bearing cones

when regreasing bearing cones, how tight should the cones be tightened
against the bearings.
the way I did it was to tighten finger tight and back off some. then when
tightening the lock nut it snugs up the play of the cones against the
bearings. should there be any play in the wheel side to side? or no play
side to side when the wheel is mounted -slight play of about 5 thousandths
inch side to side.

NO play when the wheel is installed under pressure of the quick release.

Most people advocate very slight play before installing the wheel because the
QR compresses the axle. If this removes the play under QR pressure, the
tightness is ideal. If not, try again until you get it right.

(This said, I used to just tweak the cones so remove play uninstalled, which
means they were a teeny tad tighter than necessary when clamped by the QR. I'm
still riding one Ultegra hubset that was maintained that way for at least 15k
of its present 25k mile, and its innards are still fine.)


Mike Yankee

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To reply, delete everything after "com".)

Gregory McGuire writes:

When regreasing bearing cones, how tight should the cones be
tightened against the bearings. The way I did it was to tighten
finger tight and back off some. Then when tightening the lock nut
it snugs up the play of the cones against the bearings. Should
there be any play in the wheel side to side? Or no play side to
side when the wheel is mounted -slight play of about 5 thousandths
inch side to side.

http://draco.acs.uci.edu/rbfaq/FAQ/8c.7.html

Jobst Brandt

"Gregory McGuire" writes:

when regreasing bearing cones, how tight should the cones be tightened
against the bearings.

Standard test is to tighten the cones so there is a tiny bit of play.
Then install the wheel properly (see www.sheldonbrown.com for info)
and see if the tire valve stem is heavy enough to pull the rim from
the 3 or 9 o'clock position to the 6 o'clock position. If this is
true, your cones are probably o.k.

I recently bought a few sets of frame dropouts (not brazed into any
frameset yet). I can use the fun dropouts to test cone adjustment OFF
THE BIKE.... :-) :-) Just install the QR on these dropouts, and spin
the axle/dropouts to test the "feel" of the cones. This is by far the
simplest and most realistic way to test cone tightness... if you have
a spare set of dropouts handy ...

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA

"Gregory McGuire" wrote in message ...
when regreasing bearing cones, how tight should the cones be tightened
against the bearings.
the way I did it was to tighten finger tight and back off some. then when
tightening the lock nut it snugs up the play of the cones against the
bearings. should there be any play in the wheel side to side? or no play
side to side when the wheel is mounted -slight play of about 5 thousandths
inch side to side.

Hi Gregory, I agree with what Mike says. When installed on the bike,
you don't want any play at all. (Nor a dragging/binding condition
either) for the very best results.

I usually lightly rap the side of the rim to kind of "feel/hear" just
how much play there is, or isn't.

It is my opinion, that many of the good Axles/Axle Nuts now made today
are much sturdier/stouter than days of old, and I've found not much
flex/give is apparent when clamping down the quick release skewers.
Lots of axles now too, are using Cartirdge Bearings rather than Loose
Balls.

This last little bit of fiddleing can be trying, I know. Sometimes,
I'll use a cone wrench at the left side locking nut, and slowly, and
ever so slightly tighten the inner nut on the opposite side (wile it
is locked firmly)to aquire precise adjustment.
Hope this helps, Mark