Brompton BWR hub maintenance

[Gunk]

Another attempt today: I replaced the internal bearing ring and packed it with grease. All was well until I mounted the wheel and I found that, just as you said, it is incredibly easy to tighten the bearings too much and /or put too much pressure on the hub when tightening the axle screw, so thanks for the tip.



This is a problem: at the moment the freewheel works, but the cones have what seems to me like too much play in them; I can rock the wheel back and forth. However, if I tighten the cone by a quarter, the freewheel stops working.

Is there a way to find a sweet spot, or is a wobbly wheel normal?

I had exactly the same issue on the Orange Brompton I recently restored, in the end I settled for a tiny bit of play in the hub, over tightened bearings just don’t sit right with me.

 

[Chris S]

@Andy in Germany Did you twist the actuator plate over the pawls before you put the driver back in? If you didn't then it may not have seated correctly and the driveside cone adjustment won't be correct. You don't need to strip down the hub again, just remove the driveside cone to get the driver out.

In any case the original AW hub always had a slight wobble in it. It had an additional tabbed washer over the non-driveside cone and it was impossible to get the adjustment spot on.

 

[Andy in Germany]

I had exactly the same issue on the Orange Brompton I recently restored, in the end I settled for a tiny bit of play in the hub, over tightened bearings just don’t sit right with me.

@Andy in Germany Did you twist the actuator plate over the pawls before you put the driver back in? If you didn't then it may not have seated correctly and the driveside cone adjustment won't be correct. You don't need to strip down the hub again, just remove the driveside cone to get the driver out.

In any case the original AW hub always had a slight wobble in it. It had an additional tabbed washer over the non-driveside cone and it was impossible to get the adjustment spot on.

Thanks for the reassurance: I'll ask the resident Meisterin to check it today, and maybe talk to the local Brompton dealer, but it's reassuring that I'm not alone.

Disappointing, though: I'd have expected better from them for the price.

@Chris S I did cover the Pawls, not because of any particular knowledge, more because it's easier to put it back in the hub that way.