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Will cone and ball hubs eventually become extinct?

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Will cone and ball hubs eventually become extinct?

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Old 12-04-08, 11:57 PM
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Will cone and ball hubs eventually become extinct?

I hope not, especially good quality ones

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Old 12-05-08, 03:35 AM
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Not as long as Shimano keep making wheels.
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Old 12-05-08, 03:37 AM
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Not if I've got anything to do with it. They are much better, provided you know how to maintain them.

With cartridges the preload is not adjustable, and becomes less as you use them. With cup & cone, you set them up so there's a trace of play, then adjust the QR tension so it just gets rid of the play. So you have a hub with no lateral play, but no real weight on the bearing surfaces. This makes for very smooth rolling, and long hub life.

The cup and cone bearing has better lateral strength.

With cup & cone you can assemble it without grease, just chainlube, and leave the seals off for your world record TT attempt (or beating your PB!). Of course you have to strip it down and repack it afterwards...

Cup and cone bearings can have just as good dirt sealing as cartridges- even the lowly Shimano Tiagra hubs let NOTHING in over 12 months of abuse.

Cup and cone lasts forever, and is strangely satisfying to overhaul. I really like getting an ancient hub, cleaning out the congealed grease, and finding that both cones and races are still PERFECT after 20 years. Like to see the cartridge that can manage that trick!
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Old 12-05-08, 05:08 AM
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Not as long there are discerning buyers.
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Old 12-05-08, 06:42 AM
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Originally Posted by Basil Moss
Not if I've got anything to do with it. They are much better, provided you know how to maintain them.

With cartridges the preload is not adjustable, and becomes less as you use them. With cup & cone, you set them up so there's a trace of play, then adjust the QR tension so it just gets rid of the play. So you have a hub with no lateral play, but no real weight on the bearing surfaces. This makes for very smooth rolling, and long hub life.

The cup and cone bearing has better lateral strength.

With cup & cone you can assemble it without grease, just chainlube, and leave the seals off for your world record TT attempt (or beating your PB!). Of course you have to strip it down and repack it afterwards...

Cup and cone bearings can have just as good dirt sealing as cartridges- even the lowly Shimano Tiagra hubs let NOTHING in over 12 months of abuse.

Cup and cone lasts forever, and is strangely satisfying to overhaul. I really like getting an ancient hub, cleaning out the congealed grease, and finding that both cones and races are still PERFECT after 20 years. Like to see the cartridge that can manage that trick!
Yup. It's amazing how many hubs are poorly adjusted. I have a pair of front & rear dropouts in my toolbox that I use when adjusting the hubs.
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Old 12-05-08, 11:52 AM
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Originally Posted by Basil Moss
Not if I've got anything to do with it. They are much better, provided you know how to maintain them.

With cartridges the preload is not adjustable, and becomes less as you use them. With cup & cone, you set them up so there's a trace of play, then adjust the QR tension so it just gets rid of the play. So you have a hub with no lateral play, but no real weight on the bearing surfaces. This makes for very smooth rolling, and long hub life.

The cup and cone bearing has better lateral strength.

With cup & cone you can assemble it without grease, just chainlube, and leave the seals off for your world record TT attempt (or beating your PB!). Of course you have to strip it down and repack it afterwards...

Cup and cone bearings can have just as good dirt sealing as cartridges- even the lowly Shimano Tiagra hubs let NOTHING in over 12 months of abuse.

Cup and cone lasts forever, and is strangely satisfying to overhaul. I really like getting an ancient hub, cleaning out the congealed grease, and finding that both cones and races are still PERFECT after 20 years. Like to see the cartridge that can manage that trick!
Incorrect for most. Well, my Mavics anyway.

I see your point though. Cup and cone are pretty awesome still.
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Old 12-05-08, 12:42 PM
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A caveman once asked- "Will stone wheels ever become extinct?"
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Old 12-05-08, 05:09 PM
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Originally Posted by Homebrew01
Yup. It's amazing how many hubs are poorly adjusted. I have a pair of front & rear dropouts in my toolbox that I use when adjusting the hubs.
that's an awesome idea

i don't think cup and cone is going away either, but that sort of thing is a matter of fashion as much as anything
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Old 12-05-08, 05:11 PM
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A caveman once asked- "Will stone wheels ever become extinct?"
Oscar Wilde once said 'a cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing'

Last edited by classic1; 12-05-08 at 05:17 PM.
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Old 12-05-08, 05:31 PM
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Originally Posted by classic1
Oscar Wilde once said 'a cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing'
I actually like that quote.
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Old 12-06-08, 10:40 AM
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Thank you for the replies
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Old 12-06-08, 10:58 AM
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There's a lot of errors in the postings above. Cartridge bearings can be adjusted for play, just like loose balls and they are far less sensitive to adjust, with their angular contact design. There are hubs that have no adjustment, but only because they need none. Most often some sort of spring washer is used to apply a constant preload tension, insuring constantly zero freeplay.

You can remove the seals and use oil on a cartridge bearing too, but it's not real smart.

One of the advantages of using cartridge bearings is that they are easy to replace, generally cheap and you can select from a lower grade ABEC 3 all the way to full ceramics.
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