Just realized how much bearing standards have changed in 10 years

I was rebuilding an old 80s Peugeot for a customer last week and had to stop myself from laughing when I saw cup and cone bearings. The guy said 'why can't they just use sealed cartridges like everything else now?' and it got me thinking. Back when I started doing this work, you could walk into any shop and find loose ball bearings in 5 different sizes. Now I stock mostly 6800 and 6900 series cartridges and maybe one size of loose balls for the vintage stuff. Anyone else notice how much less common cone wrenches have gotten since sealed bearings took over?

2 comments

2 Comments

stella_roberts12d ago

I'd bet my last 10mm wrench that half the shop owners under 30 have never even seen a cone wrench in person.

fiona_fox5612d ago

Nah, some of those younger techs know their stuff. Met a few who rebuild hubs in their sleep.