How Much Play is OK in the Hub I just swapped
08-13-08, 08:27 PM
#1
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How Much Play is OK in the Hub I just swapped
How Much Play is OK in the Hub I just swapped?
I broke another spoke in my rear wheel and it's way off true and is time for trash heap. It's 30 years old ... (I'm working on a '70s era Schwinn 10-speed)
I bought a used wheel (not Schwinn?) with a bent axle so I used my axle.
My wheel takes 9 bearings each side, this wheel takes 7 each side but my axle and cones seem to work OK.
I got the whole thing together, but now after adjusting brakes, derailer, and centering the wheel etc. I notice it now has a tiny bit of play in the axle. I'd rather not disassemble and retighten the cones if a tiny bit of play is OK.
What should I do?
I broke another spoke in my rear wheel and it's way off true and is time for trash heap. It's 30 years old ... (I'm working on a '70s era Schwinn 10-speed)
I bought a used wheel (not Schwinn?) with a bent axle so I used my axle.
My wheel takes 9 bearings each side, this wheel takes 7 each side but my axle and cones seem to work OK.
I got the whole thing together, but now after adjusting brakes, derailer, and centering the wheel etc. I notice it now has a tiny bit of play in the axle. I'd rather not disassemble and retighten the cones if a tiny bit of play is OK.
What should I do?
08-13-08, 08:35 PM
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https://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=105
They talk about play in the hub near the bottom (#7).
They talk about play in the hub near the bottom (#7).
08-13-08, 10:57 PM
#3
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Any amount of play at all is bad. You wan't a net preload on the bearings but not so much that the axle feels like there's any more than the slightest drag. But play in any amount is a bad thing. It'll lead to the bearing balls flat spotting earlier and that means the cup and cones will be ruined along with the bearing balls failing.
If this is a quick release axle try adding some tension to the skewer. If that TOTALLY eliminates the side to side clicking then fine. But it has to remove ALL of it. Any amount at all is bad. And really you should redo it anyway to get it right. Remember that you should have the QR skewer in place and tensioned when doing this.
If it's a solid axle you need to redo the cone adjustment pronto.
I would not ride on it until the bearings are properly preloaded if it was my bike.
If this is a quick release axle try adding some tension to the skewer. If that TOTALLY eliminates the side to side clicking then fine. But it has to remove ALL of it. Any amount at all is bad. And really you should redo it anyway to get it right. Remember that you should have the QR skewer in place and tensioned when doing this.
If it's a solid axle you need to redo the cone adjustment pronto.
I would not ride on it until the bearings are properly preloaded if it was my bike.
Last edited by BCRider; 08-13-08 at 11:01 PM.
08-14-08, 07:22 AM
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Thanks guys. Very very helpful! I got tweaked nice last night but it seemed to loosen a bit on my 17 mile ride this morning to work. So I'll tweak it some more before I go home. BTW: this was an axle swap from one brand to another so it's not an exact match of hardware, etc. It's not my permanent fix either, I just wanted to finish my week, and I blew out my old wheel on the ride home ... blah blah blah I feel like I'm rambling and providing more than enough info.
