Bicycle Mechanics - the trashed cone thread

I recently overhauled a Cannondale that a friend of mine had been given by his brother. Weird mix of parts (some incompatible), very much in need of overhaul. I needed to replace one of the bearing cones from the front wheel, and the old one was just crazily pitted. Pitting covered about 5/8 of the race. The intracacies of the pitting are pretty impressive. Also, the axle was difficult to turn when holding the locknut between thumb and forefinger (the wheel itself was heavy enough to turn for awhile under its own momentum, when mounted on the bike).
http://www.unc.edu/~cupery/pics/bike_parts/IMG_6045--trashed_bearing_cone.jpg
http://www.unc.edu/~cupery/pics/bike_parts/IMG_6047-49--trashed_bearing_cone.jpg

Cool patterns. Classic example of what happens when the hub is adjusted too loose. All the force is on a few balls and the cones get worn. Lucky the races weren't damaged.

Cool patterns. Classic example of what happens when the hub is adjusted too loose. All the force is on a few balls and the cones get worn. Lucky the races weren't damaged.
Yeah, the races were surprisingly okay. Actually it was only one cone that needed replacing, and the grease on that one side was totally black and gritty; the grease on the other side was perfectly clean and the cone was fine.

That's similar to what was (starting) to happen with mine. What hub exactly was this? I got a pit after only 750 miles on a WH-R550 front.

I suspect that it might have to do with Shimano hubs coming with not-enough preload assuming that whoever has them will be using them with vertical dropouts or a front with lawyer lips and thus not put enough force on the QR?

That's similar to what was (starting) to happen with mine. What hub exactly was this? I got a pit after only 750 miles on a WH-R550 front.
I suspect that it might have to do with Shimano hubs coming with not-enough preload assuming that whoever has them will be using them with vertical dropouts or a front with lawyer lips and thus not put enough force on the QR?
105 front hub from the early '90's, I think. Lots and lots of miles based on the wear to the rim, and no guarantee that it was adjusted or kept up well. So I don't think it's comparable to your problem. I always service and adjust my hubs, and have found Shimano hubs to be very durable when taken care of.

If you want to rebuild this hub you might have to find a "will fit" cone and play with spacers to make the wheel come out centered correctly. Check Bike Tools Etc. and Loose Screws to see if thay have the correct one.

We have a real "old fashion" LBS in the area that has boxes of odd-size and recovered cones from all sorts of screwy hubs. I've had to go through his stuff looking for a near match a few times. It can be a real adventure and usually I've had to settle for close-enough-is-good-enough.

Since this is a recent-enough Shimano hub, I was able to find a replacement cone easily. It didn't look the same (machined race as opposed to hardened black race) and it was longer, but apparently it's the same length from the bearing-contact point to the wrench-flat end of the cone, so it took the same amount of spacers for properly-dished hut.
But older ones can be a real bear...