Power Tap SL bearings: UK replacement

russelldb

Hi,
My power tap SL's bearings have gotten quite graunchy all of a sudden. There is also lateral play in the wheel at the hub. Is there a UK company/individual that can replace the bearings in my wheel or do I have to send it to Saris in the USA?

Many thanks

Russell

hakan_the_rider

You need to send your Hub to Saris company, only they can service the bearings to keep your Powertap working properly and accurartly... If there is certified Saris service center in UK it would be ok too, you can contact Saris for service centers in UK ...

fearby

You need to contact these people:

http://www.paligapltd.co.uk/

They didn't reply to my email so I did a search for a phone number for them as they have deliberately not included one on their website - I found this one:

01179 823673

Give them a ring as once you get through they are helpful

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Porkyboy

Hi

Hmm... very interesting and rather depressing, I have EXACTLY the same problem, wonder if it's the weather in the UK?

PBUK

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Piotr

The nuts of the axle tend to come loose in my case. Take the wheel off and see if you can't just tighten them.

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Porkyboy

Hi

Thanks for the thought, tried it, also took it down to LBS who decided they couldn't "safely" tighten them any further

PBUK

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velomanct

LOL. Wtf is wrong with Saris/powertap? They still can't fix this bearing problem?

It's sad that you pay $1000 for a powermeter wheel and the bearings are STILL crap.

Weak. I want to get a powermeter again, and I'm prob going to have to go with another powertap bc I don't have 3k to blow. ugh.

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Porkyboy

Hi

Right, so I've missed out on some history here. What is this known bearing problem? How long has it been an issue? Can you point me to other references to it? I don't want to follow this up just one the strength of the one report of an issue.

Thanks.

PBUK

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Porkyboy

Hi

Just thought I would update this for any UK users or people who are thinking about going down the PowerTap route.

I had to have the bearings replaced in my P/T SL 2.4, this cannot be safely performed in the UK as there is no Saris service centre with the required calibration equipment, calibration is required after bearing replacement. I had the choice of sending my unit to either the US or to their service centre in Prague, the closest.

I sent the unit to Prague, the cost of postage including some insurance was £48.59 which was the cheapest I could find, this was through the Post office. I sent the unit on 09.06.2008 as was advised by Saris that it would take about 7 days. The unit came back on 17.07.2008, I make that 5-6 weeks.

If you need repairs and you are based in the UK that's the score at present.

Cheers.

PB

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russelldb

I emailed Saris and they advised that I contact Paligap (the UK distributer). Paligap gave me a return number and I sent them the wheel. They batch up sends to the states (as far as I know). It took about 4 weeks to get my PT back. In the meantime I rented one from www.cyclepowermeters.com, who I can't recommend highly enough. Great product and good service from a very knowledgeable team.

As far as I know Paligap are on target to start doing the calibration themselves next year (but this is just little bird talk).

The bearing issue is THE big issue for PowerTap ownership, especially those of us in wet climes. Still a good product with good customer service though. They just need to sort out the bearing thing. They won't have the mid level market to themselves forever.

Russell

sergen

Porkyboy - did you send the whole wheel to Prague or just the hub itself? Unless you are a good wheelbuilder I could see there would also be the extra expense of having to rebuild the hub into the rims??

Porkyboy

Hi

Sent the whole wheel as recommended.

Cheers.

PBUK

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lanierb

I've never had the bearings go bad, but I do find that the cones loosen up on my SL a lot (which could cause your bearings to go if not addressed). Ever since I locktited them on I've had no problems.

ric_stern/RST

As an aside, for those that have purchased a PT wheel from RST we *try* to find them a replacement wheel for free if their wheel neeeds to go back to Saris for servicing. We can't always do this, but we do try to help out (as i know how frustrating it is to not have power data!).

ric

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