How to Replace Schwinn Bearings

How to Replace Schwinn Bearings

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Schwinn of Chicago has been building bicycles since 1895. Schwinn bicycles, as with all bicycles, require maintenance, including the changing of wheel bearings. The procedure is done in the same way on nearly all bicycles. Changing your Schwinn wheel bearings will require a handful of tools and should take an hour. The front and back wheels require the same procedure but slightly different tool sizes.

Items you will need

  • 15 mm cone wrench

  • 13 mm cone wrench

  • 17 mm open-end wrench

  • Magnet

  • Grease

  • 9 to 11 of 3/16-inch bearings

  • 9 to 11 of 1/4-inch bearings

Remove the wheel from your Schwinn bike.

Pry off the rubber seal with a screwdriver. For the back wheel, secure the 15 mm cone wrench onto the cone flats near the bottom of the wheel. For the front wheel, use a 13 mm cone wrench. With the 17 mm open-end wrench, loosen the top nut by turning it against your cone wrench.

Unscrew the lock nut, the cone, washers and spacers from both sides of the wheel. Slide the axle out from the right side. With a magnet, remove the bearings from either side. Count how many there are.

Apply grease on the hub interior and the detached cone. Push your new ball bearings one at a time into the grease of the hub. The rear wheel hub will use 1/4-inch bearings, while the front hub will use 3/16-inch bearings. Reapply more grease to hold the bearings in place. Slide the axle back into the hub.

Turn the bike wheel over left side up. Slide the washers, spacers and cone onto the left side of the wheel, then repeat on the right side, tightening everything with the cone wrench and the 17 mm open-end wrench. Put the rubber seal back on and attach the wheel to the bike.

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