Originally Posted by
bellweatherman
I've got to stick up for this guy somewhat. Shimano lower end hubs are harder to adjust than their moderate to higher end hubs. Has anyone tried to overhaul an old Deore hub. OMG! That is terrible.
How is a Deore any harder than a Deore XT, XTR, Dura Ace or Ultegra? I don't get it. They're all cup-&-cone bearings adjusted using the same types of tools, and the same techniques.
And not everybody has access to bench-mounted vise and a hub specific tool made for that vise. The most you could expext someone to have is cone wrenches.
Hozan makes a hand-held axle vise, for those who really want one. Alternately, a clever person can use their rear dropout and quick-release skewer (or axle nut) as an impromptu axle vise (put the wheel
outside the frame, with the QR springs removed, in a fashion similar to the illustration that
DMF provided).
The axle vise, or something that serves its function, is the key. Without it, sure, adjusting a cup-&-cone hub is going to be difficult. I don't try driving nails with my bare hands, and I don't try adjusting hubs without the necessary tools, that's just how life is sometimes.