Bearing cages

[quixoticgeek]

I notice that some of the more recent shimano hubs, rather than using lose bearings, have "bearing cages". With loose bearings you have a choice of where you get them from even if shimano disappeared for some reason. With the move to bearing cages, is there going to be a problem with lockin and potentially discontinuation of support for parts in the future?  Or is this just my paranoia from years of IT orphaned products and legacy systems coming to the fore?

Thanks

J

[The French Tandem]

Two things to consider:

1) Chances are that your hubs will die long before Shimano run out of business. We are not talking about the little guy who machines bicycle parts in his basement shop!

2) Bearings are, most of the time, pretty standard parts that you can source from general bearing manufacturers like SKF or Timken. I don't know about your specific hub, but for all our headset/bottom bracket bearings, I go to an industrial bearings supplier rather than to a bicycle shop. The bearings are exactly the same, but the price is not the same!

[P Walsh]

Some people prefer to remove the caged bearings and replace them with loose bearings of the same size anyway. You can generally get an extra bearing in that way. I'm sure the caged sort are used to save assembly time and cut costs, not to make it better to use.

[quixoticgeek]

Two things to consider:

1) Chances are that your hubs will die long before Shimano run out of business. We are not talking about the little guy who machines bicycle parts in his basement shop!

Agreed, they are however a company that introduces a new standard for most parts every 2-3 years, and doesn't necessarily make spares for what ends up being the full life of the product. Can you buy replacement freehub bodies for a hub sold in 1999?

2) Bearings are, most of the time, pretty standard parts that you can source from general bearing manufacturers like SKF or Timken. I don't know about your specific hub, but for all our headset/bottom bracket bearings, I go to an industrial bearings supplier rather than to a bicycle shop. The bearings are exactly the same, but the price is not the same!

Yes, with bearings. I can get a couple of hundred 3/16" stainless steel bearings from any of dozens of suppliers online, and they just work. So the switch from generic ball bearings to a bearing cage assembly that is not generic concerns me. Do SKF make a replacement for shimano's Y26J98030 ?

J

[The French Tandem]

So the switch from generic ball bearings to a bearing cage assembly that is not generic concerns me. Do SKF make a replacement for shimano's Y26J98030 ?

J

I'm not sure that your cage is not generic.  SKF make no Shimano-specific parts, but they  make generic caged bearings, and I'm pretty sure that if you measure your cage carefully, you will find out something that fits from SKF. And as Mr Walsh said, you  can always use loose balls in a bearing designed for caged balls.

[Torslanda]

The cage is used to speed up the assembly process. It's easier to place a plastic ring with 7 bearings in the hub rather than 9 single bearings and grease.

They're still 1/4" or 3/16" or 7/32" or whatever ball bearings. The cage won't wear . . .

[hubner]

If the hubs are cup-and-cone, then any loose ball bearings of the right size will fit. The loose balls might be also held in a retainer/cage but that that is only to make it more convenient to fit.

Smaller and boutique manufacturers tend to use cartridge bearings. If any Shimano hubs use cartridge bearings it's possible they might be proprietary because they're a big company, smaller companies tend to use off the shelf cartridge bearings.

[quixoticgeek]

Thanks all, my mind is put at ease that I'm not risking a lockin or orphan product issue.

Cheers

J