Rear Bearing Assembly

Knowing how to remove or install a rear bearing can come in handy when you need to clean out your bearing or replace it. Perhaps the bearing is moving inside the axle cassette from excessive wear or the bearing went bad from too many off track incidents. Whatever the case may be, the process of removal and installation are both very simple and require just a few tools.

How to install a rear bearing

Start by putting your axle cassette in a vice to hold it in place. Remove the pinch bolt, typically located on the top of the cassette with the bolt being removed from the back side. You do this to allow the cassette to flex when you go to insert the bearing.

On the inside of your cassette will be relief points on either side. You should be able to tell where they are based on their coloring differences and how they're relieved from the main cassette opening. These two points are where you will initially slide in your bearing. Once the bearing is inside the relief points, give it a twist on the vertical axis with your hands until it stops or pops into place.

To finish the job you need some leverage and this is where the axle comes into play. Insert the axle into the bearing just far enough that it slides through the bearing. Using a new axle is preferred just so you don't scuff up your bearing, but it's not a requirement. With the axle inside the bearing, pull down to move the bearing into place. It's important to get the bearing inside the cassette evenly so it may take some extra practice if you haven't done this before.

Finally, you can put the pinch bolt back in the cassette, but it's not necessary until after you've installed the cassette back on the chassis and then installed the axle. We don't recommend tightening the pinch bolt until after the axle has been completely installed.

How to remove a rear bearing

You'll start the same way as you did installing the bearing by removing the the pinch bolt. Once removed, insert your axle into the bearing and use it as a lever, pushing up and flipping the bearing inside the cassette.

Once the axle is up as far as it will go, remove it. The remainder of the bearing removal can be done by your hands. Rotate the bearing until it's horizontal and then it should easily pull out.

TL;DR

Installing

1. Place your axle cassette in a vice with the pinch bolt removed.
2. Place your bearing at a 90 degree angle into your cassette where the relief points are.
3. Twist the bearing into place as far as you can with your hands until it stops or pops into place.
4. Place your axle that matches the bearing size inside your bearing and pull it down into place so that it fits evenly inside your cassette.

Removal

1. Place your axle cassette in a vice with the pinch bolt removed.
2. Insert your axle that matches the bearing size inside the bearing and push up until you can't go any further with the axle.
3. Remove the axle and use your hands to rotate the bearing to horizontal, or where it lines up with the relief points.
4. Pull the bearing out of the cassette.