My 2015 Giant had horrible bearing layout. The lower shock mount was done through the lower link bearings and bearings in the frame with the bolt rotating with the shock. Barely. So the frame bearings barely turned. At the same time the lower shock mount had a tub around it where water would not flow out of. And be kept there by the frame bearings. Plus that you had to take the whole bike apart to remove all the links (the lower link was completely covered by the crank and chainguide).
As for bearings, the original ones were semi-max-fill, cageless but had more balls in them than caged bearings. So no, not wheel bearings. As for the seals, you have the metal cover (no touch sealing), a rubber seal (RS, with 2RS denoting the seal being present on both sides) and then what Enduro bearing has - LLU and the like. If you're buying off the shelf bearings, chances are it will be the standard 2RS sealing design which is not perfect, but works. Having another layer of protection surely helps.
And the Santa Cruz grease gun method squirts the grease THROUGH the bearings and out. In my opinion, done regularly, this is the best method for bearing upkeep. With this you don't even need additional sealing on them, just push the dirt out from the bearing with fresh grease.
March 13, 2020, 9:35 a.m. - Primož Resman
My 2015 Giant had horrible bearing layout. The lower shock mount was done through the lower link bearings and bearings in the frame with the bolt rotating with the shock. Barely. So the frame bearings barely turned. At the same time the lower shock mount had a tub around it where water would not flow out of. And be kept there by the frame bearings. Plus that you had to take the whole bike apart to remove all the links (the lower link was completely covered by the crank and chainguide). As for bearings, the original ones were semi-max-fill, cageless but had more balls in them than caged bearings. So no, not wheel bearings. As for the seals, you have the metal cover (no touch sealing), a rubber seal (RS, with 2RS denoting the seal being present on both sides) and then what Enduro bearing has - LLU and the like. If you're buying off the shelf bearings, chances are it will be the standard 2RS sealing design which is not perfect, but works. Having another layer of protection surely helps. And the Santa Cruz grease gun method squirts the grease THROUGH the bearings and out. In my opinion, done regularly, this is the best method for bearing upkeep. With this you don't even need additional sealing on them, just push the dirt out from the bearing with fresh grease.