Levo Gen 3 Shifting rear bearing in link

[Andeh]

Anyone else having issues with the rearmost bearing in the link slipping so that it's not fully seated? I'm referring to the bearing where the link connects to the seatstay. It doesn't move much, maybe 0.1-0.2mm, but it's enough that the link then rubs on the seatstay, and makes noise on every compression over about 50% travel. I'm having this problem on both the stock link and the Cascade link. I've already tried using Loctite primer & bearing retention compound. Basically, I can get this bearing on the non-drive side to move within 1-2 rides of riding aggressively.

I looked at my buddy's Levo and his appears to have moved also, but he hasn't noticed the rub noise. I'm wondering if this is a common issue, and if there's a long term fix. I reached out to Cascade and they asked me to send the link back so they can check the bore tolerance for the bearing seat.

 

[Coburn]

I just purchased a Levo comp Alloy to replace my tired gen 2 Kenevo and i noticed movement in the same bearings.

I have dropped my bike back to my LBS to investigate.

It’s not much movement but you can feel it plus it make noise with is just annoying. I am also worried that a little movement now will get worse and likely cause larger failing or at least i will be killing bearings.

 

[Christox]

Hi !

I had this issue in 2 of 2 Levo 2022
directly after the first 2-3 hard rides.
After pressing in with loctite 638 high strength glue the bearings stayed in place permanently.

Best regards, Chris

 

[Coburn]

On further investigation by my LBS it’s not the bearing slipping. The pivot bolts that hold everything together are a set length once you torque them down, but this is fractionally to large resulting in play.

My LBS said they think that when spec machined the frame linkage they simply took away too much material.
They have put a warranty claim in and expect spec to replace the seatstays. So i am back on the analogue bike until its sorted..

 

[Coburn]

Hi !

I had this issue in 2 of 2 Levo 2022
directly after the first 2-3 hard rides.
After pressing in with loctite 638 high strength glue the bearings stayed in place permanently.

Best regards, Chris

Think i have a different problem in the same pivot, the bearings stay in place but the bolt that sets the gap is slightly to long.

Dont you have an issue getting bearings out when you glue them in?

 

[Andeh]

Hi !

I had this issue in 2 of 2 Levo 2022
directly after the first 2-3 hard rides.
After pressing in with loctite 638 high strength glue the bearings stayed in place permanently.

Best regards, Chris

Thanks, I'll give that a shot. I've been trying 609, which is apparently medium strength. Are you putting some in the bearing seat, then pressing bearing? Or that plus dribbling some around edge of bearing after it's pressed?

I don't think it's related to the bolts, because the 2 piece bearing washers make direct contact with the bearing and the seatstay. So once the bearing slips, the SS moves over with it and rubs against the link. My bolts aren't coming loose. I've checked them repeatedly.

 

[DrSharky]

Thanks, I'll give that a shot. I've been trying 609, which is apparently medium strength. Are you putting some in the bearing seat, then pressing bearing? Or that plus dribbling some around edge of bearing after it's pressed?

I don't think it's related to the bolts, because the 2 piece bearing washers make direct contact with the bearing and the seatstay. So once the bearing slips, the SS moves over with it and rubs against the link. My bolts aren't coming loose. I've checked them repeatedly.

IMO thats not an issue that should be fixed by user. Trying to fix incorrect frame/hardware tolerances with glue could lead to frame failures you're not gonna enjoy.

 

[Christox]

IMO thats not an issue that should be fixed by user. Trying to fix incorrect frame/hardware tolerances with glue could lead to frame failures you're not gonna enjoy.

Both bearings are fixed with loctite by design. So re-loctiting it should be the correct try to fix it. In my may it solved the problem. The factory glue was not applied correctly

The bearings are locked axially in only one side by hardware from slipping. The other side is locked with loctite. They will try to slip in this side at high rearend sodeload.

Best regards,

Chris

 

[Andeh]

As a follow-up to this, my warranty replacement link from Cascade had much tighter bores. I was still able to get the bearings to move a little, so I reinstalled them using a high strength retaining compound (some generic high strength/high temp from Kimball Midwest, dealer said it was equivalent to 638 and rated to ~4,000 psi). Since then, I haven't been able to get the bearings to move while riding like a jackass, so I consider the problem solved.

 

[Spangoolies]

It annoys me when companies invest so much engineering into a product but then rely on bearings sticking in a part that is also designed to allow them to move (when being replaced). My friend had this exact issue with the bearings on the chainstay-seatstay pivots on his commencal clash. They would pop out and the links would rub together. He ended up gluing them in which worked for a while. What really annoys me if they simply designed it with an internal circlip to hold the bearing in place like I’ve seen on some other frames. This would fix this and also make it a lot easier to replace bearings that have not been glued in.

 

[mike172]

Came to contribute and say thanks as I've found this during a bearing replacement.

My cascade link has done the same, bearing was on an angle. I've used the retaining compound mentioned here. Will see if that helps. Bikes ridden poorly for a while so hoping this is why.

 

[Andeh]

After second round of reinstalling using green high strength retaining compound, my bearing appears to to finally be holding in place. A few steps I think are probably key:
* thoroughly degrease the outside of the bearing and the bearing seat with isopropyl alcohol. I kept doing this until a shop towel stayed clean after rubbing it dry.
* prepare the outside race of both the bearing and the inside of the bearing seat with preparation compound
* liberal application of retaining compound in the bearing seat. wipe off excess after bearing installation

 

[Alexbn921]

It could also be flex in the bearing itself. If the bearing keeps working it's way out, I would look at the alignment of the frame and other bearings.
I swapped to NSK bearings and the whole bike is much more solid with less side play in the suspension.