologies.com/ball-s ... finitions/

Years ago I bought a supply of decent loose ball bearings - I’m not sure of the grade - and obtained them from a reputable supplier . Maybe something like this: https://simplybearings.co.uk/shop/Loose ... l+Bearings

These earlier threads refers to similar:
viewtopic.php?t=33638
viewtopic.php?t=66227

[simonineaston]

Years ago, I rebuilt a Sturmey Archer FW with high grade ball bearings. Couldn't feel the difference at all, but it was good to know they were in there!

[mig]

how sensitive are your feet?

[jb]

There wont be much difference in feel but one slightly larger ball could be exerting a hugely disproportionate pressure on the race.

[bikepacker]

I buy grade 10 from Atlas in Walsall. https://www.atlasball.co.uk

[interestedcp]

Years ago I tested if I could feel the difference between grade 200 (Shimano standard for FH-4500 Tiagra hubs) and grade 20 ball bearings (Campagnolo standard at the time), something other people claimed they could.

The Tiagra 4500 hub, which was brand new, felt a little rough at times when rotated in the hand. After I rebuild it with grade 20 ball bearings it became totally smooth. So I could actually feel a difference, which surprised me.
Mind you, the difference was small, and was only felt in somewhat artificial circumstances on a brand new hub. I could never feel any roughness when actually riding a bicycle with grade 200 ball bearing hubs.

So grade 100 should be fine. I would never buy grade 1000 ball bearings (cough'Weldtite*cough) for many reasons, including that the grade is so low by today's standard, that I would be suspicious about the manufacturers commitment to QA and case hardening and other important characteristics.

[cycle tramp]

I doubt if you'll feel the difference through pedalling - where I expect you'll feel the difference is setting up the bearing tension... and the higher grade bearings should make it easier to find that sweet spot between too tight and too loose....

..its weird but thinking about it when I rebuilt pedals in the past, I just dumped all the little bearings into one pot for cleaning and then spent ages trying to set the bearing tension between too loose and too tight...
..it seems obvious now, that if I'd kept all the little ball bearings in 4 pots (left pedal outer/ left pedal inner/ right pedal outer/ right pedal inner) I may have found it easier to set the bearing tension as, after all they had already spent the last year going around and around happily in their little groups... by mixing them up, I undid all that hard work of grinding the bearings in together by possibly mixed balls which were slightly too big with those bearings which were slightly undersized, from different pedals or even different bearing races...

This year I have 6 or 7 pairs of pedals to rebuild, so I'm going to try it out and see if keeping the ball bearings in their little groups does make a difference.

[Carlton green]

I doubt if you'll feel the difference through pedalling - where I expect you'll feel the difference is setting up the bearing tension... and the higher grade bearings should make it easier to find that sweet spot between too tight and too loose....

..its weird but thinking about it when I rebuilt pedals in the past, I just dumped all the little bearings into one pot for cleaning and then spent ages trying to set the bearing tension between too loose and too tight...
..it seems obvious now, that if I'd kept all the little ball bearings in 4 pots (left pedal outer/ left pedal inner/ right pedal outer/ right pedal inner) I may have found it easier to set the bearing tension as, after all they had already spent the last year going around and around happily in their little groups... by mixing them up, I undid all that hard work of grinding the bearings in together by possibly mixed balls which were slightly too big with those bearings which were slightly undersized, from different pedals or even different bearing races...

This year I have 6 or 7 pairs of pedals to rebuild, so I'm going to try it out and see if keeping the ball bearings in their little groups does make a difference.

Just a suggestion. What ball bearings you have already are unlikely to be that good. Replacement with decent quality new ball bearings isn’t that expensive and will save you a lot of fiddling about. I’m more tight fisted than most folk but - occasionally - there’s a time to splash out … and there’s such a thing as false economy (I too find it hard to believe that I’m saying these blasphemous things).

[jb]

I buy grade 10 from Atlas in Walsall. https://www.atlasball.co.uk

Their machinery looks surprisingly dated, you don't imagine a high precision manufacturer surviving with that sort of kit these days.

[richardfm]

Bike Gremlin says G25 is the one to go for, although not specifically for pedals.
https://bike.bikegremlin.com/2255/stand ... l-sizes/#1

[zenitb]

I have bought 10 grade for wheel hubs.

I was advised that they would help in getting a really smooth adjustment. This is probably overkill for me but I went with it anyway since i was building a tandem rear wheel and I was going to take the brand new Shimano hub apart anyway to pack it with grease. I thought I might as well put 1st rate balls in as well.

That was back in 2016 and despite getting hammered over the last three winters the wheel is still very smooth so it hasnt HARMED the wheel at least

Full sorry story is here:

http://zenit-b.blogspot.com/2016/11/tan ... build.html