Back to the garage!

I've been experiencing a strange 'clicking' sound from the rear wheel when wheeling the Skorpion out of the garage, but wasn't able to work out what it was. Later, I started to hear a 'scraping' sound at low speed (at higher speed the sound was probably lost in the wind noise). At first I thought the 'scraping' sound might have been the brakepads, I replaced them, but the noise continued.

I went for a run today to test the bike and the scraping sound was getting louder, so I took the back wheel out to investigate. When I removed the sprocket carrier I put my finger into the centre and spun it and it felt very rough as if a bearing had broken up. I have a spare sprocket carrier, so fitted it and the 'clicking' noise had disappeared and the bike rolled more easily. The weather had got considerably worse (wind and rain), so I didn't have a chance to ride the bike, but I took the sprocket carrier apart and look what I found! 

This is the outer bearing (part no: 18 in the diagram). The inner bearing was OK, but had signs of rust, so water had got inside. 

I've had this bike for over 15 years and this is the first time I've had problems with these bearings. They're a standard bearing available from bearing suppliers, so I'll replace them both.

Worth checking if you're planning any long summer trips.

***UPDATE***

I'd just finished writing this post when I checked what bearings I needed to order. Realised that they were 6204 - I'd ordered a pair of these by mistake when I'd meant to order 6203 bearings for a wheel!