How Many Times Does It Take You To Get The Hub Bearings Just Right?

[Blue Hills]

Top tip, always make sure the drive side cones are done super tight, and never touch them. Then adjust from the non drive side. If not tight they will turn ever so slightly.

Agree with this.

 

[mickle]

I replaced the back axle six months ago because it had a very slight bend in it. I went over a low hydrant cover on a bit of fast downhill which made a fair old jolt.

The new axle is still perfectly straight when extracted, but I wonder how straight it is when it's actually under load?

If you've bent an axle in the frame it's likely that the dropouts are now misaligned. Every subsequent axle you bolt into that frame will be subjected to a preload as a result, and be more inclined to bend. It's always worth getting your dropouts aligned after bending an axle.

 

[Blue Hills]

Raleigh. They are the ones which came with my bikes.

Never known tools to come with a bike.
Was it Wartburg that old east european car that used to be advertised with a free tool kit?
I'd get some different ones.
Xtools (are they branded Lifeline now?) are OK - also others.

 

[Illaveago]

Never known tools to come with a bike.
Was it Wartburg that old east european car that used to be advertised with a free tool kit?
I'd get some different ones.
Xtools (are they branded Lifeline now?) are OK - also others.

All good bikes used to come with a toolkit. They also had a little bag fixed to the rear of the saddle in which to store them .

 

[OldShep]

Or we are using better quality hubs.

Doesn’t matter on the quality of the hub. The first set I always wonder if I can improve on it and always try. 5 attempts later I might end up at the start

 

[Illaveago]

The best bit is spending hours getting it just right and then spotting the new set of bearings still in the packet !

 

[Lovacott]

If you've bent an axle in the frame it's likely that the dropouts are now misaligned.

The rear wheel runs dead centre of the seat stays (to the millimetre) so I'm pretty confident that the dropouts are good.

What I see when I look at the cups (back wheel off, bearings removed), is that the polish mark (where the bearings press) is wider on one side of the drive side cup than the other.

At the moment, all I have to do is re-tension the bearings every five hundred miles or so but it's still a proper pain in the arse to be honest.

I get a few hundred miles of perfection and then an annoying clicking sound at high speed as the wheel starts to wobble a bit from side to side.

 

[Lovacott]

The best bit is spending hours getting it just right and then spotting the new set of bearings still in the packet !

I did that with a gear cable.

 

[mickle]

The rear wheel runs dead centre of the seat stays (to the millimetre) so I'm pretty confident that the dropouts are good.

What I see when I look at the cups (back wheel off, bearings removed), is that the polish mark (where the bearings press) is wider on one side of the drive side cup than the other.

At the moment, all I have to do is re-tension the bearings every five hundred miles or so but it's still a proper pain in the arse to be honest.

I get a few hundred miles of perfection and then an annoying clicking sound at high speed as the wheel starts to wobble a bit from side to side.

The alignment of the rear wheel in the frame is not a measure of how parallel the drop outs are.