Rebuilding my Pista Hub
Before I say anything else, I want to make it very clear that I did not buy my Pista from WebCyclery, and anything I have to say about my lbs does not apply to WebCyclery.
Kevin, at WebCyclery, has impressed me as extraordinarily knowledgeable and possessed of good judgement.
That said:
During some recent bike maintenance, in which I had my rear wheel off my Pista, I noticed the axle felt gritty and rumbly when turned by my fingers.
With the wheel on the bike, whether on the workstand or while riding, I don't notice anything, except, on the workstand, the wheel doesn't seem to spin freely for as long as I think it should.
I suspect my lbs overtightened the cones of my Pista hub, and, here I show my ignorance, because I assume my Pista has conventional cup and cone bearings.
Now, someone please put me out of my newbie misery if I have that wrong (it won't hurt my feelings).
Anyway, during my recent recovery from an accident, I gave my Pista to my lbs for a post-accident inspection/repair, and because I wanted the frame internally treated with rust-preventative.
I mean, I couldn't ride it for a month and, given the amount of pain-killers I had on board, I didn't have much incentive or wherewithall to work on it myself, so I gave my precious to my lbs.
When I got it back, I put it on the workstand, not having ridden it yet, and noticed that the rear wheel would not spin freely.
If I pedaled by hand and then let go of the pedal, the rear wheel came to an almost instant stop.
I called my lbs and they acted surprised, since they had "test-ridden" it.
I could see that they had "test-ridden" it because they had adjusted the saddle to the other end of the rails from where I keep it.
That suggested a fairly long test-ride, to me.
Anyway, my lbs said, over the phone, that I probably had an overly-tight chain, and to bring it back in to them for adjustment.
An overly-tight chain?
Oh well.
I took it back in and left it for a few hours, and when I got it back the rear wheel spun more freely.
OK.
Well, during recent maintenance, after reassembling the Pista and putting my new MKS chaintugs on it, as an experiment I tried to tighten the chain to where the chain itself would bind the rear wheel, but it had little or no effect.
Ah.
I started to put the mental pieces together.
I read Sheldon Brown's essay on cup and cone bearings, and I think my lbs simply way over-tightened the cones and then rode around on the bike, perhaps around the block, or perhaps for a few days, given the saddle adjustment.
It has occurred to me, then, that it might make sense to replace the bearings and cones on my Pista.
What a worthy learning project.
So, I need info.
Do I have a cup and cone hub?
How can I tell, externally?
If cup and cone, what size ball bearings do I need and does one cone fit all?
Tools?
Solvent?
I have read Sheldon Brown's article on cup and cone overhaul, and it seems like a reasonable afternoon job, assuming no cup damage from the over-tightening.
However, the article, although well-written, does get a a little vague, to me, at points.
Any input before I shoot myself in my foot?