To those who know rear wheel maintenance... My rear rim, which I bought 4 years ago new and completely built (by the rim manufacturer), once again has a loose hub that will need to be tightened. Why do I have this problem too often, no matter what bike I own?? I do my own maintenance at bike co-ops and on a regular basis. Because I live on my bike, I overhaul my hubs every 2 years, replacing the freewheel every 1.5-2 yrs. The current rim I repaired in April '24 at a co-op and it was checked and approved by the mechanic/owner who was assisting me (who bragged how he had almost 30 yrs experience repairing bikes). Less than 2 months later, the wheel was wobbling again and I had to take it into a shop to get tightened (I wasn't near a co-op). When I tested the wheel for movement yesterday, I could feel it slightly loose again! WTF?!? This is not the only rim/bike I've had where the wheel has gone loose on me. While I do swear that my bike is possessed (and loves to give me repetitive problems with the same maintenance issue until it finds smthg better to harass me with), previous bikes have given me the same problem (tho not repetitively). WHY? I carry approximately 30lbs of weight on the rear rack, so I don't believe it can be from overloading.

Any knowledgeable insight to this is welcome. Thank you.

Your post is somewhat confusing.
Are the spokes getting loose? Use a spoke prep or green locktite. Proper spoke tension "should" keep them from loosening.
OR
Are the hub bearings getting loose?

How much do you weigh and do you mash low gears?
EDIT- Identifying the rim, spokes & hub as much as possible can be useful.
Spoke count & "speeds" can also be a factor.

OP is referencing the bearing adjustment of the hub in his post. Cartridge bearing of ball and cone set up, usually low cost hubs have this issue.

Rear hub bearings on inexpensive hubs that use freewheels and ball, cup, and cone usually come loose because one of the cones unscrews itself. Usually, its the one on the drive side, because friction on the ball bearings and the direction of rotation tend to loosen the cone, and mechanics often fail to tighten this correctly because direct access to the lock nut is blocked by the freewheel. Often, a loose hub will be ridden until the ball bearings roll out of their race on the cone and roll on the threaded axle itself until they cut the axle in two. When it goes this far, it's because the quick release skewer has been sufficiently holding the two halves together so the wheel keeps rolling somewhat and doesn't fall off the bike.

First you need to asses the damage. Take the wheel off the bike. Remove the quick release skewer. see if you can remove the axle buy pulling on the two ends. If that is the case, you've broken the axle in two. If the axle can't be removed, they you ave to take it apart. If you have the correct freewheel tool, removal of the freewheel is the quickest way to get at the drive side bearing. If you don't, you can disassemble the non-drive side and pull it out from that side.

Assess damage to axle cones, and balls. Replace what's broken. Clean dirty parts. Put it back together with fresh grease. This time, before reinserting the axle, make sure the drive side cone and lock nut are REALLY TIGHT against each other.

you're not getting the jam nut/cone interface tightened enough.. or the threads are worn out/bad from the factory.
there is no other reason for the bearing preload to change.

unless you install the wrong size balls or too many of them... 9 per side, 1/4" diameter, is the most common setup.

and, yes, telling us online mechanics what type of hub your wheel has would be a good idea, next time you have a question about it.

A few reasons:
- cheap hub with poor seals, dirt gets in and grease gets out, wear, looseness
- new hubs, cups and cones have fine grinding or machining marks, and initial use burnishes in the surface so those lines disappear, looseness, and then wear accelerates because loads are going into 2-3 bearings per side, instead of nearly half the bearing balls, with proper preload. I've experienced over time, and verified in manufacturer bearing manuals, that proper bearing preload with no slack is critical for bearing durability.

+1

To review...
"To those who know rear wheel maintenance... My rear rim, which I bought 4 years ago new and completely built (by the rim manufacturer), once again has a loose hub that will need to be tightened. Why do I have this problem too often, no matter what bike I own?? I do my own maintenance at bike co-ops and on a regular basis. Because I live on my bike, I overhaul my hubs every 2 years, replacing the freewheel every 1.5-2 yrs. The current rim I repaired in April '24 at a co-op and it was checked and approved by the mechanic/owner who was assisting me (who bragged how he had almost 30 yrs experience repairing bikes). Less than 2 months later, the wheel was wobbling again and I had to take it into a shop to get tightened (I wasn't near a co-op). When I tested the wheel for movement yesterday, I could feel it slightly loose again! WTF?!? This is not the only rim/bike I've had where the wheel has gone loose on me. While I do swear that my bike is possessed (and loves to give me repetitive problems with the same maintenance issue until it finds smthg better to harass me with), previous bikes have given me the same problem (tho not repetitively). WHY? I carry approximately 30lbs of weight on the rear rack, so I don't believe it can be from overloading.

Any knowledgeable insight to this is welcome. Thank you. "

Thank you for the responses. Thank you for the explanations. To clarify, (and I've looked at my bike notes since posting), I have actually overhauled my hubs every year to 1.5 years. While I have done the work mostly myself, there has always been an experienced mechanic checking my work. We inspect all parts before reassembling the hub and wheel. Ball bearings rarely need to be replaced and any other parts that need to, on the occasion, are, as well. I guarantee I over lube, not under. The bearings would be new and other parts used, but chosen by the mechanic. But in general, they aren't worn badly as I upkeep the bike regularly. If I keep the inner workings of the hub maintained, then what portion is low-grade that would qualify it as a cheap hub?

When you ask, "What type of hub?" I have no idea what you're referring to.

And just as an added note, which you all know, but possibly forget, I can ask 10 mechanics the same question and get 11 different answers/opinions! Sigh.

Does the hub have a quick release? Do you know to set some bearing play because the quick release tightens it down?

That's what I used to think. However, after doing closer inspections (magnifying glass after cleaning the balls), I was finding spalling from overloading, and scored lines from "ball skidding"; (I learned that) both of these are common issues from not having proper bearing preload; No preload and the radial load goes into just 2-3 balls per side at a time, causing spalling, as well as can cause the unloaded balls to skid instead of roll. After replacing the balls with new (and spalled cones if needed), and using proper preload, I've never had a recurrence of ball spalling or pitting, but I still replace the balls more often because they are so cheap off amazon.

I agree about the pre-load, but can you explain how a ball skidding, unloaded, could possibly damage the ball? Surely the film strength of the lubricant would not allow this.
I am genuinely curious.
Thanks!

I didn't know that, but unfortunately, it doesn't have a quick release.

There is no way for the balls to turn on both the race and cones at equal speeds because they are different diameters. If they were cogs rather than balls the wheel wouldn't turn at all. The balls have a slip a little bit on one of the surfaces.

Bearing balls can last a very long time. I have a pair of wheels that were on my 1973 Raleigh Professional. The bearings have never been replaced and I rode that bike for over 27 years only doing regular maintenance. The axles still turn as smoothly as when the wheels were new. The bottom bracket from that bike is now on another bike still as smooth as it was in 1973 with nothing having been replaced other than the grease.

I realize this, and suppose that in the absence of a film of lubricant some wear could occur on the sliding ball. The thing I wanted to understand was how *unloaded* balls could be worn.

I've been servicing the ball bearings on my own bikes for around 60 years. The only balls I have ever seen wear on were those in a hub that had water incursion with resulting rust. Even on hubs with race wear the balls looked good. In recent years I have used magnification (4.5x loupes). My experience is limited, however.

My best "worn ball" story is from a trip to Daytona for Speed Week in 1979. I was returning on my BMW R69S when the rear drive seized, luckily as I stopped for gas. I opened the oil drain plug, and all the balls fell out. Each one looked custom-peened. End of trip!


4.5x loupes with LED headlight. Used for work, but boy do they come in handy in the shop sometimes!

You'd best tell Messrs. Sturmey and Archer about that, they'll be devastated.

What brand hubs?

I know a few folks with problems with LBS "house brand" hubs that sound very similar to yours. But I have not heard of this problem with name brand hubs.

Planetary Gear Systems, Explained and Shown....

The cup and cone, with ball bearings in between, works on the same principle.... any wear will be limited to the contact patch width differential , is extremely minimal, and is randomized over the entire surface of the bearing balls...
cones wear out first, then the bearings, then the cups, if ever.
the tiny pits one can see on the surface of a somewhat worn ball is where carbon was once in place in the alloy.... it gets impacted by imperfections in the finish of the cup and cone... this is why higher end hubs last for DECADES, but low grade, quickly made parts wear out in a few months of constant use. pure carbon is brittle.
actual surface Wear is more related to not enough grease renewals, improper setup, or severe impacts, IMO.
Lubes break down into shorter and shorter molecular chains during use. A lighter grease weight can flow back to act as a cushion.. thicker grease gets pushed aside, is not refreshed by flowback, and fails sooner.