Trek cheapy hub ball bearings

[RustyMTB]

So I'm back on my pals Powerfly. The bike has a noisy front wheel. I've stripped it & found a cup & cone front hub where the locknuts have worked loose & water has got in & knackered the ball bearings.

I'll try to get away with new ball bearings, as the cups & cones look ok. Long shot but anyone know the ball bearing diameter on these hubs??

 

[RustyMTB]

Scrub that lads, I'll be changing the whole thing for new. In passing, I would say a bottom of the range Powerfly is a false economy. Thing is made out of cheese.

 

[RustyMTB]

Bit more on this. This is a one year old bike with about 1000 miles under its belt. I spoke to Trek today & found out the hub fitted at the factory isn't carried in stock & has no delivery date I.e. never coming back. Trek suggested buying a whole new wheel or a different hub with the associated wheel rebuild cost. Might be me but I would expect a current model to be supported with spares, especially on a wear part. You can see the pitting damage to the cup & cone in this picture. For now, I'll rebuild it with new ball bearings but I expect it will fail again within a year because of the damage to the cup & cone.

 

[James_C]

I am not sure there is much sealing with cup and cone. Not sure they are suitable at all for MTB with dust/water flying everywhere.

I'd suggest looks for a set of wheels that have sealed cartridge bearings, perhaps a higher spec model. People upgrade the wheels to downhill rims, and sell the old ones off.