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Polymer shock bushings any good?

2K views 4 replies 5 participants last post by  cwrender 
#1 ·
The DU bushing and reducer/spacer/pivot are worn out on my 7x7 bike. Bought a used frame and replaced the DU bushings only sinced there was a good knock in them, those lasted about 2 months, this last set I replaced only lasted 3 weeks so i think the spacers are toast too. I see these polymer sets out there and was wondering what peoples feed back on them are.

Anyone know a good source for the the sets (bushing and pivot pin) in the US? BETD, TFT are pricey to ship over here and I can't find a online price for the Wheel Manufacturing ones.

Also anyone use a needle bearing bushing? Those ones on BETD sound interesting. tia
 
#2 ·
Can you give a little more info on the polymer bushing and needle bearisn you are referring to? I have heard much about them, but am always looking for better options for the shock bushing / spacer systems as I always seem to have problems with them.

One thing I found recently was a piece that PUSH makes. The bushing is standard, but for the spacers, instead of being 2 aluminum halves, this is one piece of stainless that pushes through the bushing. Being 1 piece it helps the bushing last longer. Its not listed on their website, so you'l have to call them.
 
#3 ·
Here's the Tim Flooks page with a description of the polymer bushing and the one-piece axle.

I think that it may have been Betd who introduced the polymer bushing and one-piece axle - I could be wrong, though - on the grounds that it was more resistant to wear in wet conditions, which basically covers around 90% of UK riding!!
 
#4 ·
You can get the standard steel-tube-alu-spacers 3-piece kits directly off places like UniversalCycles.com so long as you know the size you need (e.g. bolt size, shock type, and outer-width of the mount hardware).

However, *some* of them I've seen come in with 12.5mm instead of 13mm outer diameter, which leaves it sloppy in the bushings. blegh.
 
#5 ·
Hi,
I have used different compounds of polymer bushings on all of my frames for the last 2 years.
The manufacturer of these bushings is a german company (delivering also the betd and supposedly the TFT bushings). the wear rate is about 1/2 to 1/4 of the orginal Fox bushings (which indeed are the shittiest bushings available). Even compared with the best available DU bushings (GGB) the wear rate is even less as long as the surface pressure isnt to high (better sub 30N/mm²). I had problems with springs over 700lbs/inch and 12mm bushings as the surface pressure was to high and the wear rate became two times as high as with DU bushings(GGB DU bushings were better in this application). The polymers also do better when the frame is flexing or the shock isnt perfect aligned as these are much more elastic than metallic compounds. The most important thing to notice is never to use these bushings with bare aluminium reducers. You should only use stainless steel, hardened steel, or hard anodized aluminium axles for these bushings.
CW
P.S.: Sorry about having no source in the US available as I am from europe
P.P.S.: I had terrible problems with needle bearings as bushing replacement: These corroded within two weeks. As I failed to seal the needle bearings good enough against water contamination I stopped experimenting with them.
 
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