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rear axle


1hill@aTime

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changing my rear tube yesterday, i noticed that the hub is a bit loose, how tight should i make it? torque wrench tight or just slightly using two spanners?

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Assuming you are talking about the preload cones... yes jus tighten slightly until the play is gone, a cone spanner is needed to do it properly though as two normal open-end spanners dont fit at the same time as you have to lock it up after adjusting it.

 

Buy a cone spanner (check size)

Grind a normal spanner down

Take a chance

or take it to LBS and let them service the hub while they at it

 

Smile hope this helps
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changing my rear tube yesterday' date=' i noticed that the hub is a bit loose, how tight should i make it? torque wrench tight or just slightly using two spanners?[/quote']

 

Tighten it so that just a minimum of play is left. Because you spanner will exert some additional pressure on the axel and you'll have the right pressure sum then!

 

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This may seem like a stupid question ! But was could happen ?ith a loose hub !

 

There are no stupid questions, but plenty of stupid answers. I'm not neccessarilly referring to this post.

 

If your cones are too loose, you have a wheel that wobbles on its bearings. Apart from the irritation of a knocking noise from somewhere on your bike (most noticeable when you pump your wheel on the bike with a hand pump), it also loads fewer of the bearings and puts more stress on them and they fail quicker. Visualise it as the wheel being supported on only one of its nine or ten balls per side at a time.

 

If you apply more pre-load, i.e. tighten your hubs, you load more of the bearings and more of the balls are loaded, hence less stress on them and they last longer.

 

Bearings are strange beasts. They don't roll perfectly. They slide/roll. Since the outer race is larger than the inner one, the bearings have to cover more distance on the outside than on the inside and hence to a half roll, half slide. You can see why lubrication is important.

 

What people don't realise is that a quick release mechanism on a bike wheel also loads the bearings, whereas axle nuts don't. Therefore, adjusting cones on a QR wheel is a bit of an art. You cannot judge the loading purely by inspecting the wheel off the bike, you have to take the on-bike situation in reckoning as well. The best way to do this is to find the balance between a wheel that doesn't produce a knock when wiggled forcefully sideways, but which also still stops at its heaviest spot when on the bike. If it stops in random places the cones are too tight, shortening the life of your bearings.

 

What makes the art of bearing adjustment ever more difficult, is the imprecise movement produced by the two cone spanners and course threaded axle.

 

It is well worth it getting an experienced bike mechanic to sit with you and coach you. It's more difficult that most people imagine. Some bike shops don't have a clue.

 

 

JB

 

 
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OK i understand what is being said ! I have a pair of old Spinergy Revx which i use from time to time. I recently had a cassete change down on them and the mechanic said the hub is loose and it was dangerous to ride on! He said he tried to tighten it but it just came loose ! The wheel does wobble from side to side but not that much! So is the mechanic right ? is it dangerous to use the wheel

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