How to Repack Bicycle Wheel Bearings

If your bicycle regularly sees rain or wet riding surfaces, or is stored outside, then there is a good chance your bearings could use a little love. Even if your wheels aren’t making noise, your bearings could be badly in need of grease and preparing to fail. This simple bit of routine maintenance will not only extend the life of your wheel bearings but also could prevent a costly and painful accident!

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Bearing grease
• Hand tools

1. Remove the wheel from the bicycle and remove one of the axle nuts.

2. Remove the dust shield carefully (if present) and take out the bearings.

3. Clean the bearings with alcohol or a degreasing agent, and clean the journal they came out of in the wheel hub.

4. Replace the bearings in the journal, and liberally apply grease. Roll the grease around in there until you can't even see the bearings.

5. Replace the dust cover and axle nut, making sure not to overtighten so the wheel won't spin freely. Place the wheel back on the bicycle.

Tips & Warnings

• Moly grease from any auto store works great on bicycle bearings.
• Be careful when taking bearings out! They are small and love to roll.