BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

a vice?

I usually put a vise-grip on the opposite lock-nut (lightly!) and kind of hold the wheel in my lap.

It's a bit of an art to learn to get the locknut and cone close to right and then tighten them against each other.

Easily doable with two hands, just takes some practice.

And then take it apart and do it all over again after you put the wheel back in the frame and it tightens up just that tiny bit more. Patience is advised.

And then take it apart and do it all over again after you put the wheel back in the frame and it tightens up just that tiny bit more.

I use the technique of tightening the skewer onto the hub with a socket wrench pretending to be a dropout (like this, scroll down to Hub Adjustment, but not using the bike frame) on one side whilst adjusting the cone and locknut.

http://www.jastein.com/Html/Tools_for_Wheels.htm

Scroll down to the Hub Axle Vise.

uggh, doing a once over last night for the 200k and noticed my rear hub was just a *tiny* bit loose. went to adjust it and it was either crunchy or loose. pulled the axle, and voila! another severely pitted cone.

anyone have a sense of which bike shop I have the best chance of finding a cone in stock? shimano deore lx m570, drive side cone if you're interested.

Kraynick's may not be a bad choice, or perhaps Thick?

Do you need this for tomorrow am? If not I have an old hub and you're welcome to the cone, but I'm out of town until ~midnight tonight... and I'm also not sure it's the right part - I can't remember if it's lx or not although it might be the same done either way. But if you can wait until tomorrow afternoon we can see.

This is for tomorrow morning... although I'm not very confident riding 120 miles into the Western Pennsylvanian bush on a recently self serviced rear hub. I might call uncle (mechanical) on the 200k.

Oh and adding insult to injury last night, when I took off the cassette the screw that holds it together had worked itself loose and sprockets and spacers went everywhere.

Definitely sounds like a trip to Kraynick's is in order. He’ll most likely have the part, and my experience is he prefers that you do the wrenching and he will eyeball your work if you ask him. He has stands and tools to use too, so you don’t have to buy a specialty tool you might use once every five years or so.

@dmtroyer: On the 200K, you will pass by at least one bike shop, a bit past the halfway point (Snitgers in Beaver), if the hub is too wonky and desperately needs professional counseling and support.

@dan good to know... I'm tempted to carry my cone wrenches anyhow O_o. Too bad I don't have one of these, although not necessary for all hub adjustments.

Look on the 200K as an opportunity to test your mechanical skills, and a potential chance to adapt, improvise, and overcome adversity on the road.

Alternatively, you can give up screwing around with it and resign yourself to living with loose hubs

I think one strategy is to leave it a little tiny bit loose, which will be compensated by the extra turning when you really tighten it down.

Adjusting hubs is a bit of a pain and takes some practive, but they last a lot longer when done properly, not to mention roll more smoothly and feel much more secure when cornering hard.

Shimano cones are different for just about every model of hub they've ever made, don't know why. Wheels Manufacturing makes a lot of replacement cones, this is what you need:

http://wheelsmfg.com/shimano-right-rear-cone-cn-r098-10mm.html

The axle vise I posted above takes the guess work out of adjusting the hub to account for the compression of the QR. I've used a fork and a few washers (why are washers called washers?) to do the same thing.

Dan, I was cursing your name climbing into zelie yesterday

Mr troyer, you were also missed. Hope your bike feels better.

So the Stein tool thingy gave me an idea. Here's what you need, A large washer that will fit over the quick release:



Clamp the wheel to the outside of your fork with the qr with the washer against the end of the axle:



The wheel should spin freely:



You can adjust those cones with precision with the 2 hands you presently have. Assuming you have opposable thumbs:



Should work for the back the same.

If you then throw that washer in your tool bag, you can then adjust your cones by the side of the road in Zambia, if need be. That's how I like my repairs to be.

So I did find the cone I needed after only about 30 minutes of hunting in Kraynick's. I didn't get home until 9:00pm, and prioritized a few other things over rushing to get myself together for the 200k.

@edmonds that's very close to the technique Dan and park tools recommends, which is what i ended up doing sans washer, I guess my locking skewers are such that it isn't necessary. I feel well prepared for adjusting my hubs, but as it doesn't happen that often I'll probably forget everything by the time I need to do it again.

Oh, yeah, I didn't check Dan's post. Sorry.

If you think you ever might need to do it in the field, it wouldn't hurt to try it at home, mine did need a washer to work.

/sigh/ I take back my "learn to live with lose hubs" comment

I bought a rotor truing gauge for my TS2 only to find out that my rotors were already true as far as I could visually perceive

My pad wear however hasn't been consistent for as long as I remember. I think this has been caused by my loose hubs.

I recently realized there was more movement of the rotor via the loose hubs than there was clearance between the pad and the rotor. I think this has led to the premature/uneven pad wear.

Gah.

Peirce, I've adjusted thousands of hubs, I live down the street, I own the tools to do it right. I'll be glad to take a look at your wheels if you'd like.

Well, I'll have to take you up on that sometime

I think I'm getting the hang of it. Attaching the wheel to a frame definitely helps.

Next on my list is to get non-crappy cone wrenches. I've got a decent 17mm, but my 13 and 15 are like weird four-sizes-in-one wrenches and they have about as much play as is needed to make fine adjustments.

You are also welcome to borrow my cone wrenches for a spell if you'd rather DIY.