A good source for children's bike parts?

scott.475 said:

Anybody know a good on-line place I can order parts for those inexpensive childrens bikes? The captive ball-bearing cage on my son's Spiderman bike fell apart, and I'd like to have several replacements from here on. The advice my local bike guy gave me last time didn't work, and I don't really want to go that route again!

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Are you talking about a ball bearing cage as in headset/bottom bracket/wheel bearings. if so there very cheap from your local bearing supplier. eg ***,CBC,sieko, look in your local phone book. oh and take one down to save trying to learn how we measure bearing cages. any bearing salesman should be able to supply the part very cheap.

scott.475 said:

Anybody know a good on-line place I can order parts for those inexpensive childrens bikes? The captive ball-bearing cage on my son's Spiderman bike fell apart, and I'd like to have several replacements from here on. The advice my local bike guy gave me last time didn't work, and I don't really want to go that route again!

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Where are you? There is no location in you user details.

scott.475 said:

Okay, I'll try a different bike shop. I'm in a small town, and went to our local guy. He recommended just buying some additional bearing (he didn't have any cages) and carefully putting them around the race, then putting everything back together...this worked for about two weeks. None of this would have happened if the original builder hadn't put the bearing in backward to begin with!

Kind of silly for this forum, I know, but I love going out with my kids, and they are both still a bit too small for the better bikes from the big name makers...another year or two and we should be able to upgrade them.

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Your LBS gave you the correct advice. The only reason for the cage is that it makes assembly of the bike easier for the workers at the factory. The bearings work better without the cage.

To install the bearings without the cage, put a bead of grease in the race. add bearings until no more fit, then remove two of the bearings (this gives the correct amount of slack). Add more grease above the bearings. Do the same on the other side, being careful not to dislodge the bearings from the first side. Then carefully reassemble.

The advantage of the cage is that it is easier. The disadvantage is that the bearings do not rotate freely over the entire race. Instead, each bearing stays in the same position on the race, which eventually will cause uneven wear on the race. Packing the free bearings is more work, but in the long run, the free bearings function better than the bearings in the cage, and the race will last longer.