New wheel bearings

[Hokiefyd]

I bought new front and rear bearing cones for my MTB wheels (with Shimano Alivio Parallax hubs). The replacement bearing cones came from Wheels Manufacturing, look high quality, and most surprising...they were made in the USA. They cost me $10 for each cone, but I didn't complain as the parts were made here.

How do you guys set the bearing preload? I'm changing the original cones (20 years old) because they're pitted and gritty, and I suspect that was because of over-tightening when the bike was manufactured. I have taken them apart and re-greased them before, and I just tightened the cones JUST enough so that there was no play in the axle. Essentially, just snug them up.

Am I doing that right?

 

[supton]

Be aware that the skewer also adds some preload. I don't know why, but it does. So I've taken to adjusting to "just slightly" loose. Then install on the bike, and check for play at the rim. As long as it doesn't click, but has the slightest play, I call it good.

I was amazed how tight the hubs on my bike were initially. Or, how bad it felt, the first time I had the wheels off. I recall taking the rear wheel back to the shop I bought the bike at, oh must have been after 2-300 miles, and asking about it. "Sorry, to get the hub to roll smoother you'd have to go to sealed cartridge." Huh? Top end hubs are still cup and cone, I knew that much. I did some more reading, and simply loosened the hub enough to get rid of the "crunch" feeling it had.

IIRC I read both Park tools website, and Sheldon Brown's websight. And wound up asking anyhow on bikeforums.net.

Now that we have our cold snap (or "seasonable" temps) I oughta think about repacking the bearings. If only to see how they are doing.

 

[Hokiefyd]

These definitely have a crunchy feeling when I hold the axle and spin the wheel. But in this case, the old cones are definitely and visibly pitted/scoured. I took them apart last year and lightly sanded the areas that were pitted, but that really didn't do much.

Fortunately, the balls are still good and the cup in the hub itself is still good. I guess the cones are designed to be the weakest link, which is how it should be because you can't really replace the cup in the hub.

I never thought to check Sheldon Brown's website; I'll check it out.

Thanks!

 

[supton]

Yeah, I don't quite get it; I would have thought the balls would be sofer, since they are easier to change. Yet in my limited experience it's the cones that are beat up. Maybe the balls are softer; but shock damage looks worse on the cone?

On a prior bike, with damaged cones, I just ran the hub loose enough to get over the crunch. Much more play at the rim than normal; but the bike didn't care. And I didn't care as long as they didn't have drag. Made it 600 miles w/o issue. [At that point I upgraded, and gave away the bike--everything else was in similar shape.]

 

[stephen9666]

Replacing the ball bearings would be cheap and could probably improve the overall performance. The bearings you have now could be out of round, but they're so small it's difficult to notice.

I've always ordered mine off ebay.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Thanks guys. I rolled each of the bearing balls on the counter and they all appeared to roll straight and have no spalling on them. I think I will use them and make sure to set the preload just a hair on the loose side.

 

[rpn453]

Yep, set them up just a tiny bit loose off the bike. Brand new, set them up as loose as possible without play and they'll break in. I don't think very many people adjust the hubs when building bikes. I remember guys I rode with who worked at other shops talking about how many bikes they built in a day or per hour. I liked to spend at least a half-hour on each bike, and I spent as much as two hours on the really nice ones.

With new cones I'd prefer new balls too, but if there's no visible wear then they'll probably be fine. I recommend keeping each set (side) of balls together, as there may be slight differences in wear from side to side.

Speaking of metal hardness of the balls, when I worked as a bike mechanic in the late nineties, we once received a set of Taiwan-made 1/4" balls with one of our orders. My boss Glen, the shop owner, was very angry as he hated Taiwanese components with a passion. The quality affordable stuff came from Japan, and had for decades at that point. Shimano was producing some decent lower-end stuff in Singapore and Malaysia, but absolutely nothing good came from Taiwan at the time. His son came by later in the day after school, as he usually did, and decided to see how bad they were. He stuck a Taiwanese ball in the vise and, using no more than light effort, turned it into a square in three presses. He then grabbed one of the old stock Japanese balls (I'm unsure of the make; maybe K&H?) and stuck it in the vise. It wouldn't deform with the light effort used on the Taiwanese ball so he really cranked on it. Still no deformation. Putting two hands and his body weight into it, the ball finally shattered. The Taiwanese balls either got sent back or went into the garbage. There's no way Glen would allow such a thing to be sold in his shop.

 

[Hokiefyd]

When I put it back together, it was still gritty with the old balls. I bought new balls, and it's still somewhat gritty. I have them rather loose, just to the point where there's no play as installed with the QR skewer tight. They roll pretty smooth.

 

[mpvue]

it takes some time to get the old parts clean enough to repack. we used a safety clean tank, or some spray cleaner on the parts laid on a rag.
wheels mfg cones and axles are top notch, and really the only source for good cro-mo axles in various sizes. they make replacement hub parts for EVERYTHING.
to adjust properly, you need a variety of cone wrenches. I like to set up one side real tight and do all the adjusting on the other. setting it up slightly loose off the bike is fine, as was pointed out, the Q/R will squeeze it a bit more.
I always loosened up the hubs on new builds because they always came in too tight; perhaps they figured they would loosen up w/ use, but I adjusted them anyway.

 

[Hokiefyd]

I didn't even replace the rear cones/balls. Once I discovered that loosening the bearings on the front wheel removes ALL grittiness when spinning, I loosened the rear wheel bearing. Surprise: it spins completely smooth. I'm sure the cone surfaces on the back are pitted like the fronts, but at this point, I doubt any further damage is being done. I have the rear bearing cones if I do want to go to the trouble of replacing those parts.