Hello all.
I purchased a pair of Roval Rapide CLX II road wheels about 11 months ago. My understanding is that they have ceramic bearings installed. I was changing out the tire this morning and noticed a bit of “grit” or “notchines” as I spun them. There is no lateral play and they still spin ok, but that gritty feel seems to imply that I should take them to the LBS to get serviced.
I’m a bit concerned because last I had ceramic bearings on the bottom bracket and I had that gritty feel the LBS recommended replacing the bearings.
Just wondering if there are any experienced Roval owners that can tell me how often they service their wheels, typically… and how often they replace the bearings vs cleaning and regreasing.
Thanks much in advance for the input and advice. If the LBS recommends replacing after less than a year of use, I’d probably just switch to steel given the cost these days. TY
Gritty ceramic bearings are bad news more often than not, I am afraid to say. It is tricky to take them out without damaging/breaking ceramic races.
Yeah I’d go with stainless steel.
Yeah. In the large majority of cases, cartridge bearings can’t be removed without high potential for damage. The reason is that removing them requires a high axial force on the inner race which can dent races and balls. If removed, they should be replaced. It is possible in many cases to leave them in place, remove the outer seals, clean them out , and re-lube. This can remove grit but doesn’t fix degraded races or balls. Personally, I’ve gotten better life out of stainless steel bearings than ceramic bearings, so agree with lloydrm.
These Roval wheels seem to use DT Swiss 180 hub internals, which feature ceramic bearings. Now, in cycling applications, most - if not all - bearings marked as ‘ceramic’ are hybrid bearings meaning that the balls are ceramic but the races are steel. So, the races will wear much faster than the ball bearings and the races can still have corrosion/rust/pitting if contaminated.
Do you ride in the wet alot? I find it hard to believe that the bearings could be bad this early without extraordinary circumstances of either hours and hours of really abusive conditions or manufacturing defect like a damaged seal.
I do also see some commentary on preload on these wheels maybe being too tight.
At any rate, I would absolutely not jump to replacing bearings. I’d first clean the wheel and make sure that the grittiness you are feeling isn’t coming from some other area and not the bearings. If it is the bearings, clean and regrease. Since you aren’t seeing sloppiness and play, this should be all that’s necessary. Now, I can see an LBS shying away from that basic maintenance as a CYA/liability thing where just replacing bearings - if you continue to have an issue - they can shift the blame to the manufacturer.
The hardest part about bearing service, IMO, is getting them out and back in properly. The LBS will have to do this correctly whether or not they are replacing the bearing so especially for expensive ceramic bearings a clean/repack would be silly not to try first. Even better, get yourself a bearing press kit and do it yourself.
Bottom line:
- Clean the wheel/hub assembly well without removing bearings - just end caps, etc
- Check preload
- Remove bearings, clean and regrease and reinstall. Not only would this step get rid of any grit if there was some in the bearing, but it could also fix any issues with improper installation initially if the bearing was pressed in slightly off alignment from the factory.
Thank you all for the advice. Really informative.
@JAlderson I really appreciate the detailed answer and information. Since I’ve never serviced bearings before, I’m a bit concerned about my ability to do it myself. I’ll first try with my LBS for the regrease and re-install. If they push for me to buy new ones, I’ll just take them back and try to do it myself. Hopefully the clean/repack does the trick, as I really love these wheels.
Thanks again folks.
If you want to get a sense of the process and this might help you do a little more cleaning/checking before you go back to the LBS - the youtube channel ZoubTube is a really great resource. Here’s an example of removing and replacing bearings on a 240s front hub:
At least this might help you get to the bearings themselves and also see what either you or the LBS would need to do. If you take off the end caps, you can then reach in and turn the bearing with your finger. If it’s gritty, you can feel that pretty well this way to isolate even if perhaps its one side or the other.
Good luck in either case!
@JAlderson Thanks very much for the video. I will be learning up on the specifics so I don’t need to relly on the LBS for this type of work. However, based on the feedback and my lack of skills, I did take it to them this go around. Luckily they said it wasn’t far enough along to cause damage, but they too were surprised that the initial life wasn’t a bit longer.
