Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Classic & Vintage
Reload this Page >

Ball bearings, size needed 1952 Raleigh front hub?

Search
Notices
Classic & Vintage This forum is to discuss the many aspects of classic and vintage bicycles, including musclebikes, lightweights, middleweights, hi-wheelers, bone-shakers, safety bikes and much more.

Ball bearings, size needed 1952 Raleigh front hub?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 09-28-23, 07:17 AM
  #1  
Road Fan
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Road Fan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Posts: 16,880

Bikes: 1980 Masi, 1984 Mondonico, 1984 Trek 610, 1980 Woodrup Giro, 2005 Mondonico Futura Leggera ELOS, 1967 PX10E, 1971 Peugeot UO-8

Mentioned: 49 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1858 Post(s)
Liked 664 Times in 506 Posts
Ball bearings, size needed 1952 Raleigh front hub?

Sorry to raise this for the 30th time, but I've searched our site a few times now and no apparent success. I need to replace the front wheel bearing balls for my 1952 Rudge (made by Raleigh), a club-style bike, the Aero Special. Could not get there on Harris, Headbadge, here, or some other specific sites. None of my older literature has it, either. What's in there is pretty grungy.

Help?
Road Fan is offline  
Old 09-28-23, 07:24 AM
  #2  
dedhed
SE Wis
 
dedhed's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Milwaukee, WI
Posts: 10,516

Bikes: '68 Raleigh Sprite, '02 Raleigh C500, '84 Raleigh Gran Prix, '91 Trek 400, 2013 Novara Randonee, 1990 Trek 970

Mentioned: 40 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2747 Post(s)
Liked 3,401 Times in 2,058 Posts
​​​​​​
dedhed is offline  
Old 09-28-23, 07:54 AM
  #3  
bluesteak 
Full Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2018
Posts: 219
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 118 Post(s)
Liked 91 Times in 52 Posts
Most of these hubs take 3/16 bearings, but there are some that take 1/4 bearings. My Clubman has a Bayliss Wiley alloy front hub with 1/4 bearings.
__________________
TigerTom
bluesteak is offline  
Likes For bluesteak:
Old 09-28-23, 08:45 AM
  #4  
SirMike1983 
On the road
 
SirMike1983's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: New England
Posts: 2,176

Bikes: Old Schwinns and old Raleighs

Mentioned: 36 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 373 Post(s)
Liked 857 Times in 327 Posts
Exactly right. The standard post-war Raleigh Sports front hub uses 3/16 inch bearings. However, the farther back you go and the farther up the hierarchy of bike models you go, the more likely you are to encounter a different and more premium front hub. If in doubt, put a good caliper on a couple of the old bearing balls and see what you have. As has been said, some premium hubs used a different ball size in that era.
__________________
Classic American and British Roadsters, Utility Bikes, and Sporting Bikes (1935-1979):
https://bikeshedva.blogspot.com/
SirMike1983 is offline  
Old 09-28-23, 10:26 AM
  #5  
jiangshi
Banned.
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 1,941
Mentioned: 23 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 514 Post(s)
Liked 270 Times in 172 Posts
The Park spoke ruler has BB gauge built in.
jiangshi is offline  
Old 09-28-23, 08:51 PM
  #6  
Road Fan
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Road Fan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Posts: 16,880

Bikes: 1980 Masi, 1984 Mondonico, 1984 Trek 610, 1980 Woodrup Giro, 2005 Mondonico Futura Leggera ELOS, 1967 PX10E, 1971 Peugeot UO-8

Mentioned: 49 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1858 Post(s)
Liked 664 Times in 506 Posts
Originally Posted by bluesteak
Most of these hubs take 3/16 bearings, but there are some that take 1/4 bearings. My Clubman has a Bayliss Wiley alloy front hub with 1/4 bearings.
Ok, I'm sure these are not ¼". more likely they are 3/16". Were 7/32" or 5/32" ever used?

The balls in the hub are quite distorted, most are not even rolling. I'm really not interested in the dimensions of these broken balls.
Road Fan is offline  
Old 09-28-23, 09:37 PM
  #7  
Het Volk
Full Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 334
Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 192 Post(s)
Liked 145 Times in 78 Posts
Originally Posted by Road Fan
Sorry to raise this for the 30th time, but I've searched our site a few times now and no apparent success. I need to replace the front wheel bearing balls for my 1952 Rudge (made by Raleigh), a club-style bike, the Aero Special. Could not get there on Harris, Headbadge, here, or some other specific sites. None of my older literature has it, either. What's in there is pretty grungy.

Help?
somewhere there is a GIF of Fletch with his “it’s all ball bearings” rant
Het Volk is offline  

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.