Repack

I cannot seem to find the definition of Repack. It's mentioned many times throughout the forum and in my manual, but I can't seem to find out what procedure it is.

It says I need to do it at 16k km or 24 months to the rear arm pivot bearing and the steering bearing races and I don't have a clue what it means.

 

It means to pack them with new grease.

Personally, with all the labor involved in getting to them I just replace them when I've gone that far.

 

Repack the bearings with grease. They were packed with grease new....now you need to repack them. Kinda like packing a grocery bag....you may ask the bag boy to repack it if he did it wrong.

 

It's in reference to the procedure of removing bearings, cleaning them and repacking them with new wheel bearing grease. Providing they are good enough to repack.
Personally, the bearings don't cost much and I would just replace them, but beware of cheap (Chinese made) bearings or you'll be wasting you time and money.

 

I'm with Carl. Plus the way technology is, new bearings are usually much better than 10 - 20 - 30 yr old ones. That gives you more control, better mileage, and a safer ride.

 

Don't bet on it. Newer may be less reliable due to higher production cost unless you find a manufacturer that's quality minded.

 

Timken FTW

by the way, repack was also a term used a lot by early downhill bicycle racers who would need to repack their coaster-braked rear hubs after a run because they'd burn all the grease out on the way down!

 

Thanks guys, makes more sense now .

 

I remember when I was a young kid (almost 50 years ago) looking at my dad repacking steering bearings and pedal shaft bearings on my bicycle. I'm not sure if that was what introduced me to wrenching on bikes, but one day I said to myself : I should be able to do it myself now, lol!

 

repacking old bearings is dumb imho.

If you're into it that far, pull them out and install some good quality sealed bearings.

most bearing failure is due to installation error, so to all those saying all new bearings are junk, thats not always the case.

 

I'd agree with that, most of the time if a new bearing has play or is rough after a short time it's going to be either the installer managed to get some dirt in there with it or accidentally side loaded the bearing whilst driving it in. A decent quality modern bearing will likely last the life of the bike if installed correctly.

 

CHeap bearings made in CHina are junk. I bought a pair for a trailer. They did cost me half the price and did last 1/10 of the more expensive ones.

 

Agreed, so I don't buy cheap for anything that's safety related.